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Stone City Formation Microfossil Dirt


silverphoenix

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I started out collecting it to go through when days are going slow, but there's only so much of it I can go through, and it'd be nice to look through material from other places. Anyways, this is from the Stone City formation, Burleson county, Texas--Eocene period. I have the microfossil soil in 1 gallon bags, it's been sifted through 1/2" wire mesh and then 1/4" wire mesh onto a window screen, then shook to get the dust and fine particles out. I bag it on site and throw in whatever gets caught in the sifter because I plan to go through it later. I only pull out the extremely rare stuff that gets caught in the screen like the large shark tooth I found today. The bags are not marked, so I'm trading the same quality I go through myself.

I have about 20 lbs reserved for someone that's being shipped this week and I was wondering if, while I'm at it, anyone would like to trade microfossil dirt from their site for some from the Stone City Formation.

Here's some pictures of the shell strata I dig the microfossil soil out of--the soil all comes from this strata because most of the microfossils and teeth are in there.

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Silverphoenix,

I'd love to trade some of your bulk material for my mid-Miocene Hawthorne Formation material from north central Florida. Let me know if you are interested. This stuff is sandy loam with some Ocala limestone pebbles. Small fossils of this formation include Carcharhinus, Negaprion, Rhizoprionodon, Ginglymostoma, Pristiophorus (rostral teeth), Rhynchobatus, Dasyatis, Raja, bony fishes of Sparidae (cf. Sargus sp.), Sciaenidae (cf. Pogonias cromis), and Lepisosteidae. Inverts include mostly just claw fragments from a family of burrowing ghost shrimp.

Just let me know!

Happy Holidays,

Jason

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Hey Silverphoenix, ive got a small sample of shell matrix from a London Eocene deposit. The fossil matrix is completly washed, containing mainly shell fragments and flint pebbles. The site is world famous and contains many shark teeth (mainly sand shark) ray teeth (mainly guitar fish) over 25 species of clam and gastropod. There are lots of other rarer things, who knows whats there until you search it.

check this out it gives a good overview of the fossils that could be found http://www.trg.org/downloads/fossils%20of%20abbey%20wood.pdf.

I would love a small sample of your 'Stone City Fm.' material. Maybe 5-8 ounces of washed* material. thats the only issue is that the sent material would need to be washed, so that all the dirt/soil is gone as the Australian Quaranteen has issues with soil as it can contain seeds and plant material. If it does they wont let it through and it will just be a waste of both money and perfectly good fossiliferous dirt!! if its possible to just stick some material on a small seive and give it a slight wash with a hose leaving only the fossiliferous 'concentrate' that would be awesome. But if its too much trouble just say so, no problems!

"Turn the fear of the unknown into the excitment of possibility!"


We dont stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing.

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I'll see what I can do---I can try letting the dirt sit in water for a while, then washing---as it is, there's a ton of little dirt clumps left behind after I wash. I'll let you know by next week--I'll do some experimentation this weekend separating the fossils from the soil---are you sure there's not a way to get around them or to make sure they don't check the package?

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Silverphoenix,

The following is a procedure many labs use for separating fossils from glaconitic marls such as the Stone City Formation.

First you dry the material in an oven at about 220-230 F for about 24-48 hours (or until the material is dry). Then pour Varsol over the material until they are covered. They need to soak up all the Varsol they can hold. Let sit for several hours. Then pour off the excess varsol. Now pour boiling hot water over the material until they are covered with hot water. At this point the lumps of marl will disintergrate into a fine mud. Now you can seive the material through a fine screen mesh like a fine window screen mesh wire. The fossil materials will be retained on the screen. At this point I always washed the fossil material retained on the screen with warm soapy water to remove the last of the Varsol which can have a strong odor.

JKFoam

The Eocene is my favorite

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I was going to say Varsol, but thanks for the detailed instructions. I knew Varsol would work, but did know the details.

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Does home depot sell varsol? Thanks for the info, I'll have to try doing this--will the fossils be harmed at all in the process?

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Silverphoenix,

No, the fossils will not be damaged by this procedure unless the drying temperature gets too high (then you start to slake the lime). The important thing is to get the dirt lumps totally dry. If they are not dry then the varsol cannot penetrate and do what it does when you add the hot water.

If Home Depot doesn't have Varsol then other Hardware or paint stores will have it.

Google "Varsol" to get the latest info on the use and handling of Varsol. Best I remember it is a paint thinner so I would not use it in an enclosed space and I would keep it away from open flames.

JKFoam

The Eocene is my favorite

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I'll see what I can do---I can try letting the dirt sit in water for a while, then washing---as it is, there's a ton of little dirt clumps left behind after I wash. I'll let you know by next week--I'll do some experimentation this weekend separating the fossils from the soil---are you sure there's not a way to get around them or to make sure they don't check the package?

They pretty much open everything that is assosiated with fossils... its not so much the soil that is the issue, its seeds and what not...im sure it will be o.k if the majority is not soil, a few lumps should be ok as long is its dry. But seriously, if its too much of an issue dont worry about it!

Cheers

"Turn the fear of the unknown into the excitment of possibility!"


We dont stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing.

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I'll see what I can do---if it's too much trouble, I'll let you know, but I'm going to try some methods out anyhow.

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