KompsFossilsNMinerals Posted March 24, 2021 Share Posted March 24, 2021 Hey everybody, this is a possible fossil I found in June of 2010. The matrix is roughly 6 1/2 CM long, and it was found in Arlington, Virginia in a small stream by an apartment building. If I could get any identification ideas on it I'd be really grateful, even if it isn't a fossil! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KompsFossilsNMinerals Posted March 24, 2021 Author Share Posted March 24, 2021 Here are some closer photos of it as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IsaacTheFossilMan Posted March 24, 2021 Share Posted March 24, 2021 Looks like a mineral vein to me, unfortunately. Maybe some of the more talented eyes here will disagree! 1 ~ Isaac; www.isaactfm.com "Don't move! He can't see us if we don't move!" - Alan Grant Come to the spring that is The Fossil Forum, where the stream of warmth and knowledge never runs dry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted March 24, 2021 Share Posted March 24, 2021 I think root/rhizome is in the running. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KompsFossilsNMinerals Posted March 24, 2021 Author Share Posted March 24, 2021 26 minutes ago, IsaacTheFossilMan said: Looks like a mineral vein to me, unfortunately. Maybe some of the more talented eyes here will disagree! 20 minutes ago, Rockwood said: I think root/rhizome is in the running. Thank you for the replies! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted March 24, 2021 Share Posted March 24, 2021 I think plant is likely, but wouldn't discount trace fossil either. My difficulty with plant is the lack of any kind of detail/structure. 1 1 Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KompsFossilsNMinerals Posted March 24, 2021 Author Share Posted March 24, 2021 3 hours ago, Fossildude19 said: I think plant is likely, but wouldn't discount trace fossil either. My difficulty with plant is the lack of any kind of detail/structure. Yeah, it is definitely hard to ID without any detail... Thanks for the response! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeschWhat Posted March 25, 2021 Share Posted March 25, 2021 It could be my imagination, but I'm seeing evenly space spines? along one edge. I don't know the area, but any chance it could be a spiny arthropod part? 1 Lori www.areallycrappystory.com/fossils www.facebook.com/fossilpoo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted March 25, 2021 Share Posted March 25, 2021 16 minutes ago, GeschWhat said: It could be my imagination, but I'm seeing evenly space spines? along one edge. I don't know the area, but any chance it could be a spiny arthropod part? I don't see all the ones you have outlined, and some of the ones I see are a bit iffy, as to whether they are actually attached to the main line of the fossil. Not sure of the age of sediments in Arlington, VA, though. 1 Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeschWhat Posted March 25, 2021 Share Posted March 25, 2021 1 hour ago, Fossildude19 said: I don't see all the ones you have outlined, and some of the ones I see are a bit iffy, as to whether they are actually attached to the main line of the fossil. Not sure of the age of sediments in Arlington, VA, though. Yeah, it's iffy. I only really see them in the one photo. Could just be the lighting. 1 Lori www.areallycrappystory.com/fossils www.facebook.com/fossilpoo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KompsFossilsNMinerals Posted March 25, 2021 Author Share Posted March 25, 2021 11 hours ago, GeschWhat said: It could be my imagination, but I'm seeing evenly space spines? along one edge. I don't know the area, but any chance it could be a spiny arthropod part? 10 hours ago, Fossildude19 said: I don't see all the ones you have outlined, and some of the ones I see are a bit iffy, as to whether they are actually attached to the main line of the fossil. Not sure of the age of sediments in Arlington, VA, though. 9 hours ago, GeschWhat said: Yeah, it's iffy. I only really see them in the one photo. Could just be the lighting. Thank you for the responses, after a closer look at the piece, I can confirm that those spine-like things are there. The piece was found on the surface level, so I doubt it's very old or remarkable. Almost reminds me of a fossilized thorn stem, not sure though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeschWhat Posted March 26, 2021 Share Posted March 26, 2021 21 hours ago, KompsFossilsNMinerals said: Thank you for the responses, after a closer look at the piece, I can confirm that those spine-like things are there. The piece was found on the surface level, so I doubt it's very old or remarkable. Almost reminds me of a fossilized thorn stem, not sure though. Did you find other fossils in the area? Just wondering because the matrix looks pretty granular. A lot of times it is hard to identify fossils unless you know the geologic age. Since I'm not familiar with the area, I'm of little use in this regard. That said, finding a fossil on the surface doesn't mean it's not old. Here in Minnesota (thanks to glaciers), most of our surface fossils are over 450 million years old. Lori www.areallycrappystory.com/fossils www.facebook.com/fossilpoo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KompsFossilsNMinerals Posted March 26, 2021 Author Share Posted March 26, 2021 Just now, GeschWhat said: Did you find other fossils in the area? Just wondering because the matrix looks pretty granular. A lot of times it is hard to identify fossils unless you know the geologic age. Since I'm not familiar with the area, I'm of little use in this regard. That said, finding a fossil on the surface doesn't mean it's not old. Here in Minnesota (thanks to glaciers), most of our surface fossils are over 450 million years old. To the best of my knowledge, my father and I did not find any fossils or any more fossil-like pieces such as this one. Good point in the last paragraph as well, I forgot about glaciers having an influence on fossil and mineral placements. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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