Jump to content

North Carolina Planolites


John Hamilton

Recommended Posts

The rain here in North Carolina gave me a bad case of cabin fever yesterday so I decided to jump in the car and drive out to a location that based on my limited knowledge should be Triassic in age. My original intent was just to collect some loose matrix to process for micro fossils but once I started looking around I couldn't resist the urge to hit something with my rock hammer. Needless to say it didn't take me long to realize that my simple rock hammer was just not going to work on most of the rocks but I was able to walk away with a couple of interesting pieces. I believe two of the pieces contain Planolites and the other two I am no sure of. I will attempt to post some photos as soon as I can get them cleaned up.

I was also curious if any of the Forum members might have photos of Planolite specimens they have collected and could possibly post.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey John, look forward to see what you are messing with. I dont have any Planolites examples but Scott put me onto this document some time back which has both Planolites from California and a Skolithos which I did find. He pegged the ID for me. Maybe there are some photos in there that have some relevance for your finds.

PLANOLITES AND SKOLITHOS FROM THE UPPER PRECAMBRIAN-LOWER CAMBRIAN, WHITE-INYO MOUNTAINS, CALIFORNIA

STEPHEN P. ALPERT
Reprinted from JOURNAL OF PALEONTOLOGY
Vol. 49, No. 3, May 1975
* pp. 508-521

Regards, Chris

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was also curious if any of the Forum members might have photos of Planolite specimens they have collected and could possibly post.

Nice to see this ichnofossil being discussed here. It's hard for it to get attention among all the flashier fossils. ;)

I posted some photos of a Middle Devonian specimen I collected last year in the following thread:

http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/38819-middle-devonian-worm-burrow/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have to apologize for starting a thread and taking so long to post photos but I finally had time to take a few pictures of what I beleive to be Planolites from the Triassic, Sanford Basin of North Carolina.

Specimen # 1 - the Planolites all appear to be in a vertical orientation and of somewhat uniform diameter

post-6248-0-08119000-1417198000_thumb.jpg post-6248-0-94603800-1417198001_thumb.jpg

Specimen # 2 - the Planolites are both vertically and horizontally oriented

post-6248-0-26616700-1417197995_thumb.jpg post-6248-0-75388900-1417197996_thumb.jpg post-6248-0-96601100-1417197997_thumb.jpg

Specimen # 3 - I am not sure what this might be if anything at all

post-6248-0-58232800-1417197992_thumb.jpg post-6248-0-45380400-1417198003_thumb.jpg post-6248-0-07995700-1417198005_thumb.jpg

I hope to make a trip back to this area tomorrow so hopefully I'll have something interesting to post when I get home.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey John, look forward to see what you are messing with. I dont have any Planolites examples but Scott put me onto this document some time back which has both Planolites from California and a Skolithos which I did find. He pegged the ID for me. Maybe there are some photos in there that have some relevance for your finds.

PLANOLITES AND SKOLITHOS FROM THE UPPER PRECAMBRIAN-LOWER CAMBRIAN, WHITE-INYO MOUNTAINS, CALIFORNIA

STEPHEN P. ALPERT
Reprinted from JOURNAL OF PALEONTOLOGY
Vol. 49, No. 3, May 1975
* pp. 508-521

Regards, Chris

Chris,

I finally posted photos so you can see what I have found. I really appreciate the document and I can't wait to read it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I believe planolites are described as being horizontally oriented, if you are referring to how they relate to the bedding.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here are a few photos of Skolithos that can be found in Maryland.

post-281-0-26015300-1417357411_thumb.jpgpost-281-0-17310800-1417357450_thumb.jpg

Size of the block is 14"L x 6"W x 2.5"D

Skolithos linearis Paleoxzoic Cambrian Lower/Early

Specimens are typically found insitu in Washington County Maryland

This specimen was found on the shores of the Potomac River South of Washington DC. The rounded appearance leads me to believe this was rolled around in the river then ice rafted to the location it was found.

And a PDF you might find interesting.

http://fcopg.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/FCOPG-14_SKOLITHOS_MarcusKey_article.pdf

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I believe planolites are described as being horizontally oriented, if you are referring to how they relate to the bedding.

You are correct after reading the document that Chris provided I realized that the Planolites are usually found in a horizontal or oblique plane and that Skolithos are vertical in orientation.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here are a few photos of Skolithos that can be found in Maryland.

attachicon.gifSkolithos linearis..JPGattachicon.gifSkolithos linearis.JPG

Size of the block is 14"L x 6"W x 2.5"D

Skolithos linearis Paleoxzoic Cambrian Lower/Early

Specimens are typically found insitu in Washington County Maryland

This specimen was found on the shores of the Potomac River South of Washington DC. The rounded appearance leads me to believe this was rolled around in the river then ice rafted to the location it was found.

And a PDF you might find interesting.

http://fcopg.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/FCOPG-14_SKOLITHOS_MarcusKey_article.pdf

That is an great specimen and I appreciate the article too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...