Snowboard83 Posted September 30, 2016 Share Posted September 30, 2016 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted September 30, 2016 Share Posted September 30, 2016 Welcome to ! it does look like a worn coral. Could be an erratic. Others will know more. Tony 1 Darwin said: " Man sprang from monkeys." Will Rogers said: " Some of them didn't spring far enough." My Fossil collection - My Mineral collection My favorite thread on TFF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abyssunder Posted September 30, 2016 Share Posted September 30, 2016 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 More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted September 30, 2016 Share Posted September 30, 2016 I agree we need a few more pictures - top and bottom views? 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...
tmaier Posted September 30, 2016 Share Posted September 30, 2016 Yeah, very bizarrely abstract, but those long segmented structures look like tabulate coral, maybe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kane Posted September 30, 2016 Share Posted September 30, 2016 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 More sharing options...
Snowboard83 Posted September 30, 2016 Author Share Posted September 30, 2016 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! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted September 30, 2016 Share Posted September 30, 2016 That is a coral. Rivers and glaciers can carry rocks quite far. Tony Darwin said: " Man sprang from monkeys." Will Rogers said: " Some of them didn't spring far enough." My Fossil collection - My Mineral collection My favorite thread on TFF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmaier Posted September 30, 2016 Share Posted September 30, 2016 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 More sharing options...
doushantuo Posted September 30, 2016 Share Posted September 30, 2016 I think i have to agree with Tmaier's and Tony's assessement.The radial disposition of elements.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowboard83 Posted September 30, 2016 Author Share Posted September 30, 2016 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 More sharing options...
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