Fossil? found on upper Hoh River, Washington gravel bar

[Olypenhiker]

Item found September 5, 2021 on a gravel bar in the middle of Hoh River, Olympic Peninsula, Washington State.  Hoh River is a glacier fed river coming off Mt Olympus.  Item is light gray/green in color, approximately 12 cm long and between 3 to 5.5 cm in diameter.  There are two small protuberances across from each other about 2/3 of the way from one end, and a less prominent lump on the end closest to the protuberances.  The texture is quite porous, with the exception of one face of the item which is smoother, more dense, and shows lengthwise graining. 

[Rockwood]

The look can be related to fossil material. My sense is more that this is ageing volcanic however.

[Olypenhiker]

Thank you Rockwood for your input,

From my limited geology information, I understand the Olympic Mountains to be relatively new from an upheaval event, due to plate shifting and folding.  Sea bed fossils have been found near the top of the the nearly 8,000 foot Mt Olympus.   The uplifted seabed was either sedimentary or volcanic basalt.  The main rocks in the Hoh River valley are of sedimentary types like siltstone, sandstone, chert, much gravel and some clay.  We do observe tumbled basalt occasionally, but in general, volcanic material is noticeably absent.  The item in question is also quite heavy for its size.  

Thank you

[Myrmica]

Yes there are notable fossil sites around the Olympics, mostly Eocene to Miocene but, alas, this is not from those.  It looks like a piece of metamorphosed rock, and any resemblance to anything biological is a coincidence.  

[val horn]

I would have thought it was bone .  It seemed to have both trabecular bone and cortical bone  with shape suggestive of a calcanus.  Pleistocene and more modern bone can be found in a lot  of places and gravel beds.  I sure wouldn’t put money on my bet but I would go to a local museum or university and have it looked at in person.

[Rockwood]

I'll cover that bet. I'm pretty sure that's not bone.

[Tetradium]

2 hours ago, Rockwood said:

I'll cover that bet. I'm pretty sure that's not bone.

Look like you are right. There are abrupt "marrow" projections lumps in weird places. Other than that and the unusual thick "outside of the bone" it at first look so much like a water worn leg bone.