MinnMike Posted November 6, 2007 Share Posted November 6, 2007 I was wondering if there is a way to know if fossils are (hidden) in the rest of the rock, that are not exposed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Siphuncle Posted November 6, 2007 Share Posted November 6, 2007 Mike In some cases with experience you can hidden fossils. Specifically, sometimes when splitting rock you can see fossils covered by a thin layer of matrix. They appear raised a bit above the plane of the rest of the slab and have the outline of the fossil. I've seen this presentation at times with Green River (Eocene) fish in fine grained limestone as well as with Archaeocidaris echinoids in Pennsylvanian shale as well as with certain crinoids in shale. These fossils are best prepped with microabrasives. I do a little bulk sampling from time to time for micro shark teeth and micro echinoids. Seeing a concentration of small, desirable fossils on the surface is cause enough to fill a 5 gallon bucket if it breaks down and screens easily. In general however, fossiling is a game of "what you see is what you get". When someone invents a "mammoth detector" I'll be the first in line to buy one. Grüße, Daniel A. Wöhr aus Südtexas "To the motivated go the spoils." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desmond Posted November 19, 2007 Share Posted November 19, 2007 95% of the time it's what you see is what you get, beyond what you prep out of the rock. But for what's hidden within there are only a few ways I know to see. 1. Acid bath prep (be sure to use a light mixture of vinager and water it takes FOREVER and some stone is more reisistant that a possible fossil inside) 2. Split it, look for a shape and remember you may have split through the center of it so look for outlines. 3. In a VERY few cases the fossil may have a higher or lower density than the stone by a sufficient amout to measure. This is a lot more work than it sounds like and I do not reccomend it. I was experimenting with the same question you posed. I could identify weather a piece of sylvania shale had a significant amount of fossils in it about 80% of the time. I only worked with pieces up to 1lb or so and each piece took about 2 hours to check mathimaticaly. Eventualy I figured out a simple dremel engraver was a LOT faster hehe. So far as I know that's the only ways to "see" inside Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desmond Posted November 19, 2007 Share Posted November 19, 2007 MikeIn some cases with experience you can hidden fossils. Specifically, sometimes when splitting rock you can see fossils covered by a thin layer of matrix. They appear raised a bit above the plane of the rest of the slab and have the outline of the fossil. I've seen this presentation at times with Green River (Eocene) fish in fine grained limestone as well as with Archaeocidaris echinoids in Pennsylvanian shale as well as with certain crinoids in shale. These fossils are best prepped with microabrasives. I do a little bulk sampling from time to time for micro shark teeth and micro echinoids. Seeing a concentration of small, desirable fossils on the surface is cause enough to fill a 5 gallon bucket if it breaks down and screens easily. In general however, fossiling is a game of "what you see is what you get". When someone invents a "mammoth detector" I'll be the first in line to buy one. Hey have you tried taking a gallon milk jug cut the top to an opening about 3-4" across, add a few inches of sample dirt and use the hose w/o a nozle aimed about 30 deg down into the jug. It works great to wash out the residue while watering your garden. Your fossils and any gravel will stay in the jug and the soil will flow out with the water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DD1991 Posted July 12, 2020 Share Posted July 12, 2020 On 11/6/2007 at 1:01 PM, MinnMike said: I was wondering if there is a way to know if fossils are (hidden) in the rest of the rock, that are not exposed? There is a technology called ground-penetrating radar, which uses radar waves to track fossils underneath the earth's surface. It was used in the 1990s to find the nodosaurid Animantarx (see Jones and Burge 1995). Jones, R.D. & Burge, D.L. 1995. Radiological surveying as a method for mapping dinosaur bone sites. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 15: 38A. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Kmiecik Posted July 12, 2020 Share Posted July 12, 2020 On 11/6/2007 at 3:01 PM, MinnMike said: I was wondering if there is a way to know if fossils are (hidden) in the rest of the rock, that are not exposed? The simplest way to know is for me to tell you. Yes, there are fossils hidden in the rest of the rock. Everywhere, the whole world over. Mark. Fossil hunting is easy -- they don't run away when you shoot at them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe_17 Posted July 13, 2020 Share Posted July 13, 2020 why are ancient threads being resurrected ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DPS Ammonite Posted July 13, 2020 Share Posted July 13, 2020 6 minutes ago, Joe_17 said: why are ancient threads being resurrected ? Because at least one member is looking at our old content. Which is a good thing. Even if the original poster doesn’t reply, the conversation is moved forward. 1 My goal is to leave no stone or fossil unturned. See my Arizona Paleontology Guide link The best single resource for Arizona paleontology anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randyw Posted July 13, 2020 Share Posted July 13, 2020 11 minutes ago, Joe_17 said: why are ancient threads being resurrected ? ain’t nothing wrong with that. It’s just new members going through Older posts and responding to them. I for one like to see the older posts from before my time coming up for me to read. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordTrilobite Posted July 14, 2020 Share Posted July 14, 2020 A lot of the times old links will be broken. Topics will often also be outdated due to new information. I'm not a fan of digging up old threads unless there is a good reason. 1 Olof Moleman AKA Lord Trilobite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sjfriend Posted July 14, 2020 Share Posted July 14, 2020 Sometimes we get going flipping through the posts and don't always notice we gone back in time lol Plus with all this extra free time that we should be out in the field we have more time to dig up old post instead of old rocks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EMP Posted July 14, 2020 Share Posted July 14, 2020 Yes there is a way depending on the preservation of the fossil. I know that x-rays have been used to find pyritized trilobites in the Beecher's Bed out in New York, and similar techniques could be used to identify fossils in rock as long as the fossils are permineralized and there is sufficient density difference between the fossils and the host rock. Images taken of trilobites using x-ray: https://web.archive.org/web/20080706031322/http://www.amherst.edu/~jwhagadorn/research/beechers.html Use of x-rays on fruits from the London Clay: https://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/cjb-2016-0078 Use of x-rays on pyritized graptolites from the UK: https://pygs.lyellcollection.org/content/58/2/129 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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