Aarosaur Posted October 17, 2020 Share Posted October 17, 2020 I’m lucky enough to live within walking distance to lots of fossils at Maslin Beach South Australia. The sites in this area are in coastal cliffs of limestone from the Eocene to Oligocene. I’ve found quite a lot of actual marine fossils here but this one I’m not sure about so it would be fun to get an answer from experts! I found this specimen in an exposed cliff face. It looks a lot like bone to me but I guess it could be a really interesting rock Thanks! Aarosaur Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paleoworld-101 Posted October 17, 2020 Share Posted October 17, 2020 This looks like ironstone, a dense, heavy iron-rich rock that often comes in all sorts of weird shapes and concretionary nodules, which can make them misleading. I'm not too familiar with the fossils of that area but i presume you find a fair amount of bivalves, gastropods, echinoids and maybe even some shark teeth? 1 "In Africa, one can't help becoming caught up in the spine-chilling excitement of the hunt. Perhaps, it has something to do with a memory of a time gone by, when we were the prey, and our nights were filled with darkness..." -Eternal Enemies: Lions And Hyenas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted October 17, 2020 Share Posted October 17, 2020 Proof of it is always elusive, but I think there is a chance this is also a trace fossil. A burrow of some sort. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JesseKoz Posted October 17, 2020 Share Posted October 17, 2020 Hi Aarosaur, thanks for sharing your find. I've recently moved to South Australia and live very nearby to Maslin Beach and recently started exploring the area for fossils and reading up on the geology. So far I've just come across bivalves and gastropods, but from my reading the area is quite well known for it's fossil record of flora with 57 described taxa from Maslin Bay (https://www.adelaide.edu.au/press/system/files/media/documents/2019-04/uap-australian-vegetation-ebook.pdf Page 50). The area during the middle Eocene was classed as a 'complex mesophyll vine forest' (CMVF). I'm very much a complete amateur, but the images you shared feature a texture that remind me of some fossilized fern trunks I've seen. Hard to see if the cross-section image displays any growth rings but possibly this could be a clue. Good luck on your future hunts and hopefully you can work out more about your interesting find. Interesting paper linked below on the Mid-Eocene Maslin Bay flora, if you're interested. https://digital.library.adelaide.edu.au/dspace/bitstream/2440/21420/2/02whole_v1.pdf 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aarosaur Posted October 18, 2020 Author Share Posted October 18, 2020 On 10/17/2020 at 2:05 PM, Paleoworld-101 said: This looks like ironstone, a dense, heavy iron-rich rock that often comes in all sorts of weird shapes and concretionary nodules, which can make them misleading. I'm not too familiar with the fossils of that area but i presume you find a fair amount of bivalves, gastropods, echinoids and maybe even some shark teeth? Yeah I'm going to have to agree. There was some similar rock nearby that I'm pretty sure was ironstone and I should have compared it! I used a pick on the central area of the sample and the whole central area is filled with a yellow ochre. Still quite an interesting rock Yep lot's of bivalves and gastropods. I've only seen one echinoid and it was in a massive rock that I didn't have the time or equipment to remove. I don't think we get shark teeth but I'm not too sure. I've also found a couple of bryozoan specimens (One really amazing one!) Thanks for the help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aarosaur Posted October 18, 2020 Author Share Posted October 18, 2020 23 hours ago, JesseKoz said: Hi Aarosaur, thanks for sharing your find. I've recently moved to South Australia and live very nearby to Maslin Beach and recently started exploring the area for fossils and reading up on the geology. So far I've just come across bivalves and gastropods, but from my reading the area is quite well known for it's fossil record of flora with 57 described taxa from Maslin Bay (https://www.adelaide.edu.au/press/system/files/media/documents/2019-04/uap-australian-vegetation-ebook.pdf Page 50). The area during the middle Eocene was classed as a 'complex mesophyll vine forest' (CMVF). I'm very much a complete amateur, but the images you shared feature a texture that remind me of some fossilized fern trunks I've seen. Hard to see if the cross-section image displays any growth rings but possibly this could be a clue. Good luck on your future hunts and hopefully you can work out more about your interesting find. Interesting paper linked below on the Mid-Eocene Maslin Bay flora, if you're interested. https://digital.library.adelaide.edu.au/dspace/bitstream/2440/21420/2/02whole_v1.pdf Hi neighbor! Unfortunately I think it's just some unusual ironstone (maybe fulgurite because it's definitely tubular) Thanks for the reading material, I'll have to got through it. Maybe I'll bump into you fossicking one day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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