Mahantango/ Juniata 3 - Trace Fossils In Green Shale

[hitekmastr]

This is the third in our Juniata trip series - this one is a trace fossil that Nancy thinks represents water drops that hit the mud eons ago and were preserved. We'd like more opinions. We collected this piece because of the artistic pattern and the really great green color of the shale.

There is a bit of trivia involved in this piece, by the way - the orange blotch in the upper corner looks to us like a bit of trilobite skin and when the full "blotch" is visible, the texture and pores are more evident. We did in fact collect some trilobites and "pieces" on this trip and will share those in the next in this series.

[Auspex]

I don't know what caused the pattern, but I think not raindrops; the are very, very large for that, and rather flat-bottomed compared to any I've seen. I suspect some odd diagenetic process.

[jpc]

I agree... spalling, not raindrops.