Algae?

[jdsmodena]

I'm new to the site and am finally engaging my childhood fascination with fossils with a little hunting.

I found these in the Oregon Buttes area of Wyoming. I think it's some kind of algae, but I'm unsure. The area is known to have been a shallow sea area. In the area there is a lot petrified wood and fossil coral. I have other pieces of the stuff. It might just be a kind of mineral that I am unfamiliar with. Learning as I go.

Any thoughts?

[ashcraft]

Doesn't look like the stromatolites that I am familiar with, they have "growth rings" and often appear similar to petrified wood.

Brent Ashcraft

[Herb]

Maybe carbonized plant residue?

[pleecan]

Does look like algal crud similar to those found in the Silurian deposits in Ontario...

[jdsmodena]

Any idea where I could find pictures of these algal elements in the Silurian deposits. Thanks for sharing thoughts.

[pleecan]

Algal mats look like a featureless black blob that has been flatten... sometimes one can make out some microstructures under magnification... I saw these last week in the field

but did not take any pictures....