CrimsonNight Posted May 9, 2021 Share Posted May 9, 2021 I have no Earthly idea on what this is. Is it even a fossil? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lone Hunter Posted May 9, 2021 Share Posted May 9, 2021 Petrified wood maybe? Pictures be of the ends would be helpful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwigia Posted May 9, 2021 Share Posted May 9, 2021 I think that it's just a small piece of shale. 1 Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger http://www.steinkern.de/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted May 9, 2021 Share Posted May 9, 2021 Reminds me of the carbon rich shales found near coal and graphite mines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tetradium Posted May 9, 2021 Share Posted May 9, 2021 3 hours ago, Ludwigia said: I think that it's just a small piece of shale. Maybe better picture is needed. I had seen North Dakota wood that had been compressed into shale/charcoal. The fossils in background is a clue to ocean environment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrimsonNight Posted May 9, 2021 Author Share Posted May 9, 2021 5 hours ago, Tetradium said: Maybe better picture is needed. I had seen North Dakota wood that had been compressed into shale/charcoal. The fossils in background is a clue to ocean environment. I found these in the Alafia river, which could have been ocean in the past, other things found nearby were Giant tortoise scute, Giant beaver incisor, tiger shark, and lemon shark teeth. I thought it was petrified wood, but I am not sure either. Here are the side pics you all asked for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lone Hunter Posted May 9, 2021 Share Posted May 9, 2021 Hmm, that side is interesting, I'm still with wood or whatever Rockwood says it is Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fifbrindacier Posted May 9, 2021 Share Posted May 9, 2021 It looks like wood to me either. "On ne voit bien que par le coeur, l'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux." (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry) "We only well see with the heart, the essential is invisible for the eyes." In memory of Doren Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Pristis Posted May 9, 2021 Share Posted May 9, 2021 It's petrified wood which is river-stained. 1 http://pristis.wix.com/the-demijohn-page What seest thou else In the dark backward and abysm of time? ---Shakespeare, The Tempest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted May 9, 2021 Share Posted May 9, 2021 33 minutes ago, Harry Pristis said: It's petrified wood which is river-stained. Gee, Harry, I don't think I'd be swimming in a river that did that to it. What makes you say that ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Pristis Posted May 9, 2021 Share Posted May 9, 2021 1 minute ago, Rockwood said: Gee, Harry, I don't think I'd be swimming in a river that did that to it. What makes you say that ? Long experience with river-stained wood. http://pristis.wix.com/the-demijohn-page What seest thou else In the dark backward and abysm of time? ---Shakespeare, The Tempest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tetradium Posted May 9, 2021 Share Posted May 9, 2021 Its petrified wood for 100% sure. A little chuck of a massive log if the rings are that straight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted May 9, 2021 Share Posted May 9, 2021 4 minutes ago, Harry Pristis said: Long experience with river-stained wood. But, where is the wood structure ? Inferred from experience ? We need to see this dry at the very least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lone Hunter Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 (edited) Do hardwoods preserve better than softwoods or does it matter? If a peice of wood tumbled around in sandy water for eons isn't it possible all the wood characteristics were literally sanded away? It looks similar to this petrified Cypress. Edited May 10, 2021 by Lone Hunter 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FranzBernhard Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 (edited) 11 hours ago, Lone Hunter said: Do hardwoods preserve better than softwoods or does it matter? Its vice-versa. At least in many terrestrial environments, soft wood (spruce, pine) is more resistant to biogenic decay than hardwood (oak, beech). It may depend on the resin content. Interestingly, also most jets are attributed to soft wood (angiosperm wood), but this might be another twist of the story. Edit: Well, there was no gymnosperm wood around the time most jets formed... 11 hours ago, Lone Hunter said: If a peice of wood tumbled around in sandy water for eons isn't it possible all the wood characteristics were literally sanded away? Its not the tumbling (it only abrades the wood), the wood structure will be destroyed by biogenic activity and/or by a process called gelification. Franz Bernhard Edited May 10, 2021 by FranzBernhard 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 39 minutes ago, FranzBernhard said: the wood structure will be destroyed by biogenes activity and/or by a process called gelification. Isn't it unusual for the linear nature and right angles to be so rounded and wavy ? As shown this hasn't overcome that first round of shale like photos yet in my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FranzBernhard Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 (edited) @Rockwood, I just wanted to say that wood structure / growth rings / wood grain is not destroyed by the abrasive action of sediment-laden water (tumbling), but by bio(geo)chemical processes. Concerning the particular specimen, the first pics look like shale, the further pics more like wood (I even get a xylite feeling...). I don´t know what it is. And it does not look particularly strongly tumbled. Franz Bernhard Edited May 10, 2021 by FranzBernhard 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 For those thinking this is shale, consider where it was found. I agree this looks more like a piece of river stained petrified wood. 2 The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darrow Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 (edited) The fracture patterns and the tight and very regular uniform wavy pattern in the grain that’s visible along the side make me think this piece may be ivory... a proboscidean tusk fragment. Given its size in your hand, does it feel heavy like a piece of chert or does it feel more light weight like a piece of wood or plastic? Note the piece looks somewhat fragile and unstable based on what looks like active cracking and loose fragments in this view. This is typical of fossil ivory preservation in South East Texas and not at all like petrified wood in the area which is basically very solid stable chunks of chert. Edited May 10, 2021 by darrow 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lone Hunter Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 7 hours ago, FranzBernhard said: @Rockwood, I just wanted to say that wood structure / growth rings / wood grain is not destroyed by the abrasive action of sediment-laden water (tumbling), but by bio(geo)chemical processes. Concerning the particular specimen, the first pics look like shale, the further pics more like wood (I even get a xylite feeling...). I don´t know what it is. And it does not look particularly strongly tumbled. Franz Bernhard Just clarifying I said that not Rockwood, he probably knows better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 @darrow makes a good case for ivory with the rotated image and subtle evidence of schreger lines on the end grain. The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Pristis Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 Here are some examples of petrified (apatite) wood from a river. Note there is a variety of overall form, but the stream abrasion typically follows and exposes the wood grain. 4 3 1 http://pristis.wix.com/the-demijohn-page What seest thou else In the dark backward and abysm of time? ---Shakespeare, The Tempest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 9 hours ago, darrow said: The fracture patterns and the tight and very regular uniform wavy pattern in the grain that’s visible along the side make me think this piece may be ivory... a proboscidean tusk fragment. This I can see. Still would like the views dry though. No. I guess I couldn't before. It's been the first tag. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrimsonNight Posted May 12, 2021 Author Share Posted May 12, 2021 @Rockwood @Harry Pristis @darrow @FranzBernhard Here is a few more pics of the "piece" dried. I am not sure but the square end looks like it might had schreger lines 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted May 12, 2021 Share Posted May 12, 2021 Now you're cook'in ! Tusk. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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