Newbies looking for Fossil identification

[Andrew & His boys]

Hi There

 

Myself and my two boys have just started fossil hunting. We have no clue what we are doing ,but it's exciting and the boys are ecstatic about doing this and very eager to learn.

 

Please help with our first identification. This rock is used as an artificial river bed filler. We don't know where it was quarried  ,but are keen to know what fossils are inside. I'm assuming some type of sea bed coral or tube.

 

PS: Will return rock when identified.

[Rockwood]

This looks a lot like the stuff I have been finding here in Maine lately. I think this is the remnants of weathered sections of crinoid stem in rock that has been metamorphosed.

[Kane]

I'm not yet fully comfortable with the crinoid assessment. Could we have a few more images, including some other features on the rock?

If this is imported material, cost considerations might point to nearby quarries as a potential source. In your area, there is a good deal of Ordovician material (with Silurian not too far away, and Devonian as well).

Welcome to the forum from down the 401. 

[Pemphix]

2 hours ago, Rockwood said:

This looks a lot like the stuff I have been finding here in Maine lately. I think this is the remnants of weathered sections of crinoid stem in rock that has been metamorphosed.

No Metamorphosis here.

I agree with the rest...

[minnbuckeye]

3 hours ago, Rockwood said:

 weathered sections of crinoid stem in rock .

 

Agreed. When I zoom in and look, almost everything on this rock has that outer white layer to it. So likely a precipitate on the outside of the moth eaten crinoid?? 

 

Mike

[Rockwood]

4 minutes ago, minnbuckeye said:

When I zoom in and look, almost everything on this rock has that outer white layer to it. So likely a precipitate on the outside of the moth eaten crinoid?? 

Diagenisis ized. 

[minnbuckeye]

Had to look up "Diagenisis". It pertains to metamorphism? How does one tell visually a metamorphic phenomenon from an infilled void with mineral. There is a reason why I ask. Just visited an abandoned quarry yesterday. Most of the fossils are  99% mineralized. As I tried in my mind to explain why this location has fossils like this and 100 sites around it do not, I thought maybe a local area of Metamorphic rock?? Anyways, I will make a separate post on this to try and understand what I am seeing.  

 

Mike

[Kane]

15 minutes ago, minnbuckeye said:

Had to look up "Diagenisis". It pertains to metamorphism? How does one tell visually a metamorphic phenomenon from an infilled void with mineral. There is a reason why I ask. Just visited an abandoned quarry yesterday. Most of the fossils are  99% mineralized. As I tried in my mind to explain why this location has fossils like this and 100 sites around it do not, I thought maybe a local area of Metamorphic rock?? Anyways, I will make a separate post on this to try and understand what I am seeing.  

 

Mike

Likely local/specific conditions. I know in one of my collecting areas of the Formosa Reef, dissolution and infill replacement occurs in the reefal complex, but not in the surrounding formation outcrops. In the most simplistic sense, diagenesis is the step between initial sedimentation and eventual metamorphism.

 

Diagenesis will generally be dissolution (creation of vugs and cavities) infill replacement (such as cementum), bacterial degradation of organic matter in sediment. It can even be helped along in "early stage" diagenesis by events such as bioturbation from burrowing critters. But here is a much more comprehensive view of the process: LINK

[Andrew & His boys]

Thanks for the help. 

 

The southern Ontario basin is known for the Cambrian and Ordovician era. And this rock was most likely quarried from the area close to Niagara falls.

[Kane]

Definitely a lot of crinoid activity there, so I'm more in the crinoid camp for the initial photo. 

Cambrian material would be much farther east of you. If this was quarried near Niagara Falls, that would likely place it in the Silurian, or possibly late Ordovician (but not as likely).

[Andrew & His boys]

Is this material common in southern Ontario area ? I don't think contractors would buy material from hundreds of kilometers away due to cost. So the quarry should be relatively close by.

 

My son's are keen to know the age of the fossil if possible ?

 

 

[Kane]

2 minutes ago, Andrew & His boys said:

Is this material common in southern Ontario area ? I don't think contractors would buy material from hundreds of kilometers away due to cost. So the quarry should be relatively close by.

 

My son's are keen to know the age of the fossil if possible ?

 

 

As I mentioned above, likely Silurian in age if it is coming from the Niagara Falls area.

Crinoidal packstones can occur in a number of horizons. 

[Andrew & His boys]

1 hour ago, Kane said:

I'm not yet fully comfortable with the crinoid assessment. Could we have a few more images, including some other features on the rock?

If this is imported material, cost considerations might point to nearby quarries as a potential source. In your area, there is a good deal of Ordovician material (with Silurian not too far away, and Devonian as well).

Welcome to the forum from down the 401. 

Cheers. Thank you. 

[Andrew & His boys]

Just now, Kane said:

As I mentioned above, likely Silurian in age. 

Crinoidal packstones can occur in a number of horizons. 

Thanks again.