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Found this in my yard


tea9word

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I found this in my back yard, it appears to have three tiny fossils (approximately 1cm in size each), getting pictures is hard! I am a very amateur collector, so I really don't know much. I live in Roxbury, Morris County, New Jersey, USA. 

 

 

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Hello Ludwigia, thanks for your quick response! I think you have helped solve my mystery :)

 

I have been doing some research about the geology of the area and I found a publication from 1972 by the New Jersey Geological Survey / Morris County DEP that says this: 


"There are isolated outcrops of impure limestone overlying the Longwood Shale, but not in contact with it. This formation is called the Decker and is a dark gray purely siliceous and shaly limestone. The uppermost ten feet of the Decker beds contain fossils. Life during Silurian time was still dominated by marine invertebrates such as brachiopods, ostracods and corals. During this time some of these animals began to decline in number of varieties and others became more important. Because of the prevailing conditions in Morris County at this time, no fossil is evidence is found in the Green Pond Conglomerate or the Longwood Shale. The marine formation, the Decker, contains corals, brachiopods, bryozoa and crinoids in one of it's layers"

 

Link here to the publication: https://www.state.nj.us/dep/njgs/enviroed/county-series/Morris_County.pdf

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IMG_8209.thumb.jpeg.124692d6c015dfc7d27a4f2b656fe151.jpeg

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    Tim    -  VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

   MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png      PaleoPartner.png.30c01982e09b0cc0b7d9d6a7a21f56c6.png.a600039856933851eeea617ca3f2d15f.png     Postmaster1.jpg.900efa599049929531fa81981f028e24.jpg    VFOTM.png.f1b09c78bf88298b009b0da14ef44cf0.png  VFOTM  --- APRIL - 2015  

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"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."

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8 hours ago, tea9word said:

This formation is called the Decker and is a dark gray purely siliceous and shaly limestone. 

This statement seems a bit confused to me. It is likely that you are correct about this being the source though.

If it was found loose on the surface you need to include the possibility that it is a glacial erratic that was transported there by ice sheets however.

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5 hours ago, Rockwood said:

This statement seems a bit confused to me. It is likely that you are correct about this being the source though.

If it was found loose on the surface you need to include the possibility that it is a glacial erratic that was transported there by ice sheets however.

That is the only source that I was able to find information on the "decker" layer of the Longwood Shale online, so definitely could be off! - This piece was loose on the surface, however I also know that they blasted the hillside to make the road that I live on. I will probably go out looking for similar rocks today etc and definitely check out the place where they blasted. Any pro tips for what to look for or where to look?? 

 

Thanks everyone for the help! 

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44 minutes ago, tea9word said:

Any pro tips for what to look for or where to look?? 

There are pros around here that know NJ far better than I do. Type, Big Brook fossils, into a search engine while you wait though. 

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