fernwood Posted March 14, 2018 Share Posted March 14, 2018 Fungi, Algae, Chert? Location: SE Portage County, Central Wisconsin, USA. Geology: South Western advance of Green Bay Glacial Lobe. Former Glacial Lake Oshkosh. Niagara Escarpment Debris. My land. Ordovician onward. Size: 5 cm by 7.25 cm by 4 cm. Needing lots of help on this one. Different than most of my finds. Have been told it could be fungi, algae or just a rock. Texture is waxy in parts with crystals in others. Looks like a mushroom, but looks can always deceive. Comments appreciated on what it might be and era. Thank you. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4783/40769961972_1401c223fe_z.jpg[/img]f1[/url] rul 1 rul 2 rul 2 rul 2 rul 4 rul 4 rul 4 rul 4 schroom 1 schroom 1 schroom 1 by Fernwood Acres, on Flickr schroom 5 schroom 6 rul 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted March 14, 2018 Share Posted March 14, 2018 Looks like cave flowstone, a calcite mineral. Does it fizz when a drop of vinegar is applied? How hard is it (mohs scale) ? 3 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...
fernwood Posted March 14, 2018 Author Share Posted March 14, 2018 Mohs varies. The waxy areas would be a 6.5. The crystal areas a 7. The darker areas do fizz. I did a scratch test on various parts before initial cleaning. Darker areas do appear to have iron deposits, as my rare earth magnet did slightly adhere to them. Those were the ones that fizzed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted March 14, 2018 Share Posted March 14, 2018 The hardness is within the quartz range. Never heard of iron minerals fizzing. It could be an agate with secondary mineral layers. Could also be an agatized algee, but would need a microscopic analisis to be sure. 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 March 14, 2018 Share Posted March 14, 2018 Stromatolite or maybe stromatoporoid? Hard to say. 1 " 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...
goatinformationist Posted March 15, 2018 Share Posted March 15, 2018 3 hours ago, ynot said: Looks like cave flowstone, a calcite mineral. Does it fizz when a drop of vinegar is applied? How hard is it (mohs scale) ? I have cave flowstone that looks just like this. Flowstone that has been buried can pick up any strain of mineral but this looks largely like a fizzer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fernwood Posted March 15, 2018 Author Share Posted March 15, 2018 The flowstone makes since. What is a fizzer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted March 15, 2018 Share Posted March 15, 2018 2 hours ago, fernwood said: The flowstone makes since. What is a fizzer? When acid is applied to a carbonate rock a chemical reaction takes place and it will bubble profusely, this is referred to as fizzing. Since Your rock is so hard and only fizzes in some parts it is not calcite. I think the bubbling You reported was from air trapped in voids inside the rock and not from the chemical reaction of calcite and acid. 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...
Plax Posted March 15, 2018 Share Posted March 15, 2018 Am with Abyssunder. More of a mineral specimen now but I'd say formed on the shape of a fossil. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted March 15, 2018 Share Posted March 15, 2018 Reminds me of a couple of my "stromatoporoids". It should be noted that no one was anxious to get firmly behind those IDs though. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fernwood Posted March 15, 2018 Author Share Posted March 15, 2018 Thanks for the fizzer definition. I thought it had to do with the shape of the rock. The fizzing may have been caused by residue from cleaning. I have a few stromatoporoids, well, at least that is what I was told they were. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fernwood Posted March 15, 2018 Author Share Posted March 15, 2018 1 hour ago, Rockwood said: Reminds me of a couple of my "stromatoporoids". It should be noted that no one was anxious to get firmly behind those IDs though. Here are 3 I was previously told, in person, were stromatoporoids: Not so sure any more. Maybe the one on the left? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted March 15, 2018 Share Posted March 15, 2018 You would have to look for context in the probable path of transport. A known fauna preserved in this way would be a fair indicator. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted March 15, 2018 Share Posted March 15, 2018 All three pieces could be Stromatoporoid, they have the right appearance. The first piece in this thread could be a stromatoporoid also. It is hard to be sure from a picture. 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...
fernwood Posted March 15, 2018 Author Share Posted March 15, 2018 26 minutes ago, Rockwood said: You would have to look for context in the probable path of transport. A known fauna preserved in this way would be a fair indicator. Since this was likely transported via glacier, then finding a species of similar size/shape at some point in time existed in the glacial path would be a good starting point? Finding a fossilized version of this species? By finding I mean finding photos with a positive ID. It just looks so much like a mushroom. My neighbor even took a photo of it next to a much smaller local mushroom he had cut in half. I appreciate learning about all the other possibilities as well, very educational. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abyssunder Posted March 15, 2018 Share Posted March 15, 2018 A mushroom can look like a stromatoporoid or a sponge. The latters belong to the same phylum, Porifera. 1 " 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...
Rockwood Posted March 15, 2018 Share Posted March 15, 2018 2 hours ago, fernwood said: Finding a fossilized version of this species? By finding I mean finding photos with a positive ID. A general form you may be able to establish with a semblance of confidence. I think you can forget about species entirely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phevo Posted March 15, 2018 Share Posted March 15, 2018 3 hours ago, fernwood said: It just looks so much like a mushroom. My neighbor even took a photo of it next to a much smaller local mushroom he had cut in half. More likely a coincidence 1 hour ago, abyssunder said: A mushroom can look like a stromatoporoid or a sponge. The latters belong to the same fylum, Porifera. A mushroom? Do underwater mushrooms exist? (looked it up, apparently there is one modern mushroom in oregon that actually fruits underwater) Seems highly unlikely to have been preserved as flint though? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted March 15, 2018 Share Posted March 15, 2018 12 minutes ago, Phevo said: Do underwater mushrooms exist? It's sort of where they are from. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phevo Posted March 15, 2018 Share Posted March 15, 2018 2 hours ago, Rockwood said: It's sort of where they are from. I'm confused, are mushrooms used as a synonym for fungi in the states? Here a mushroom is considered the fruit of certain fungi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abyssunder Posted March 15, 2018 Share Posted March 15, 2018 It's just how they look. Fungi have nothing to do with the other two classes. " 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...
Rockwood Posted March 16, 2018 Share Posted March 16, 2018 9 hours ago, Phevo said: I'm confused, are mushrooms used as a synonym for fungi in the states? Here a mushroom is considered the fruit of certain fungi I'm confused by your confusion. If you found an apple would you not recognize that it came from an apple tree ? Edit: Or perhaps you weren't aware that fungi had a marine origin ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fernwood Posted March 16, 2018 Author Share Posted March 16, 2018 I always thought that current mushrooms were related to algae and sponges. Might be wrong on that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted March 16, 2018 Share Posted March 16, 2018 54 minutes ago, fernwood said: I always thought that current mushrooms were related to algae and sponges. Might be wrong on that. Actually I think they are as closely related to us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phevo Posted March 16, 2018 Share Posted March 16, 2018 7 hours ago, Rockwood said: I'm confused by your confusion. If you found an apple would you not recognize that it came from an apple tree ? Edit: Or perhaps you weren't aware that fungi had a marine origin ? This is the definition I understand by the word mushroom: Definition of mushroom 1a : an enlarged complex aboveground fleshy fruiting body of a fungus (such as a basidiomycete) that consists typically of a stem bearing a pileus; especially : one that is edible Does it have a different meaning in paleontology? Traces of fungi makes sense to me, traces of the fruit in chert, considering where it is formed seem highly unlikely to be preserved? Maybe we are just talking past eachother 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now