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Showing results for tags 'decomposition'.
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Pulled this from roughly 3-4 feet deep in my backyard on the far west/nw edge of San Antonio. Found a rock bed as I was digging. Odd because until then the soil was actually soil…it was dark and was easy to shovel. I’ve dug holes all around my property and at many other spots around this area and I’ve always hit a very solid layer of limestone before even getting a foot deep. So 3 feet was noteworthy. And that was about 8 months ago. It took me that amount of time to uncover this one. It’s a hair shy of 2lbs4oz/ just over 1kg. Any thoughts on it?
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According to Google, all knowing and all wise..... "Eggshell is made almost entirely of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) crystals. It is a semipermeable membrane, which means that air and moisture can pass through its pores. The shell also has a thin outermost coating called the bloom or cuticle that helps keep out bacteria and dust." "Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the mineral calcite (calcium carbonate: CaCO3). It often has variable amounts of silica in it, as well as varying amounts of clay, silt, and sand. Limestone rocks fall under the category of sedimentary rocks that are made from mineral calcite." The question I pose is this, well there are several.......... If amphibian/reptile or bird species prefer to lay their eggs near water sources wouldn't it be a likely assumption that the permineralization of the eggshell would be reclaimed by the surrounding silicates while the inside turns to agate? Meanwhile, larger dinos layed their eggs in more forested inland areas and were not exposed to the same permineralization since there was less water exchange.? In the permineralization or petrification process, if an egg is in an undeveloped state would it agatize mostly transparent/opaque? What are, if any, the artifacts or features you guys look for beyond the obvious cracked shell on the exterior? I have looked but I have yet to find a good read that explains well what happens to eggs, soft tissue, and entire animals that are enveloped in volcanic mud flows. I just know there is a good read out there somewhere that gives a reasonable explanation to what happens to an animals remains as they fossilize. Maybe there isn't, I have yet to find the name of the guy that sat and watched it all happen. Does the blood cause the fe203 stain in a fossil? Do heavier minerals like Iron have a sedimentation characteristic during permineralization? Does displaced water content of the animal cause air pockets to form during permineralization? In nature, what causes living sources of silica to be in either crystalline or non-crystalline form? I have lot's more questions I'll do my best to google, but dang it's hard to find some of these answers. "Someone, out there on the net shouted. "Take a snarge class!"
- 37 replies
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- agatization
- decomposition
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Hi all, Yesterday I went to the Zandmotor, and I brought back a couple of bones from there (namely an awesome big mammal tooth). I left them tonight just in the living room so that they could dry, but when I came back this morning I had an unpleasant surprise: many of the pieces of bone had started to become white (as seen in the first picture), and the big tooth has started to decompose (as in there are constantly small crumbs of the tooth that are falling off; you can see small black spots next to the tooth in the picture, those are some of those crumbs). I am very worried about this, and wouldn't want my fossils to get damaged. Can anyone tell me how to keep them safely? As in what are some of the best conservation methods? The bones were found on a sandy beach, so I think that salt has a role in this... Please help fast! Happy Easter, Max
- 8 replies
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- bones
- conservation
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