Wrangellian Posted May 13, 2020 Share Posted May 13, 2020 I picked this up a while ago from the yard of a rockhound who is now deceased, but they could not tell me anything about it at the time anyway... all they could say was it was likely collected somewhere here on Vancouver Island, which would make it either Triassic Parson Bay/Sutton or Quatsino Formation, or Pennsylvanian/Permian Mt Mark or Buttle Lake Fm. I don't think it's likely to be from any of the younger formations. These structures look suspiciously like sponges to me, but I can't say for sure. They've obviously been silicified, which makes ID difficult. Any ideas? I noticed the feature marked with a red circle while looking thru the photos. It might be indicative of ID or maybe I'm just seeing things. I've not bothered to shrink the photos, as I want people to be able to see whatever detail there is on this thing. Hopefully they will load... I'll post one at a time if I have to. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted May 13, 2020 Author Share Posted May 13, 2020 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted May 13, 2020 Author Share Posted May 13, 2020 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted May 13, 2020 Author Share Posted May 13, 2020 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted May 13, 2020 Author Share Posted May 13, 2020 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted May 13, 2020 Author Share Posted May 13, 2020 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted May 13, 2020 Author Share Posted May 13, 2020 At risk of overkill....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted May 13, 2020 Author Share Posted May 13, 2020 one more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pemphix Posted May 13, 2020 Share Posted May 13, 2020 Some kind of ichnofossil would be my first guess.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marguy Posted May 13, 2020 Share Posted May 13, 2020 11 hours ago, Wrangellian said: These structures look suspiciously like sponges to me, but I can't say for sure. I agree with this idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plax Posted May 13, 2020 Share Posted May 13, 2020 No signs of coral or bryozoan structures. That red circled area is a structure I've seen on Eocene sponges. I'd look in the professional literature (googlre) for papers regarding the formations fauna. They may list a sponge. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted May 13, 2020 Author Share Posted May 13, 2020 Thanks all. If I can find any of those papers I'll do that, but I've only ever come across ones that describe corals and a few other things, not sponges. Which doesn't mean these couldn't be sponges, I may have something new even if it's not very useful without accurate locality data. My next question would be, do sponges become silicified in limestone the way corals and other things do? Do ichnofossils? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wxman Posted May 16, 2020 Share Posted May 16, 2020 I have a piece of Quatsino (i believe) from the Holberg area that have nodes similar to your 5th and 6th photos. Not sure if they are shells or what? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted May 16, 2020 Author Share Posted May 16, 2020 Interesting... that looks a lot like the stuff from a spot in the Alberni Valley - I have a piece but I can't find the pic right now, but I did find this pic I took at the QB Museum of a prepped piece: Have you begun prepping it yet? I'm curious how it works. My piece has not been prepped, only sliced, by which I assumed it was tough to prep them out like this - easier to slice to see the x-sections. The rock may be soft, but if the fossils are also soft, it'll be a b!^@#. Anyway they seem to have managed well enough with this one. I kind of like yours how it is, though, nicely eroded for natural x-sections. Are you sure that piece is from Holberg area? Did you collect it yourself, or acquire it from someone else (like I did)? Just because the formation name is 'Quatsino' doesn't mean it's from Quatsino Sound. This piece and mine are from the spot in Alberni and that's the only place I've seen these come from (so far). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wxman Posted May 16, 2020 Share Posted May 16, 2020 I collected it myself, so I am certain of the location. The nodes in my piece have calcified and are quite soft. Difficult to clean around. I'm playing with a few bits around the edges but don't want to mess it up too much either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wxman Posted May 16, 2020 Share Posted May 16, 2020 I am curious what might be lurking inside though..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted May 17, 2020 Author Share Posted May 17, 2020 My bet is more of the same! (ammonoids like those in the museum piece and my piece that I haven't yet found the photo of) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted May 17, 2020 Author Share Posted May 17, 2020 On 5/16/2020 at 12:03 AM, Wxman said: I have a piece of Quatsino (i believe) from the Holberg area that have nodes similar to your 5th and 6th photos. Not sure if they are shells or what? Here are 2 shots of my ammonoid piece: My label may be wrong, I guess it's Quastino Fm. But the location is correct, and it is Carnian if the ammonoids are Jovites, according to Sepkoski. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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