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WAHAMA90

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I decided to just make one post about my December finds. After going through the pictures I can see now that it seems easier to post after each hunt.

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I found these at Brownies Beach, but they are totally different than any of the other teeth from this location. They are jet black and seem to be very worn. Someone on a local forum has a theory that teeth like these may be from a reworked Eocene formation further down in the cliffs. I have found about 20 teeth like this in the past month. 

20170103_151950.jpg

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1 hour ago, WAHAMA90 said:

I found these at Brownies Beach, but they are totally different than any of the other teeth from this location. They are jet black and seem to be very worn. Someone on a local forum has a theory that teeth like these may be from a reworked Eocene formation further down in the cliffs. I have found about 20 teeth like this in the past month. 

20170103_151950.jpg

 

 

Some of the teeth that you show are Miocene for sure and not Eocene.  Some are too worn to tell.  However the Eocene theory is possible for a small number of teeth but not really plausible for all of the large number of reworked teeth from this particular site, Brownies Beach.  A better proven theory is that they are from a thin Miocene lag layer between the formation zones.  I help Dr. Weems, a USGS emeritus, with his vertebrate formation studies of the different Miocene formations/zones in MD and VA.  He has seen evidence in the geology of the formations/zones that transgression/regression cycles were taking place about every 400 thousand years in the Miocene in the MD/VA area.  Basically water levels rise in the transgression and move inland and then lower and retreat in the regression.  During the early transgression phase and the late regression phase the previous formation/zone is being reworked.  The reworking can be very minor with little evidence left or major creating thin to thicker lag layers of reworked teeth. Also depending on the water conditions at the time which caused the reworking, these lag layers can be very localized or extend for many miles.  Your teeth are much more likely from an early transgression Miocene lag layer.

 

Marco Sr.

"Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day."

My family fossil website     Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros     My Extant Shark Jaw Collection

image.png.9a941d70fb26446297dbc9dae7bae7ed.png image.png.41c8380882dac648c6131b5bc1377249.png

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1 hour ago, MarcoSr said:

 

 

Some of the teeth that you show are Miocene for sure and not Eocene.  Some are too worn to tell.  However the Eocene theory is possible for a small number of teeth but not really plausible for all of the large number of reworked teeth from this particular site, Brownies Beach.  A better proven theory is that they are from a thin Miocene lag layer between the formation zones.  I help Dr. Weems, a USGS emeritus, with his vertebrate formation studies of the different Miocene formations/zones in MD and VA.  He has seen evidence in the geology of the formations/zones that transgression/regression cycles were taking place about every 400 thousand years in the Miocene in the MD/VA area.  Basically water levels rise in the transgression and move inland and then lower and retreat in the regression.  During the early transgression phase and the late regression phase the previous formation/zone is being reworked.  The reworking can be very minor with little evidence left or major creating thin to thicker lag layers of reworked teeth. Also depending on the water conditions at the time which caused the reworking, these lag layers can be very localized or extend for many miles.  Your teeth are much more likely from an early transgression Miocene lag layer.

 

 

Marco Sr.

 

Thanks

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Nice finds :meg:and thanks for the explanation Marco:)

Every once in a great while it's not just a big rock down there!

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1 hour ago, WAHAMA90 said:

Thanks

 

I should have added that there isn't any Eocene layer or reworked Eocene layer in the cliffs at Brownies Beach.  The base of the cliffs is zone 3-B of the Miocene Calvert Formation.

 

Marco Sr.

"Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day."

My family fossil website     Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros     My Extant Shark Jaw Collection

image.png.9a941d70fb26446297dbc9dae7bae7ed.png image.png.41c8380882dac648c6131b5bc1377249.png

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