Some Unknowns From South Coast: Crinoid & Seaweed

[Rick_Jo]

1) Some kind of Crinoid?

2) Another Crinoid?

3) I may be tempted to put this in the Glossopteris basket but it was found along side Eurydesma Fauna and would be more inclined towards some find of seaweed?

4) Another example of the seaweed

[Rockwood]

Are you thinking natural casts of the crinoids? The similarity to the material of the matrix would have me thinking trace fossil.

[Wrangellian]

The presence of carbon would have me thinking plant material, but that one does look like a trace.

[Paleoworld-101]

Hi fellow Wollongong fossil hunter (i'm at Stanwell Park)!

What fossil sites do you know of near wollongong? Perhaps we could share localities, i know of two spots (one at Wollongong, the other less than 20 mins away) . Also a few others further down the south coast and also up north near Sydney.

As for your specimens, my best guess would be a crinoid trace fossil and the "seaweed" thing literally just looks like a stain of carbon, from a plant of some kind i'm guessing. The detail is lacking however so you probably won't get a better ID.

[Rick_Jo]

Hi fellow Wollongong fossil hunter (i'm at Stanwell Park)!

What fossil sites do you know of near wollongong? Perhaps we could share localities, i know of two spots (one at Wollongong, the other less than 20 mins away) . Also a few others further down the south coast and also up north near Sydney.

As for your specimens, my best guess would be a crinoid trace fossil and the "seaweed" thing literally just looks like a stain of carbon, from a plant of some kind i'm guessing. The detail is lacking however so you probably won't get a better ID.

Thanks for the replies, yes I think you are right about the first two being trace fossils. The plant fossils may be harder to ID as you are right there is no detail. However it is interesting that both specimens are similar yet found in two different locations (100m apart) so it must be a similar species.

Do you know much about glossopteris Paleoworld? Today I went for a walk up your end around the cliffs from Wombarra to the sea cliff bridge (alot of rock hopping) and came across quite a few Glossoptris fossils and carbon remains (no leaves though). Will attach some for you to check out.

Do you know what the 'star' pattern is? Is it simply a Vertebraria cross section? I found quite a few example of this.

I am based in Thirroul, in the process of exploring the entire south coast and know of a few good locations that I would be happy to share (sure you already know them). I am new geology & fossils so would be keen to talk more.