Jump to content

Plant fossil


iliafes

Recommended Posts

Looks like a fossil reed to me, but a more detailed location would be helpful. A county, or nearby town. North New Mexico is a large area and covered with lots of rock from different ages.

-Dave

__________________________________________________

Geologists on the whole are inconsistent drivers. When a roadcut presents itself, they tend to lurch and weave. To them, the roadcut is a portal, a fragment of a regional story, a proscenium arch that leads their imaginations into the earth and through the surrounding terrain. - John McPhee

If I'm going to drive safely, I can't do geology. - John McPhee

Check out my Blog for more fossils I've found: http://viewsofthemahantango.blogspot.com/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ok, That narrows things down a bit. Below is a geologic map of the area from Google Earth and the USGS. The light blue/teal colored rocks are Oligocene Santa Fe Group. The Dark Purple near the top is Paleogene aged units. The greeninsh tan areas are Chinle group which is Triassic aged. And the red areas are Morrison formation which is Jurassic in age. Does the area you found that rock in fall into one of those rock units?

 

Capture.thumb.JPG.6add3139b925869777d237003722ce67.JPG

-Dave

__________________________________________________

Geologists on the whole are inconsistent drivers. When a roadcut presents itself, they tend to lurch and weave. To them, the roadcut is a portal, a fragment of a regional story, a proscenium arch that leads their imaginations into the earth and through the surrounding terrain. - John McPhee

If I'm going to drive safely, I can't do geology. - John McPhee

Check out my Blog for more fossils I've found: http://viewsofthemahantango.blogspot.com/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Given the wild geology and the probability you found it near the river bottom the specimen could have washed in from anywhere. Did you find the actual formation itself? I know the canyons can get quite deep in places with hundreds of feet of exposure.

 

From the photo, I get more of a calamites vibe for the biggest fragment.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This region is a little bit to the west from Abiquiu. Here is the surrounding map.  Close to the road. Likely deep in Triassic. Far from the river flood-affected area, so could not be washed from the older sediments.

CapturFiles.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here is the paper you found with a link:  Sphenophytes from the Carnian (Upper Triassic) of Lunz am See (Lower Austria) CHRISTIAN POTT, HANS KERP & MICHAEL KRINGS

 

I would go with the Chinle group for the local geology which is Middle Triassic. Neocalamites might be a good match as that exists from the Permian to the Jurassic. There is a paper called An Upper Triassic upland flora from north-central New Mexico, U.S.A. that may be of interest, but it is behind a paywall.  Keep in mind that the upper slopes of that area is Jurassc aged rock (dark green and magenta).

image.png.458ca257b82e3c2c2cbdab10c32d8415.png

  • I found this Informative 2

-Dave

__________________________________________________

Geologists on the whole are inconsistent drivers. When a roadcut presents itself, they tend to lurch and weave. To them, the roadcut is a portal, a fragment of a regional story, a proscenium arch that leads their imaginations into the earth and through the surrounding terrain. - John McPhee

If I'm going to drive safely, I can't do geology. - John McPhee

Check out my Blog for more fossils I've found: http://viewsofthemahantango.blogspot.com/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...