Leaves from Monterey shale, California

[gates]

Found this today, which I think is a fossil of leaves? Thanks!

 

Location:

• Monterey Formation shale, Monterey County, California (Miocene)
• Outside of Carmel Valley, near Garland Ranch, among pea crabs (Pinnixa sp.)

 

Description:

• About an inch and a half in length (I could get exact measurements). 
• It looks like they have a complete margin(?) with a central midrib and veins that alternate. 
• From a single split, so, positive and negative sides.

Edited March 6, 2022 by gates

[Wrangellian]

I can't help you with a precise ID but definitely leaf/leaves.

It looks like you might be able to flake off parts that overlie the leaf on one piece and glue them into place on the other piece, for a nicer-looking split-pair specimen.

[gates]

Thanks! I'll give that some thought. Glad to get confirmation, too.

 

I checked out Berkley's online paleobotany collection (UCMP) and did a simple search. Below are all of the plant species fossils found in Monterey county from the Miocene (Monterey Formation = Miocene). I crossed out the ones that I think it's almost definitely not. I'm assuming it's very likely one of these species, not something new. The number of specimens in the collection of each species is in parentheses.

• Quercus pasadorii (15)
• Persea pseudocarolinensis (8)
• Ocotea perseaformis (5)
• Quercus pollardiana (5)
• Bucida eocenica (3)
• Nectandra presanguinea (2)
• Ocotea ovoidea (1)
• Quercus lakevillensis (1)
• ––––––––––––––––––––––––
• Pinus carmelensis (4)
• Platanus angustilobus (2)
• Sabal miocenica (1)
• Smilax diforma (1)

Several Quercus sp., and interesting that these leaves appear to resemble modern Willow Oak (Q. phellos). A Persea sp. might be a good fit, too, but I'm not sure. Couldn't find a lot on fossils of Ocotea, Bucida, Nectandra.

 

Any recommendations very appreciated!

[siteseer]

If you want a publication on the flora, check this out:

 

Axelrod, D.I.  2000.

A Miocene (10-12 Ma) Evergreen Laurel-Oak Forest from Carmel Valley, California.  University of California Publications Geological Sciences.  Vol. 145.  University of California Press.

 

I recall looking through through that volume at the USGS library in Menlo Park but someone in the government decided the USGS didn't need an excellent reference library.  They sent some of the pubs to Reston and Denver but a lot of it was sold or recycled.  Brilliant.  There were old (as in 1800's) or otherwise difficult to access pubs in that library.  It was a gold mine for information.  I spent a lot of free time reading and photocopying there during the 90's and 2000's. 

[gates]

7 hours ago, siteseer said:

If you want a publication on the flora, check this out:

 

Axelrod, D.I.  2000.

A Miocene (10-12 Ma) Evergreen Laurel-Oak Forest from Carmel Valley, California.  University of California Publications Geological Sciences.  Vol. 145.  University of California Press.

 

I recall looking through through that volume at the USGS library in Menlo Park but someone in the government decided the USGS didn't need an excellent reference library.  They sent some of the pubs to Reston and Denver but a lot of it was sold or recycled.  Brilliant.  There were old (as in 1800's) or otherwise difficult to access pubs in that library.  It was a gold mine for information.  I spent a lot of free time reading and photocopying there during the 90's and 2000's. 

 

Thanks for this! I'll check it out. Guessing there isn't a PDF online?

[Wrangellian]

On 3/6/2022 at 11:34 AM, siteseer said:

I recall looking through through that volume at the USGS library in Menlo Park but someone in the government decided the USGS didn't need an excellent reference library.  They sent some of the pubs to Reston and Denver but a lot of it was sold or recycled.  Brilliant.  There were old (as in 1800's) or otherwise difficult to access pubs in that library.  It was a gold mine for information.  I spent a lot of free time reading and photocopying there during the 90's and 2000's. 

Wow! I can never quite believe it when I hear stories like this, especially in gov't. It's like when I hear someone has gotten rid of their entire LP collection because "LPs are obsolete". Try finding CD or other copies of some of those old/obscure LPs! And they can be digitized. Would the USGS not have digitized copies of everything they want to get rid of? I guess nobody wants to spend all that time/effort? How do they do their research on new specimens/sites without the library?

[siteseer]

On 3/7/2022 at 12:03 PM, Wrangellian said:

Wow! I can never quite believe it when I hear stories like this, especially in gov't. It's like when I hear someone has gotten rid of their entire LP collection because "LPs are obsolete". Try finding CD or other copies of some of those old/obscure LPs! And they can be digitized. Would the USGS not have digitized copies of everything they want to get rid of? I guess nobody wants to spend all that time/effort? How do they do their research on new specimens/sites without the library?

 

When a friend and his dad were moving out of state, they had a dumpster in the driveway the last time I visited before they left.  There was a lot of junk but then I saw albums and some old Star Trek publications.  I told my friend he could sell some of that stuff.  He said it was a pain to do that and that I could have whatever I wanted in there.  The footing didn't look great in the big piles so I just grabbed what I could from the edges.  My nephew loves Star Trek so I grabbed what I saw.  I pulled out some James Bond soundtracks from the 60's and 70's along with other soundtracks of the time ("Dark Star," "A Bridge too Far," "The Producers") and some punk and comedy albums from the late 70's to 80's.  I'm not into punk but I pulled out some of those and there was Bobcat Goldthwaite's album too - couldn't resist that since it was within reach.  There were a ton of old opera programs but I didn't know about opera so I didn't get any of that.  His dad had a radio show about music in the 60's so he had a stuff like that.

 

I sold the punk albums for a few bucks each.  Later, my brother said those could have been worth some money because most had limited runs.  I didn't mind.  I sold them to a guy who ran a collectibles store within a vintage clothing store and both went out of business not long after COVID.  I hope he makes some money with the albums.  I got them for nothing.

 

Years ago, my mom threw out all her and my stepdad's albums.  She had a lot of 60's and 70's pop (Barbara Streisand, Kenny Rogers, Linda Ronstadt) and some big bands from the 40's) and he had some 50's and 60's blues, 60's and 70's rock, and some 60's comedy albums (Mort Sahl, Bob Newhart).  Some of that is hard to find now.

 

The USGS was working on digitizing all of its publications but not any of the others as far as I know.  There's a belief out there that everything is digital now.  No, it's not even close.  The good news is that there are people working on it.  

 

Jess

[siteseer]

On 3/6/2022 at 7:28 PM, gates said:

 

Thanks for this! I'll check it out. Guessing there isn't a PDF online?

 

You can look around but I doubt it.

[Plax]

We are going off topic but I have a few hundred pounds of AAPG journals free for the asking. Some as old as 40s I believe. PM if interested.