MikeC Posted March 21, 2018 Share Posted March 21, 2018 Hi, all. Total rookie here. I found this on the beach of an island in Alaska's Inside Passage several years ago and have often wondered what it is. There seem to be many genuine experts here, so I'm grateful for any help! It's strongly curved on one side of its cross-section and much flatter on the other side. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted March 21, 2018 Share Posted March 21, 2018 Welcome to TFF! Unfortunately I do not see a fossil in Your rock. It looks like a sandstone concretion. 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...
MikeC Posted March 21, 2018 Author Share Posted March 21, 2018 Well, thank you! Now I can stop wondering! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeschWhat Posted March 21, 2018 Share Posted March 21, 2018 @ynot may be right, but just for giggles, if you touch the end shown in the last photo with a wet finger (or the tip of your tongue if you are brave), does it feel sticky? Lori www.areallycrappystory.com/fossils www.facebook.com/fossilpoo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plax Posted March 21, 2018 Share Posted March 21, 2018 has a look of schist to it. Does a close look at the dark specs show crystalline structure? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeargleSchmeargl Posted March 21, 2018 Share Posted March 21, 2018 Geologic. Neat and colorful rock! Every single fossil you see is a miracle set in stone, and should be treated as such. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darktooth Posted March 21, 2018 Share Posted March 21, 2018 Welcome to the forum from New York! I like Trilo-butts and I cannot lie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted March 21, 2018 Share Posted March 21, 2018 I saw a piece of schist in there as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peat Burns Posted March 21, 2018 Share Posted March 21, 2018 7 minutes ago, jpc said: I saw a piece of schist in there as well. Bahahahaha. I see what you did there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted March 21, 2018 Share Posted March 21, 2018 38 minutes ago, Peat Burns said: Bahahahaha. I see what you did there I do too, now that you pointed it out. It is too early in the morning to say something like that on purpose. : ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeC Posted March 23, 2018 Author Share Posted March 23, 2018 On 3/20/2018 at 10:56 PM, GeschWhat said: @ynot may be right, but just for giggles, if you touch the end shown in the last photo with a wet finger (or the tip of your tongue if you are brave), does it feel sticky? Ok, I'm game! Yes, it definitely does feel sticky. Is this some kind of rookie hazing, or does that really mean something? Thanks again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeschWhat Posted March 23, 2018 Share Posted March 23, 2018 42 minutes ago, MikeC said: Ok, I'm game! Yes, it definitely does feel sticky. Is this some kind of rookie hazing, or does that really mean something? Thanks again! It's not really a hazing... I study coprolites. Out in the field, many times it's hard to tell a concretion from a coprolite or a piece of fossil bone from petrified wood. I was taught a quick check was to touch it to the tip of your tongue. Bone and coprolites, depending on the fossilization process, stick to your tongue. Petrified wood and concretions will not. The reason for this is that fossil bone and coprolites contain a lot of calcium phosphate, which can be very porous. That said, not all forms of calcium phosphate are porous - like when it takes the form of apatite. When I saw the end of your specimen in the last photo, it looked a lot like what I see in coprolites. Of course, anytime I see something that could remotely be fossil poo, I give it the old lick test. This does not always work, and is not a definitive test by any means. There are a lot of different factors you have to take into consideration when determining whether or not you have a coprolite. Location is the most important. Many things resemble fossils, so if you aren't in an area where fossils are found, you can't expect to find bone or coprolites. Something about the primary surface in your second photo looked a little bit like there could be bone under there, and like I said before, the one end looks like coprolite. I can't tell exactly what you have. As the others can attest, I am often mistaken. However, if you have good stickage, your rock could have an organic origin. Perhaps not just a shisty old stone? Lori www.areallycrappystory.com/fossils www.facebook.com/fossilpoo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malone Posted March 23, 2018 Share Posted March 23, 2018 2 hours ago, MikeC said: Ok, I'm game! Yes, it definitely does feel sticky. Is this some kind of rookie hazing, or does that really mean something? Thanks again! I think that's supposed to test for possibly being a coprolite, but I can't be sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeschWhat Posted March 23, 2018 Share Posted March 23, 2018 2 minutes ago, Malone said: I think that's supposed to test for possibly being a coprolite, but I can't be sure. Yep...or bone Lori www.areallycrappystory.com/fossils www.facebook.com/fossilpoo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted March 23, 2018 Share Posted March 23, 2018 I would like to point out that there are several non fossil rocks that will also be sticky with this test.. (and a few rare ones that are poisonous.) 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...
GeschWhat Posted March 23, 2018 Share Posted March 23, 2018 Just now, ynot said: I would like to point out that there are several non fossil rocks that will also be sticky with this test.. (and a few rare ones that are poisonous.) Which ones? Lori www.areallycrappystory.com/fossils www.facebook.com/fossilpoo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted March 23, 2018 Share Posted March 23, 2018 26 minutes ago, GeschWhat said: Which ones? Chalk, caliche, some opalite can stick. Rock containing arsenic or a few other rare earth elements (can't think of them right now.) can be poisonous, but not likely to come across these unless at an old mine site. 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...
KimTexan Posted March 23, 2018 Share Posted March 23, 2018 2 hours ago, MikeC said: Ok, I'm game! Yes, it definitely does feel sticky. Is this some kind of rookie hazing, or does that really mean something? Thanks again! A warm welcome from Texas (It was 79 here today). It is definitely not some kind of hazing. Now that you mention it though I think it’s a pretty funny kind of initiation into the fossil fanatics group, I mean, The Fossil Forum. Have them lick it and then tell them it’s poo aka coprolite afterwards. You should see some of the reactions people have. I too have licked coprolite poo, but I knew prior to licking it there was a possibility it was coprolite. Alaska is a cool place (no pun intended) to be hunting fossils or prehistoric life forms. Some of which have been frozen, but not fossilized. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeschWhat Posted March 23, 2018 Share Posted March 23, 2018 7 minutes ago, ynot said: Chalk, caliche, some opalite can stick. Rock containing arsenic or a few other rare earth elements (can't think of them right now.) can be poisonous, but not likely to come across these unless at a old mine site. Lead would be bad as well (galena). The chalk I have encountered was porous, but didn't feel "sticky." The caliche I've seen at the dig sites had a high iron content and wasn't sticky either (except for the bone inclusions). Come to think of it, couldn't caliche contain coprolites? Here I go on my poo thing again, but I wonder if some chalk sticks because it's been exposed to guano (see monetite). If that is the case, it would be coprolite related as well. I don't know if you have ever seen this Scrubs song, but everything comes down to poo (at least in my world). Lori www.areallycrappystory.com/fossils www.facebook.com/fossilpoo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malone Posted March 23, 2018 Share Posted March 23, 2018 48 minutes ago, ynot said: I would like to point out that there are several non fossil rocks that will also be sticky with this test.. (and a few rare ones that are poisonous.) There are some near me that are radioactive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeschWhat Posted March 23, 2018 Share Posted March 23, 2018 4 minutes ago, Malone said: There are some near me that are radioactive. Yikes! I know I have been in some areas where we weren't allowed to dig because of erionite - but that is an inhalation hazard, not ingestion. It is important to know your area. Lori www.areallycrappystory.com/fossils www.facebook.com/fossilpoo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malone Posted March 23, 2018 Share Posted March 23, 2018 7 minutes ago, GeschWhat said: Yikes! I know I have been in some areas where we weren't allowed to dig because of erionite - but that is an inhalation hazard, not ingestion. It is important to know your area. When I first came to the Pueblo area I found a real pretty rock. I started grinding, sanding and polishing before I I realized it was a piece of crocodilite(sp?) a type of asbestos. I have also found some that is an adulterated form mercury. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted March 23, 2018 Share Posted March 23, 2018 15 hours ago, Malone said: When I first came to the Pueblo area I found a real pretty rock. I started grinding, sanding and polishing before I I realized it was a piece of crocodilite(sp?) a type of asbestos. I have also found some that is an adulterated form mercury. adulterated form of mercury is pretty vague... after all table salt is an adulterated form of two not too friendly compounds... sodium, which burns upon contact with water, and chlorine, which in its gaseous form will kill you dead. Table salt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malone Posted March 23, 2018 Share Posted March 23, 2018 49 minutes ago, jpc said: adulterated form of mercury is pretty vague... after all table salt is an adulterated form of two not too friendly compounds... sodium, which burns upon contact with water, and chlorine, which in its gaseous form will kill you dead. Table salt. Cinnabar . Sodium explodes on contact with water Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DPS Ammonite Posted March 23, 2018 Share Posted March 23, 2018 18 hours ago, Malone said: When I first came to the Pueblo area I found a real pretty rock. I started grinding, sanding and polishing before I I realized it was a piece of crocodilite(sp?) a type of asbestos. I have also found some that is an adulterated form mercury. Both cinnabar and liquid mercury are relatively safe in reasonable quanties and are poorly absorbed by humans. Don't inhale large amounts of either as dust or liquid or inhale a large amount of fumes from roasting cinnabar as some miners did. The most dangerous thing about a chuck of cinnabar is being hit on the side of your head with it. My goal is to leave no stone or fossil unturned. See my Arizona Paleontology Guide link The best single resource for Arizona paleontology anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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