Jump to content

Unusual fossil from SE VA


Snowboard83

Recommended Posts

 Hey everyone,

 

This is my first post, although I have been looking for and collecting fossils in the York River and Hampton areas of Southeastern VA for sometime now. But I found a fossil the other day that gave me the jumpstart I needed to join up here! 

 

So on the beach in Hampton the other day after the remains of tropical storm Julia rolled through, and I found something that puzzled me greatly. It appears to be a horn coral..but there are problems with that as a diagnosis. The fossil layers in the area are far too young for a horn coral. The layers present nearby are the Yorktown, Eastover, and maybe some of the St Marys and Calvert since the edge of the Salisbury embayment borders the Hampton beaches. So layers no more than approx 15 million years. The fossil is also flattened out some. So does anyone have any ideas? A medusa/jellyfishy thing of some kind? A horn coral that found it's way from the mountains all the way to the bay?

 

Thanks all

20160926_170551-1.jpg

20160926_170636-1.jpg

20160926_170623-1.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Also, it could be a solitary scleractinian coral. A view of the calice might help.

" We are not separate and independent entities, but like links in a chain, and we could not by any means be what we are without those who went before us and showed us the way. "

Thomas Mann

My Library

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree we need a few more pictures - top and bottom views?

    Tim    -  VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

   MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png      PaleoPartner.png.30c01982e09b0cc0b7d9d6a7a21f56c6.png.a600039856933851eeea617ca3f2d15f.png     Postmaster1.jpg.900efa599049929531fa81981f028e24.jpg    VFOTM.png.f1b09c78bf88298b009b0da14ef44cf0.png  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

Welcome to the forum! 

 

I agree with the others that it seems you have a worn coral. Pictures of the top and bottom may help determine better what type of coral you found.

...How to Philosophize with a Hammer

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the warm welcome! Yea its certainly one of the strangest pieces I have ever found. I've never found anything even remotely close in this area. I attached a few pictures. Unfortunately detail gets lost in some of them since the fossil is worn. I circled what looks like a predominant Ridge or seam that starts at the cap and goes down one side. That is also visible in the pictures from my first post.

 

Thanks again!

20160930_112323-1.jpg

20160925_204754-1.jpg

Capture+_2016-09-30-11-28-09.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

With the segmentation (tabulae) shown in the first photo of the first post, and the geometry of the photos shown above, I'm putting my money on this being a rugosa coral.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great! Thanks everyone! Thats what I had thought it would be, but it is just so far displaced and strangely flattened, I was confused! Definately the absolute definition of an erratic fossil. 250 million+ years old relic on a beach with 1-10 million old stuff. Gotta love nature. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

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

×
×
  • Create New...