andreas Posted May 1, 2014 Share Posted May 1, 2014 (edited) Hello On my second fossil trip this year I decided to do a little exploration in an area which was hitherto not visited by me. It didn’t take long and I stumbled over a limestone block that shows the typical lower Carnian (Julian) oxidic hardground crust. I was surprised because the geological map of this area only shows Norian strata. The weathered brown and black, oxidic cauliflowers like structures (by the point of the chisel) within the limestone are microbial reef build-ups of the sessile foraminifera Tolypammina gregaria, WENDT and Frutexites sp. They are a sign for less to zero sedimentation during a very long time. After splitting the block did not show many fossils. Only some orthocone nautiloids were visible. Then I found an ammonoid (Sphingites meriani MOJS.) and therefore I decided to take that block with me and prep out all orthocone nautiloids. Normally my focus is more on ammonoids because they are easier to insert into the Triassic timescale. During prepwork several small lower Carnian ammonoids pulled out. Prep take roughly 30 hours. Ammonoids: Arcestes periolcus MOJS., Monophyllites simonyi HAUER, Dittmarites sp., Sirenites sp., Trachyceras sp., Pompeckjites layeri Nautiloids : Syringoceras sp., Orthoceras triadicum MOJS., Orthoceras dubium(HAUER) Aulacoceras cf. inducens(BRAUN) All prepwork was done with different pneumatic chisels. The orthocone nautiloids mark the direction where the current comes from. All orthocone nautili do not lay in the same limestone horizon. Therefore several different current angles are visible. Edited May 3, 2014 by andreas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted May 1, 2014 Share Posted May 1, 2014 This is an unusual and wonderful piece! Well done! "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! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilized6s Posted May 1, 2014 Share Posted May 1, 2014 Omg! That is Beautiful! Awesome prep job! That looks like a definite FOTM invert nom. ~Charlie~ "There are those that look at things the way they are, and ask why.....i dream of things that never were, and ask why not?" ~RFK ->Get your Mosasaur print ->How to spot a fake Trilobite ->How to identify a CONCRETION from a DINOSAUR EGG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caldigger Posted May 1, 2014 Share Posted May 1, 2014 Nice showy piece Andreas! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted May 1, 2014 Share Posted May 1, 2014 Fantastic, Andreas! Thanks for the report and pictures. Regards, Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwigia Posted May 1, 2014 Share Posted May 1, 2014 Great find and a fine work of art, Andreas! Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger http://www.steinkern.de/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilDAWG Posted May 1, 2014 Share Posted May 1, 2014 Fantastic!! Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted May 1, 2014 Share Posted May 1, 2014 Outstanding! The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustPlainPetrified Posted May 2, 2014 Share Posted May 2, 2014 I have to say...Spectacular! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andreas Posted May 3, 2014 Author Share Posted May 3, 2014 Thank you all for your nice comments! The main ingredients for such a piece are: 1. Very, very much luck to find the block. 2. A little experience with this layers to recognise the potential of the split and 3. lot of patience during prepwork. kind regards Andreas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 Another great piece, Andreas. I am intrigued by the Triassic orthocones - something of a holdover from the Paleozoic? I guess the Cretaceous Baculites were a recurrence of that bodyplan/niche. It's not clear to me what you're pointing to as cauliflower-like brown/black microbial reef..? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andreas Posted May 6, 2014 Author Share Posted May 6, 2014 Another great piece, Andreas. I am intrigued by the Triassic orthocones - something of a holdover from the Paleozoic? I guess the Cretaceous Baculites were a recurrence of that bodyplan/niche. It's not clear to me what you're pointing to as cauliflower-like brown/black microbial reef..? There are several Triassic orthocone genera but I am not very familiar with them. I only know Triassic Orthoceras=Michelinoceras, Atractites and Aulacoceras. They are always mixed with ammonoids on all locations. The brownish rusty crust by the point of the chisel on the first picture is the Ferro-Manganoxid microbial reef. If you could see it in 3D, this build-ups would look like a small cauliflower. It can "grow" up to 1- 3cm hight. The more iron is in the crust the more the colour turns to brown. More Mangan give a black crust. link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 ...The brownish rusty crust by the point of the chisel on the first picture is the Ferro-Manganoxid microbial reef. If you could see it in 3D, this build-ups would look like a small cauliflower. It can "grow" up to 1- 3cm hight. The more iron is in the crust the more the colour turns to brown. More Mangan give a black crust. link This is most interesting; thank you! "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! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 There are several Triassic orthocone genera but I am not very familiar with them. I only know Triassic Orthoceras=Michelinoceras, Atractites and Aulacoceras. They are always mixed with ammonoids on all locations. The brownish rusty crust by the point of the chisel on the first picture is the Ferro-Manganoxid microbial reef. If you could see it in 3D, this build-ups would look like a small cauliflower. It can "grow" up to 1- 3cm hight. The more iron is in the crust the more the colour turns to brown. More Mangan give a black crust. link Are you talking about the tip of chisel in 2nd pic, or 1st, or both? I think I see what you mean in the 2nd... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andreas Posted May 7, 2014 Author Share Posted May 7, 2014 Are you talking about the tip of chisel in 2nd pic, or 1st, or both? I think I see what you mean in the 2nd... In both pictures by the tip of the chisel. In the first pic the crust can be seen on both sides of the dark red limestone that runs through the middle of the block. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted May 8, 2014 Share Posted May 8, 2014 OK I see that but now I'm not sure about the 2nd pic - it runs more horizontally there? D you have any prepped examples of these colonies or is that not possible or not interesting enough? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andreas Posted May 8, 2014 Author Share Posted May 8, 2014 OK I see that but now I'm not sure about the 2nd pic - it runs more horizontally there? D you have any prepped examples of these colonies or is that not possible or not interesting enough? This crust can grow in each direction, also upside down from a ceiling of a small "cave" or similar. Only the growth conditions have to be ok. The best way to prep is cut and polish in different directions. The pics show a weathered talus piece of a lower Norian crust. The nearly black colour is the result of a higher percentage of manganoxid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted May 8, 2014 Share Posted May 8, 2014 Thanks, I can see it in that piece! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted May 8, 2014 Share Posted May 8, 2014 Very nice piece... what do you coat the fossils with at the end? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andreas Posted May 9, 2014 Author Share Posted May 9, 2014 Very nice piece... what do you coat the fossils with at the end? I coat them with a professional product that re-enhances the colour. The name is Lithofin. You can remove it with aceton. I started with this produkt 15 years ago, but it seems to me that the forerunner of this produkt was better then the recent version. So I think about a change. For my kind of preparation I need a coating which is fairly acid proof because I paint the matrix after prep with HCL to remove the chiselmarks and to get back the natural colour of the limestone. kind regards Andreas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr_ed Posted May 13, 2014 Share Posted May 13, 2014 Wow Andreas, you certainly are a master of fossil prep. I wish there was some way I could get a piece to you just to marvel at what you can do with it. I am well aware of the difficulties that you have to overcome. I have the material to work with but I need knowledge and tools.. and your artistic touch. That is a fantastic piece Andreas. Thanks for sharing .. that gives me more reason to get the proper tools and learning to use them well. Cheers Ed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr_ed Posted May 13, 2014 Share Posted May 13, 2014 Hey Andreas are those ammonites above the rock you are pointing to. I am imagining that I see about 10 ammonites that are exposed in that rock above. Are they ammonites .. or am I seeing things? Cheers Ed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andreas Posted May 16, 2014 Author Share Posted May 16, 2014 Wow Andreas, you certainly are a master of fossil prep. I wish there was some way I could get a piece to you just to marvel at what you can do with it. I am well aware of the difficulties that you have to overcome. I have the material to work with but I need knowledge and tools.. and your artistic touch. That is a fantastic piece Andreas. Thanks for sharing .. that gives me more reason to get the proper tools and learning to use them well. Cheers Ed Hey Andreas are those ammonites above the rock you are pointing to. I am imagining that I see about 10 ammonites that are exposed in that rock above. Are they ammonites .. or am I seeing things? Cheers Ed Hi Ed! Years ago I started prep work without skills and help too. Just start with low grade pieces an try it. Learning by doing is the best way. But lock your best finds a few years into your storage before you prep them. You are right, there are ammonoids and many gastropods in the rock above the chisel. But they didn't split well. Cut and polish is the best way to prep such things. A friend is doing this for me. kind regards Andreas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old dead things Posted May 16, 2014 Share Posted May 16, 2014 Awesome. If I found something like that, they'd find me dead next to it from a heart attack, but I'd have a big grin on my face, WOW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimTh Posted May 19, 2014 Share Posted May 19, 2014 Wow. That's amazing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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