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Jonelle

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I have to write this because I'm hoping someone can help guide me on where to even start. I have looked over the pinned posts on the top of this forum but I feel like my question is a little different. In all my gardening and digging I have started to find too many (whati believe may be) fossils. I've also realized that a lot of the limestone we have collected from the ground here actually might contain fossils. To be clear I am not actually expecting someone to ID all of these photos, I just want to know where to even start?? I am not a paleontologist nor was I even interested in it until I started finding all of these. I am a work from home mom with a toddler and I really don't have time to learn everything there is to know! I can handle the smaller things like the shells and barnicles, but these giant rocks have me overwhelmed. Someone come help me! I don't even know what some of these rocks are... some of them were covered with the blue clay... these rocks were about a foot underground.. Location is Sarasota, FL. I'm going to put a couple of links to some of the photos because there are too many to post. Any guidance is appreciated! The photo included is to show you just some of the pieces lined up ... some close up pictures are in the links.

https://imgur.com/a/pMei6

https://imgur.com/a/IIQeC

 

*edited to say that I am not able to bring these anywhere because they are huge. Also, I have tried contacting a few people at local universities but without luck. I have become sort of obsessed with even just the little fossils and my worklife has begun to suffer... I feel like I need to do something with these...if there is nothing of note here I want to just be able to know... these photos don't even begin to cover the shells. If anyone lives nearby and wants to come help!! Please. Sorry if there are duplicate photos I was just trying to do this quickly :) 

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I think we may be a little overwhelmed too! It will be a lot easier if you could pick one at a time and get some close-up photos to show more detail. I don't mean one rock but one type of fossil to show different ways it might be preserved on different rocks. You may also be able to help us if it is possible to chisel away some of the matrix to expose a bit more of a fossil to see what that might reveal.

 

Some of those could be natural, geological forms and many are probably broken pieces of shells or cross-sections of shells. Some of it even looks like broken chunks of concrete which often contains gravel that is rich in fossils. Do you know anything about the history of the site. It could have been filled in with rubble or construction debris many years ago and covered with soil for development. 

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I know it's hard to see, is there something safe I can use to melt away some of the dirt? The history is actually pretty easy to cover since the property has been essentially untouched since the house was put here in 1920s... the best guess I could have is that there were already shells here and more were added on top (in the driveway) nothing is paved... i am also guessing that part of my backyard was once a part of the Creek that is about a block away... I have found a lot of tumbled stones all in one spot that looks like a dried up creek bed (these were about a foot down near my well).  No water, no sewage. Only have done some renovating to the house, and once I started on the outside-- welll you can see....

interesting side note is that our house was actually shipped here from up north since Sarasota was not really devolved yet, I have heard that my house was originally a general store, but I have no confirmation of that. The house is actually on blocks and I'm sure there are far more interesting things deep down! I've only scratched the surface! I actually made most of the finds shortly after we have flooding and we moved shells and dirt around in a panic to save the house!! @BobWill

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@BobWill oh! And the original photo I posted here was our attempt to build a dry creek to prevent too much flooding since the houses next to us were build more recently and are a lot higher up- so we get all of the run off from their property. 

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I agree with Bobwill, it is a little too much. I see you have some barnacles turritellids and snails but we need you to take them in photo by types or by rock, and with a scale it would be better. If you want an ID of the snails or turritellids, you must show the aperture and both sides. Idem for the barnacles. For the corals, closer photos would be useful to well see the septas. I think you also have some balanus in there.

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"On ne voit bien que par le coeur, l'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux." (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry)

"We only well see with the heart, the essential is invisible for the eyes."

 

In memory of Doren

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You might like this link : http://fossilshells.nl

theme-celtique.png.bbc4d5765974b5daba0607d157eecfed.png.7c09081f292875c94595c562a862958c.png

"On ne voit bien que par le coeur, l'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux." (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry)

"We only well see with the heart, the essential is invisible for the eyes."

 

In memory of Doren

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You are dealing with the Plio-Pleistocene beds in Sarasota county,probably alot of the Tamiami and or Caloosahatchee Formations, maybe some other unnamed formations/rocks. I went crazy when I saw all of those shells too for the 1st time......Some layers are nothing but loose shells and sand and are easy pickings and others have been cemented together and are like concrete and unless you have professional prepping gear are difficult to remove anything from. Most of what I see in the blocks you have are bits of shells and other traces...which are cool but are an entirely diff subject...Occasionally a stiff brush will loosen some of the sand from the harder matrix or you can pick at it with dental tools to remove small amounts of sand/shell debris. Sometimes I like to leave the shells just in the matrix/rock. Sometimes you can also chip away things with a hammer/chisel/rock hammer but use goggles/eye gear cause things can fly off.  Sometimes I'll put some of the really stained stuff in bucket of water with just a bit of bleach for a short while and it will lighten them but its easy to go overboard with that. Make sure to rinse off. You'll find that over time you'll get selective and only keep things that arent broken and then youll get pickier and keep upgrading as new better finds come along. Otherwise you'll have miles and piles and piles of stuff!!

 

Have fun and check out this link which has lots and lots of pictures of things which makes recognizing things a bit easier....its got alot of fossils from all parts of Florida and many will be from Sarasota and adjacent counties. 

http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/invertpaleo/galleries.htm

I've seen estimates that there are 500-1000 different kinds of animals/shells in the Tamiami in Sarasota...its one of the richest locales/sites in the fossil record. that should keep you busy collecting for a long while! Have fun. 

 

Regards, Chris  

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Thanks @Plantguy! I am about a block from the trail, and I have been obsessively searching the web for information about homes that were placed here pre 1930 to little avail... I think I'll need i head to the historical library soon!!  Thanks everyone for the info. Here's the most I found about my neighborhood http://www.heraldtribune.com/news/20110916/1920s-homes-hidden-but-near

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3 hours ago, JohnJ said:

@Joenlle you might also check out @MikeR's excellent blog entries about fossils in your general area. 

Thanks John, how could I not mention Mike in all of this thread...its like forgetting a family member in something..I'm in trouble for life now....my sincerest apologies....thanks for catching the oversight John! Mike's works are a must look/read and his collections/knowledge unreal. Sorry Mike! I goofed. 

 

May the pelecypods and gastropods of the Tamiami be with us all...

 

Regards, Chris 

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Joenlle, yep you got all kinds of things there...darker material at the top are parts of probably bone/turtle which is quite common. The one triangular piece in amongst them appears to be a worn shark tooth which youll find quite a bit as well. Lots of the rounded rocks on the lower right appear to be some of the brought in landscaping quartz pebbles/cobbles common in alot of yards down here.  

 

Also as I John pointed out...MikeR has some awesome detailed blogs and he has also been creating some awesome gallery/albums with tons of the invertebrate shells. Most certainly check em out too!

 

Regards, Chris 

 

 

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All around Florida you will find "reclaimed land" that used to be low land, and they have raised the level. The locals call the material to raise the land "fill dirt", and since real dirt is hard to find here, what they are refering to is sand, shells, and limestone (which is often fossiliferous). So when you find fossil materials it can be hard to tell if it is natural or has been dumped there by humans. So much material has been mixed around, especially near the coast.

Sometimes the fill dirt for reclaimed land comes right from that exact area. They dig a hole to collect storm and flood water, call it a "retention pond", and then use that material to raise the level of the land around the pond. Soon you end up with higher land areas surrounded by small ponds or long ditches.

And nature has been mixing this stuff around also. We have had repetitive ice ages and warm periods, and that has raised and lowered the ocean by hundreds of feet, causing the ancient shorelines to be mixed together. It is a nightmare for paleontologists to figure out what the chronology of these layers are. BUT! Some of this material is so rich and diverse of fossils, it sure is a lot of fun to look through it.

And I mentioned previously, as you handle the fossils more and more, you will start to intuitively recognise the different species. You may not know their names yet, but they become very recogizable.

I made a shadowbox display of some of the smaller gastropod, and it looks pretty good on the wall. Just a pinpoint of Elmer's glue holds them to the background black felt. When displaying gastropods, remember to have their opening facing out, because that is a very diagnostic feature.

And, you should drive over to the natural history museum at Gainsville. They have a "walk through time" area that is really nice, and is heavily decorated with fossil shells that are identified.









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 I think those ones are balanus.:)

I'd really love to find those kind of things in my back yard.:envy:

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theme-celtique.png.bbc4d5765974b5daba0607d157eecfed.png.7c09081f292875c94595c562a862958c.png

"On ne voit bien que par le coeur, l'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux." (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry)

"We only well see with the heart, the essential is invisible for the eyes."

 

In memory of Doren

photo-thumb-12286.jpg.878620deab804c0e4e53f3eab4625b4c.jpg

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