investigating a "cave" inside a rock

[Ramona]

Ahhhh, this curiosity of mine... I am so glad that the folks on this forum love to teach and help a novice like me!  The closer and closer I look at a rock, the more fascinated I am by it.  I found what looked like a "plain old rock" today.  (IS there such a thing?!) I cleaned it and started looking at it under a magnifying glass.  There was a little hole in the rock, so I decided to try to see what was IN the hole.  As I examined it, I realized that it was a bit like looking into a cave in a hillside.  How fun!  Of course that just brought on more questions, though.  I photographed one particular area from different perspectives and looked at it even closer.  I am not seeing the fan like bryozoan fossils I have seen in my other fossiliferous (I love that word) limestone - unless I am looking at it from a completely different angle (a possibility!!).  From one perspective (the one I am posting here), there are two pieces that seem like they might have originally been connected - kind of like a shell of some sort that has a part removed from it?  Like the curve might be broken?  But the closer I looked, the more tubule like parts I thought I saw.  So, here I am once again... Begging your patience and asking to glean from your vast experiences.  This part of the rock is very small - I will add another photo of it with a ruler to show scale.  I can include photos of the entire rock but I am trying to study this one tiny spot on it for now?  Thanks so much for your help!

 

Edited to add: Found in Huntsville, Alabama. I also THINK I see some crinoid fossils elsewhere on this particular rock, if that helps with classification.  From what I can tell so far, we are in the Mississipian age?

Ramona

[Ramona]

To show scale...

[grandpa]

I think that this might be more mineralogical/geological rather than organic/fossil.  It looks to me like calcite or possibly quartz from what I can tell from the photos.

 

I love that you are interested in such detail and are so excited by the topic.  In such detail lies much science that is oft times overlooked by the casual observer.  Keep on keepin' on!

[Fossildude19]

The word to use is Vug.

 

Or cavity.  

Especially if it is in a tooth.  

[Ramona]

On 11/17/2019 at 7:46 PM, Fossildude19 said:

The word to use is Vug.

 

Or cavity.  

Especially if it is in a tooth.  

Ohhhhh, a new word!!  It's not quite amazing as fossiliferous, but it's still a new word!  I had no idea there WAS a word for those holes!  See what a novice I am, LOL?!  But learning, thanks to you guys!  
Ramona

[Ramona]

On 11/17/2019 at 7:25 PM, grandpa said:

I think that this might be more mineralogical/geological rather than organic/fossil.  It looks to me like calcite or possibly quartz from what I can tell from the photos.

 

I love that you are interested in such detail and are so excited by the topic.  In such detail lies much science that is oft times overlooked by the casual observer.  Keep on keepin' on!

Yes!  What you are saying falls right in line with what I read about a "vug"!  I MIGHT could learn all of this on my own, but it sure would take a lot longer than how fast I am learning here on the forum!  Thanks!  And just try to keep me from keepin' on, LOL!  ;-) 

 

[Megalodoodle]

Most likely it’s calcite.

[Megalodoodle]

On 11/17/2019 at 8:25 PM, grandpa said:

I think that this might be more mineralogical/geological rather than organic/fossil.  It looks to me like calcite or possibly quartz from what I can tell from the photos.

 

I love that you are interested in such detail and are so excited by the topic.  In such detail lies much science that is oft times overlooked by the casual observer.  Keep on keepin' on!

Agreed what you have is a calcite vug

[Megalodoodle]

if you are unsure or have any other mineralogical questions check out mindat.org! The community over there is extremely helpful. Many members over there are former Mineralogists/geologists.