PRLE Posted June 19, 2022 Share Posted June 19, 2022 A few finds from this weekend. Fortunate enough to have a cottage on Lake Erie, fairly close to Rock Point Provincial Park which is known for it's exposed fossils of a 350 million year old coral reef. About half were found on the beach itself and the other half in the crushed gravel part of the driveway. I'd imagine the beach will keep yielding new finds after every storm, here is hoping for it anyway. 1 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted June 20, 2022 Share Posted June 20, 2022 Nice rugose and tabulate corals. 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...
Darktooth Posted June 20, 2022 Share Posted June 20, 2022 Nice finds! I love the blue coloration. 1 I like Trilo-butts and I cannot lie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted June 20, 2022 Share Posted June 20, 2022 More blue fossils! There is a topic "show your colorful fossils"... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PRLE Posted June 20, 2022 Author Share Posted June 20, 2022 38 minutes ago, Darktooth said: Nice finds! I love the blue coloration. Blue is my favorite fossil color. (Can one have a favorite fossil color? lol) I originally joined 6 years ago and somebody on the site told me the likely quarry they came from. I am finding these on the beach as well. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted June 20, 2022 Share Posted June 20, 2022 Some of those might benefit from some cutting/polishing. I wouldn't go overboard, though, and I'd be nervous as to which one to choose to work on... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamieLynn Posted June 20, 2022 Share Posted June 20, 2022 neat finds! I want to be in a cottage on Lake Erie right about now.... This one is really spectacular: 1 1 3 www.fossil-quest.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimravis Posted June 20, 2022 Share Posted June 20, 2022 Great finds and pictures, thanks for posting. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PRLE Posted June 20, 2022 Author Share Posted June 20, 2022 (edited) 18 hours ago, Wrangellian said: Some of those might benefit from some cutting/polishing. I wouldn't go overboard, though, and I'd be nervous as to which one to choose to work on... Honestly, I wouldn't know where to start. The closest I got to working on a fossil was throwing a couple of them in a rock tumbler (that I got off Amazon). Well, patience not being my strongest suit, i cut the tumbling time by half. No effect on the fossils lol. It was the two in the picture below. I was sort of hoping to remove the "rock casing" and expose the crystalized fossil. Didn't work Edited June 20, 2022 by PRLE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted June 20, 2022 Share Posted June 20, 2022 (edited) A tumbler won't remove just the matrix. It only wears down the outer points and gives it a polish, though I guess softer parts would tend to wear down faster and probably won't polish as well, but if your corals are silicified they will polish well. To free the fossil from matrix an airscribe would be better, or an air abrasive setup if the matrix is softer, but it might be too much trouble for these bits unless it's something you end up doing for the love of it rather than economics.... Join your local rockhound club, they will likely be able to set you up with saws, grinders, flat laps, etc (prob not an airscribe) - they might have a workshop with all this, like ours does. I haven't really been taking advantage of our club's equipment but I intend to either use their flat lap or get my own set up soon, to work on cut faces. Edited June 21, 2022 by Wrangellian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PRLE Posted June 26, 2022 Author Share Posted June 26, 2022 This weekend's haul. Spent about 10 minutes all told turning rocks over. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PRLE Posted June 26, 2022 Author Share Posted June 26, 2022 One more 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PRLE Posted July 3, 2022 Author Share Posted July 3, 2022 Canada Day long weekend. and we just got home. Was able to spend a bit more time looking for fossils. As usual just corals. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PRLE Posted July 3, 2022 Author Share Posted July 3, 2022 I did notice that the retaining wall is made up of rock with fossils in it. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PRLE Posted July 11, 2022 Author Share Posted July 11, 2022 (edited) Some of the nicer finds so far, cleaned and put on a shelf. Edited July 12, 2022 by PRLE 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidgy's Dad Posted July 13, 2022 Share Posted July 13, 2022 Very nice. The blue and orange colours really set these apart. Life's Good! Tortoise Friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilDAWG Posted July 13, 2022 Share Posted July 13, 2022 These corals are almost certainly from the Edgecliffe Member of the Onondaga Formation (Devonian). Years ago I collected some blocks of limestone with corals from the area near (but not in) Rock Point Point Provincial Park. I noticed that the corals had been replaced by silica, which is what gives them their beautiful colors. I was able to etch many of the corals from the limestone using dilute acetic or hydrochloric (sold as "muriatic") acid. You should be aware though that the corals are very fragile, and they lose their color and become grey, when etched from the limestone. That was fine for me as I wanted to be able to see the fine structure for research purposes, but the corals are more esthetic before the acid etching. Don 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PRLE Posted July 13, 2022 Author Share Posted July 13, 2022 @FossilDAWG The cottage is around 12 km west as the crow flies from Rock Point Provincial Park. I've camped at Rock Point several times in the past, as it's fairly close to where I live and it has the large exposed fossil bed. (Picture below from the net). I have found the same type of fossils I am finding in front of the cottage as far west as Long Point on Lake Erie. As to preparing them, I mainly wash them with dish soap, dry and apply Vaseline to bring out the colors/shine. I value the esthetics you mention. due to colors. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PRLE Posted July 25, 2022 Author Share Posted July 25, 2022 A few of this weekend's finds. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PRLE Posted July 25, 2022 Author Share Posted July 25, 2022 Also fossils in rocks too large or awkward to collect 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PRLE Posted August 14, 2022 Author Share Posted August 14, 2022 Found a really (at least to me ) interesting coral fossil yesterday. I wonder if the base was part of the original attachment point or if it fused later on. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PRLE Posted August 14, 2022 Author Share Posted August 14, 2022 Also a couple of suggestive rocks, along with more blue/orange coral fossils. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilSniper Posted August 15, 2022 Share Posted August 15, 2022 I audibly whistled at that agatized tabulate coral! What a gemstone! Great finds, keep us posted! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PRLE Posted August 22, 2022 Author Share Posted August 22, 2022 A few finds from this weekend. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PRLE Posted August 28, 2022 Author Share Posted August 28, 2022 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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