Huge diameter orb in encrinite formation - Stromatoporoid?

[Kato]

I found this a couple of years ago with no resolution or thoughts on what it might be.

 

It is astoundingly close to circular. 6 feet (1.83 meters) in diameter. Dark brown in color but with color variations. Unfortunately, I did not get any close-ups of the orb itself. It seemed fairly indeterminate as to any pattern such as corals might make.

 

The formation it is in is full of crinoids. The brown orb seems to have a radial pattern. Again too dark to get a decent shot while I was there.

 

I am sort of thinking this may be some sort of reef material? Giant stromatoporoid?

 

 

[Rockwood]

I think it must be a favositid coral. A fuzzy one, but that just the same. I think. 

[Top Trilo]

14 minutes ago, Kato said:

6 feet (1.83 meters) in diameter.

It looks a lot smaller than 6 feet in the picture but maybe the plants are just really big, it looks very cool though

[Kato]

1 hour ago, Top Trilo said:

It looks a lot smaller than 6 feet in the picture but maybe the plants are just really big, it looks very cool though

@Top Trilo

 

Maybe slightly bigger than 6 ft in diameter. The hiking poles to the left are 44" in length

[Top Trilo]

2 minutes ago, Kato said:

@Top Trilo

 

Maybe slightly bigger than 6 ft in diameter. The hiking poles to the left are 44" in length

wow thats really cool

[Rockwood]

The biggest one I've collected is something like 3'. This one is a little smaller, but the weathering illustrates the structure fairly well. 

[Kato]

4 minutes ago, Rockwood said:

The biggest one I've collected is something like 3'. This one is a little smaller, but the weathering illustrates the structure fairly well. 

@Rockwood

 

Your pic seems to show it has a somewhat radial pattern? Regardless, what I found exhibits the same patterning but it is like the coral is covered with a brown stain muting the details.

 

My big question is how did you get a 3ft monster home?

[Rockwood]

2 hours ago, Kato said:

My big question is how did you get a 3ft monster home?

It just happened to be where I could use some short planks that were in the truck as a ramp and levers to pry it on to the bed of my pick up truck. It was on a seldom used logging road. One could still get away with that out there in the sticks at the time. 

 

[FranzBernhard]

"Fascinating!" 

Thanks for sharing!

Any chance of going back, taking close-up pics and taking a few small samples?

Favositid or not - its hard to imagine what this big, nearly perfectly circular object "is doing" in this crinoid limestone!

Franz Bernhard

 

[RJB]

Very interesting. 

 

RB

[Kato]

7 hours ago, FranzBernhard said:

"Fascinating!" 

Thanks for sharing!

Any chance of going back, taking close-up pics and taking a few small samples?

Favositid or not - its hard to imagine what this big, nearly perfectly circular object "is doing" in this crinoid limestone!

Franz Bernhard

 

@FranzBernhard

 

I'm planning on getting back to that area later this coming week. At a minimum I will take some close-up photos. Something I really should have done when I was there. 

[Kato]

8 hours ago, FranzBernhard said:

"Fascinating!" 

Thanks for sharing!

Any chance of going back, taking close-up pics and taking a few small samples?

Favositid or not - its hard to imagine what this big, nearly perfectly circular object "is doing" in this crinoid limestone!

Franz Bernhard

 

@FranzBernhard @Rockwood

 

Yesterday, I also came across this coral and my mind may have been blending reef materials together. This is in a different formation than the brown orb but about 100 feet away.

 

 

Turns out I did snap a somewhat poor quality shot of the orb. In this pic it really just looks like a perfectly circular pile of mud. Where I thought I could detect some favositid detail was in the left middle part of this photo where a plant is casting a shadow. That area appears to be the most weathered, worn portion where the overlying light brown material has been removed.

 

 

In this locale the only formation showing is the Nunn Member. It is possible it could be bioherm material which would have all matter of life form in it. The following shows the bioherm formation timeframe from during late stage Alamogordo to the end of the Tierra Blanca which is not present in this locale.

 

 

 

[Rockwood]

Taken from Dinosaur Ridge, west of Denver. 

[Kato]

@FranzBernhard  still nothing conclusive.  

 

The orb without shadows. Seems to show layers of material. Layers seem to overlap from right to left in the following photo or it may be that the left side is more eroded than the right due to distinctly different colors. There is a distinct brown line around boundary. 

 

 

Perhaps a crinoid or two in the middle of it?