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Hi all, I’m excited to be going on a field trip with a a group in Illinois (ESCONI) later this month to a site that has a huge mound of mined-up Pennsylvanian shale. There may be some carbon-film plant impressions there. I’ve never collected this type of fossil before, and I’ve heard that carbon films can disappear quickly when exposed to the air. My question is should I bring something to coat this type of fossil? And if so, what? In doing some research, I see that some people recommend spray-on Krylon while others recommend against it. Would brushing on a thin coat of Paraloid do the trick? (I’ll check with some members from ESCONI, but it’s a new site for them, and their material says that there is a lot they have yet to learn about preservation of specimens from this location.)

Pottsville Formation, Alabama I would like to peek under the mud on the specimen in the first pic to determine if it is a compression fossil. This film on this particular sample seems brittle so I have to be careful. I can see pigmentation under some of the mud - that is where I want to work. Ideas? I hope I’m using these terms (carbon film, compression fossil) properly. I included other pics of other specimens that have carbon film or some type of mineral imprint (not sure what the term for this is) that I am to cleaning, sorting and comparing to potential compression fossils from Carboniferous. I was initially ignoring the specimens that look like pattern could be iron staining- thinking all were Liesegang rings, but I’m not sure that explains all of them.

Hey there Fossil ID. Reddit couldn't do anything for me so I came here for a chance of getting this fossils ID'd! Here are the main informations I can give you about it: It was found on a roadside shale cliff in Château-Richer, just north of Québec City (Province Of Québec, Canada); According to Québec Government geological maps, the specimen was found in the Upper Ordovician Lotbinière Formation of the Sainte-Rosalie Group (just on top of the Utica shale); Two trilobites and several (dozens and dozens) of graptoliths were found around it; There is a graptolith overlying the main animal/plant I would like to ID, if you look well (reverse "V" shape); The fossil is preserved as some kind of carbon layer, just like graptoliths normally preserve; The specimen is roughly 4 cm long, if you compare it to my (dirty) thumb. Any hint will be greatly appreciated, thank you very much!

Does anyone know what this fossil is? It might be a pseudo fossil. It was found in Liberty, MO, USA. Pennsylvanian. Fossils found near it include crinoids, shells, and other marine life.

Hello All! I recently inquired if there were any threads discussing how to "highlight" fossils to make them stand out? I am all about keeping them NATURAL but I have finds where the impressions are so faint they can't be seen unless you pull them up close to your face. Some of you know I have been posting a lot of my Carboniferous plant finds with very good preservation already highlighted with carbon film but others not so much especially the negative impressions on the stone. I'm not always lucky to find both pos/neg images which complete the entire fossil, some of those finds are the negative images so I have to resort to finding ways to highlight some of them. It has been suggested that I use ground up carbon (coal) to powder and paint onto the image and then coat with glue/water mixture. I can see that working on larger fossil impressions like that of the lycopod fossils but when it comes to the ferns and smaller impressions other alternatives will have to do? I have been experimenting with using fine tip sharpies that have worked well. Here is the before and after shots of a fern fossil I recently did. The lone fern frond in the right was the only one that had the carbon film on it. What do you guys think?