Cambrian

[kevinnix]

I tried to be a good forum member and put my cambrian specimen picture in a cambrian fossils thread (much like the ones covering carboniferous plants and the other one covering triassic plants), but alas i couldn't find one, (point me in the right direction if i am wrong please), so here is my contribution to cambrian fossils . . .

stromatolite

(conophyton basalticum)

formation - Antrim Plateau Volcanics

location - victoria river district, of Northern Territory, Australia

I think the grey/white lines are quartz, I didnt find the fossil, but i cut the slab from a 3 kilogram

chunk i purchased at a very resonable price, this is the first experimental slab cut from one end

of the chunk. What a task, trying to orientate the slab cutting to display the banding (and i think i

still haven't got it right). I know "conophyton" refers to conical properties of the bacteria's growth.

I may be wrong, but i have narrowed the age down to 512 to 505 myo using Australian mines and energy data,

cheers,

kevin

ps- please add your cambrian pics in any replies !

[Ptychodus04]

Good member or not, that's a cool looking fossil!

[Ludwigia]

Very nice! Wish I had some Cambrium things to show, unfortunately this part of the old world is too young.

[Rockwood]

There was quite a collection of Cambrian stuff here once. I'm afraid it may not have made it through the corrupt code extinction event that occurred a while back though.

[kevinnix]

Thanks for your comments, I guess I will have to re-post my only other Cambrian fossils in my collection,

(This pic appears elsewhere in this forum), some very small partial trilobites collected from phosphate hill mine, near mount isa, Queensland, Australia.

I am also going to post a pic of my other Cambrian item ( it's not a fossil !), a piece of Prehnite I cut up and polished,

as my interest in fossils developed over the last couple of years, I have tried to maintain a discipline of sticking to collecting only items that were once alive, be it plant, animal, bacteria etc, but recently I have discovered that now and again Mineral specimens are a powerful bartering and trading commodity in the eyes of some collectors I am swapping with. I have the basic skills required to cut and polish minerals, gained from my time working with stone and tiles, so, as they say, why not.

Ps. - prehnite found in the Wave Hill Station area, of Northern Territory, Australia, 512 to 505 myo

Edited December 13, 2014 by kevinnix

[Brett Breakin' Rocks]

I've got some images lying around somewhere of 2 Olenellids that were used in a California science textbook .... but here are a few horrible images of a small few of the trilobites and one brachiopod that I have found in the Latham Shale of the Marble Mountains deposit found out in the Mojave desert. Used to be an old stomping ground of mine.

Really loved it out there ... barren and completely quiet.

One of these days soon I want to take some better images of my collection .. one day .. one day.

A scanner a good image does not make ...

[Fossildude19]

Brett Breakin, Rocks,

Those are great trilos, and very good images!

Thanks for posting them!

Regards,

[Brett Breakin' Rocks]

Brett Breakin, Rocks,

Those are great trilos, and very good images!

Thanks for posting them!

Regards,

Thanks Tim,

I want to start positively identifying all of the trilos that I have from that area. I'll eventually upload the nicer photos when I have them. I have a semi decent copy stand-ish setup and I'm toying with the idea of also using talcum powder or something similar to bring out more of the surface detail.

Cheers,

Brett

[Fossildude19]

Brett,

Here are some links for you - i apologize if you have already seen these.

LINK 1

LINK 2

LINK 3

LINK 4

Hope they help you with ID's.

Regards,

[Brett Breakin' Rocks]

Brett,

Here are some links for you - i apologize if you have already seen these.

LINK 1

LINK 2

LINK 3

LINK 4

Hope they help you with ID's.

Regards,

Hi Tim,

Fantastic .... Yes, I have seen these they have been invaluable in my thirst for knowledge about this exposure. Nice to have the links all in one place. Maybe I should finally print them out.

Cheers,

Brett

[kevinnix]

Nice trilobites brett, I know what you mean about the solitude, I was out in the bush 2 days ago in spectacular country looking for Permian Brachipods, ( my excuse for breaking the Cambrian theme of this thread is that you mentioned Brachipods), found 62 specimens containing 3 or 4 different species, thanks for your photos, here's 1 back for you . . .

[Brett Breakin' Rocks]

Nice trilobites brett, I know what you mean about the solitude, I was out in the bush 2 days ago in spectacular country looking for Permian Brachipods, ( my excuse for breaking the Cambrian theme of this thread is that you mentioned Brachipods), found 62 specimens containing 3 or 4 different species, thanks for your photos, here's 1 back for you . . .image.jpg

Fantastic ... not too far off, same era right ? haha. Your finds look amazing, I must insist on additional images ! (I saw your trip report) Waaay too short in my opinion.

Honestly there is even more than the geologic history and morphology of the fossils that interest me. Well, ok the forms are enticing, but it must be my artistic nature that sees the beauty in the fossils as nature's work of art. Especially from these intensely old shales and sandstones. The color of the rock and the wandering shapes and colors are beautiful.

I appreciate the images thanks.

Cheers,

Brett

[kevinnix]

My sentiments exactly, it was the artistic qualitys the got me started on fossils in the first place, all of my better fossils on larger plates are mounted throughout our house on the walls, it takes some minor engineering feats to hang a 40 kilogram matrix on a plaster board wall ! It also takes a bit of give and take with my wife in allowing me to do it. The artistic features of a large fossil still plays a big part in my deciding whether or not to purchase a large fossil. I also agree with your views on there being a lot more to fossils than it seems, the hunt is a thrill, studying geological maps, reading geological and mining reports, and then the actual field trip. Leading up to my last trip I studied a mining report of the area I was about to go into, the description of what was happening in that area in the Permian is very dreamlike, here is a quote from that report,

The basin apparently represented an unstable trough with sharp, and at times high, relief in the hinterland; deltas and swamps formed at the margins in times of slow sinking. The sea entered the basin about the middle of the early Permian, probably through a wide embayment which later became restricted to the east and south. During this time swamps were formed around the margins of the marine basin. In the wet climatic conditions a rich vegetation and extensive forests flourished in the swamps. Prolific 'I1arine life developed under suitable conditions, and on occasions the fauna was killed and swept into deeper water by torrential floods or violent earth movements. At times life was inhibited by the depth of water or by floods of detritus. Active volcanoes killed off the animals and plants and supplied detritus to the sinking trough. Ice may have been present from time to time on the hinterland, and floating ice on the sea_ By the late

Permian the sea was cut off by the rising mountains in the east.

Descriptions like that really get me going, the countryside there is now in the sub tropics !

Cheers, kevin

[Herb]

A couple tiny trilos !/4" from the Wheeler Shale of Utah.