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Some Micros From The Windom Shale


Mediospirifer

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I've been experimenting with breaking down some Windom Shale from Penn-Dixie, and I think I have some ostracods:

post-12648-0-20196300-1389681975_thumb.jpg post-12648-0-15021100-1389681970_thumb.jpg post-12648-0-45007400-1389681964_thumb.jpg post-12648-0-47385200-1389681972_thumb.jpg

I have a few other interesting bits, too.

Are these echinoid spines, micro-belemnite bits, or something else?

post-12648-0-95951800-1389681967_thumb.jpg post-12648-0-39705900-1389681978_thumb.jpg post-12648-0-79128600-1389681960_thumb.jpg

And then there's this object:

post-12648-0-97111900-1389681979_thumb.jpg

That's a small sampling. I also have found lots of brachiopod pieces, which is not surprising. The shale is rich in macrofossils, especially brachiopods, trilobites, horn corals, and occasional straight cephalopods.

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Yes. The first row are ostracods, maybe a piece of Quasillites in the second photo. Your last photo in the post was very interesting (I assume it has a knob on the top projecting towards the viewer?). I have found those in other Devonian sediments and but don't know what it is. If you find out, please let me know.

Collecting Microfossils - a hobby concerning much about many of the little

paraphrased from Dr. Robert Kesling's book

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Yes. The first row are ostracods, maybe a piece of Quasillites in the second photo. Your last photo in the post was very interesting (I assume it has a knob on the top projecting towards the viewer?). I have found those in other Devonian sediments and but don't know what it is. If you find out, please let me know.

I didn't notice any knobs. I've seen a few of these in the Genundewa limestone I've been looking at from the same area (Upper Devonian, from Penn-Dixie). At the moment, I'm cataloging them as possible coprolites. :P

If I learn differently, I'll post about it.

Thanks for confirming the ostracods. My first finds! :D

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I should say, my first ostracods. My first micro-finds were foraminiferans, and my first macrofossil was a spiriferid brachiopod. I was 7 or 8 years old: "Daddy! Look! This rock has a seashell in it!!" :D

There's another strange object from this shale that I'll take pictures of tonight. I spotted it in a larger piece of rock, after I had shut down my computer for the night. It's roughly asterisk (*) shaped, with six regularly spaced radial bars. I'll be interested to see if anyone knows what it is!

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Nice specimens and pictures. How are you breaking down the shale?

Marco Sr.

Hydrogen peroxide. This shale is actually soft enough to split and almost crumble with my bare hands.

I read a post on microfossil preparation that described drying the shale thoroughly before adding it to a dish of peroxide; I tried this by putting a clean ceramic plate in the oven during dinner preparations (400oF), then putting my shale chips on the plate after taking it out and letting it stand for 5 minutes or so--until the plate was cool enough to pick up comfortably bare-handed, but still hot.

The peroxide bath bubbled nicely, so I figured it was working.

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Hydrogen peroxide. This shale is actually soft enough to split and almost crumble with my bare hands.

I read a post on microfossil preparation that described drying the shale thoroughly before adding it to a dish of peroxide; I tried this by putting a clean ceramic plate in the oven during dinner preparations (400oF), then putting my shale chips on the plate after taking it out and letting it stand for 5 minutes or so--until the plate was cool enough to pick up comfortably bare-handed, but still hot.

The peroxide bath bubbled nicely, so I figured it was working.

If the H2O2 is bubbling it is working. I have tried H2O2 on hard shale and it hasn't worked at all. Weathered shale can be pretty soft and can actually be broken down with H2O2 or hot water at times.

Marco Sr.

"Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day."

My family fossil website     Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros     My Extant Shark Jaw Collection

image.png.9a941d70fb26446297dbc9dae7bae7ed.png image.png.41c8380882dac648c6131b5bc1377249.png

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Here's the mystery piece from my Windom chips:

post-12648-0-66209800-1389755511_thumb.jpg

The bar from lower left to upper right is about 3mm long.

Anyone recognize this?

Does the 'W' in 'Windom' also stand for 'Weird'? :P

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If the H2O2 is bubbling it is working. I have tried H2O2 on hard shale and it hasn't worked at all. Weathered shale can be pretty soft and can actually be broken down with H2O2 or hot water at times.

Marco Sr.

The Windom shale I've handled varies in hardness. I've seen some fairly solid blocks, and I've picked up chunks that basically went to flakes in my hands. The pieces I'm currently working on are at the softer end of the spectrum.

What would you recomend for breaking down harder shale?

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The Windom shale I've handled varies in hardness. I've seen some fairly solid blocks, and I've picked up chunks that basically went to flakes in my hands. The pieces I'm currently working on are at the softer end of the spectrum.

What would you recomend for breaking down harder shale?

A hammer. Unless you have a lab environment where you can use 30% H2O2 or industrial solvents or liquid nitrogen safely, not much else works at home for hard shale.

Marco Sr.

"Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day."

My family fossil website     Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros     My Extant Shark Jaw Collection

image.png.9a941d70fb26446297dbc9dae7bae7ed.png image.png.41c8380882dac648c6131b5bc1377249.png

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A hammer. Unless you have a lab environment where you can use 30% H2O2 or industrial solvents or liquid nitrogen safely, not much else works at home for hard shale.

Marco Sr.

Right.

I'm not a chemist, but I work in a chemistry lab as support staff. The people I work with use lots of liquid nitrogen, and I'll bet they'd be willing to loan me a small dewar to soak shale chips in, as well as advise me on any procedures I might need to know about besides gloves and safety glasses. I assume it's preferred to pour the LN2 over the shale, rather than the other way around?

Thanks!

I'm sure I could use a corner of a fume hood for my prepping. I'm not even thinking of trying to use LN2 at home.

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Here's the mystery piece from my Windom chips:

attachicon.gifIMG_6409.JPG

The bar from lower left to upper right is about 3mm long.

Anyone recognize this?

Does the 'W' in 'Windom' also stand for 'Weird'? :P

Personally, I would venture a guess as a sponge spicule.

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Nice close-ups.

The first ostracod is a hollinid, possibly Hollinella sp.

Context is critical.

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Thanks for the ID suggestions, guys!

Sponge spicule, hmm? I wouldn't have thought of that! I know there are Devonian glass sponges, but I wasn't expecting anything similar from the Windom.

I found it almost accidentally--last night, on a whim, I put the plate of drying matrix pieces under the scope just to see if there was anything interesting visible before I dumped it all into another peroxide bath. I'm glad I took a minute to look!!

I'm now looking over the rest of my larger pieces, checking for any other highly-fragile micros before breaking down further. I've found a few--and a lot more ostracods!

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Personally, I would venture a guess as a sponge spicule.

This is my first thought as well.

"There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant

“Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley

>Paleontology is an evolving science.

>May your wonders never cease!

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Right.

I'm not a chemist, but I work in a chemistry lab as support staff. The people I work with use lots of liquid nitrogen, and I'll bet they'd be willing to loan me a small dewar to soak shale chips in, as well as advise me on any procedures I might need to know about besides gloves and safety glasses. I assume it's preferred to pour the LN2 over the shale, rather than the other way around?

Thanks!

I'm sure I could use a corner of a fume hood for my prepping. I'm not even thinking of trying to use LN2 at home.

I've sent you a PM with a PDF that will explain how to use liquid nitrogen for matrix breakdown. If you haven't worked with liquid nitrogen before, please have someone in your lab who has, help you with this. Liquid Nitrogen will take the natural freeze thaw process to the extremes. Let me know how this works for you. It is very quick and efficient and shouldn't damage your micro fossils. Do not attempt this at home.

Marco Sr.

"Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day."

My family fossil website     Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros     My Extant Shark Jaw Collection

image.png.9a941d70fb26446297dbc9dae7bae7ed.png image.png.41c8380882dac648c6131b5bc1377249.png

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I've sent you a PM with a PDF that will explain how to use liquid nitrogen for matrix breakdown. If you haven't worked with liquid nitrogen before, please have someone in your lab who has, help you with this. Liquid Nitrogen will take the natural freeze thaw process to the extremes. Let me know how this works for you. It is very quick and efficient and shouldn't damage your micro fossils. Do not attempt this at home.

Marco Sr.

I'm not even considering trying anything with LN2 at home. I don't need frostbite!

I have handled dewars of LN2 and poured it, so I'm not a complete novice. If and when I have a matrix that needs this treatment, I will consult with someone who has more experience about safe handling before I do anything. I don't have any matrix that needs it yet, but I may collect some in the next few months. I'll let you know how this works out when I try it.

Thanks!

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I'm not even considering trying anything with LN2 at home. I don't need frostbite!

I have handled dewars of LN2 and poured it, so I'm not a complete novice. If and when I have a matrix that needs this treatment, I will consult with someone who has more experience about safe handling before I do anything. I don't have any matrix that needs it yet, but I may collect some in the next few months. I'll let you know how this works out when I try it.

Thanks!

I sent you the PDF because you work in a lab and will follow all the safe handling procedures for using liquid nitrogen. When I Google fossil topics a lot of times TFF posts come up. I just wanted to make sure any one else reading my post didn't try this at home although they really shouldn't be able to get the liquid nitrogen in the first place. Good luck.

Marco Sr.

"Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day."

My family fossil website     Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros     My Extant Shark Jaw Collection

image.png.9a941d70fb26446297dbc9dae7bae7ed.png image.png.41c8380882dac648c6131b5bc1377249.png

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I sent you the PDF because you work in a lab and will follow all the safe handling procedures for using liquid nitrogen. When I Google fossil topics a lot of times TFF posts come up. I just wanted to make sure any one else reading my post didn't try this at home although they really shouldn't be able to get the liquid nitrogen in the first place. Good luck.

Marco Sr.

Thanks!

I fully agree with stressing safety. There isn't a fossil on this planet that's worth anyone losing fingers, let alone worse.

And I've noticed how often TFF comes up in Google when you're searching for a specific fossil--that's how I found the Forum, and after the 3rd or 4th time that TFF provided the answer I was looking for, I decided to join and follow. :D

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An update:

I've seen an identification book (Treatise of Invertebrate Paleontology Part W: Conodonts & Miscellanea) that showed a figure that looks a lot like my second row of photos. I think they're conoidal shells of the types called Calyptoptomatids, specifically Sulcavitus sp.

Just thought I'd share! :D

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