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Any ideas? Gay Head Cliffs, Martha's Vineyard, MA


Jeff Hoppne

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 Found by a tribal member at the Gay Head Cliffs along the shoreline. The only suggestion I've heard so far is cycad. 

 

Any ideas?

 

(My photos are too large to insert more than one...I can create a link to more if wanted...)

IMG_20180529_213355712_LL.jpg

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Doesn't look like a plant fossil to me.

I'm afraid it may be a very symmetrical concretion. Possibly algal ?  

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42 minutes ago, Jeff Hoppne said:

My photos are too large to insert more than one...I can create a link to more if wanted...)

IMG_20180529_213355712_LL.jpg

I often have that problem. I email the photos to myself and when I click send it asks me what size I want to send the pics as. I pick whatever option is just below the 3.95 mb limit.

I am an amiture so I have no idea what it is. At first I thought it could be man made, but subtle clues on the bottom of the specimen lead me to believe it is not man made. 

There are holes on the bottom where it appears some of the convex shapes have fallen out and the hole appears to go through the rock.

It could still be a geologic form, but I am leaning towards a form of coral.

 

@ynot is really good at identifying geologic forms as well as many fossils. Maybe he has some insight.

 

More pics would be helpful.

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1 hour ago, Jeff Hoppne said:

 Found by a tribal member

Isn't there a legend having to do with a giant or giant's footprints associated with that area ?  :)

 

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Seems to me that the round "bumps" are much to round for Cycad - their "bumps" are more diamond shaped. :( 

According to this website - there are/were Cretaceous plants found in the area - gymnospermopsida, and conifer cones. :headscratch: :shrug:

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I only really know the miocene 'green sands' where clams and crabs are common. 

 

Maybe it's just a concretion?

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7 minutes ago, Fossildude19 said:

According to this website

The cliffs have eroded a great deal since that time. The trail mentioned no longer exists, and the area is off limits to trespass. Please respect tribal laws.

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I would like to see more pictures from multiple angles of this item.

My thinking it is a fossil of some type, because I can not think of a non fossil rock that looks like this, with such geometrical features.

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.

 

 

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8 minutes ago, ynot said:

I would like to see more pictures from multiple angles of this item.

My thinking it is a fossil of some type, because I can not think of a non fossil rock that looks like this, with such geometrical features.

What about a mold of a chondrichtian crusher tooth plate ?

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Looks a bit like paleodictyon.

“...whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been and are being evolved.” ~ Charles Darwin

Happy hunting,

Mason

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2 hours ago, Jeff Hoppne said:

My photos are too large to insert more than one.

You can also add more pictures in the reply to thread box.

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.

 

 

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Very interesting. 

Not sure what this is at all.

:popcorn:

Life's Good!

Tortoise Friend.

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28 minutes ago, WhodamanHD said:

Looks a bit like paleodictyon.

Yes it does.

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Do both sides have the same pattern? Are all pics of the same side of the specimen?

 

Is there a pattern or texture on the surface of the bumps or is that the texture of the whole rock?

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1 hour ago, Rockwood said:

The cliffs have eroded a great deal since that time. The trail mentioned no longer exists, and the area is off limits to trespass. Please respect tribal laws.

You're right, and I never encourage hunting there. I work with many tribal members who have old collections and this was in one. Just curious for their sake, and hopefully it can go in the little museum at the cliffs.

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1 hour ago, Rockwood said:

The cliffs have eroded a great deal since that time. The trail mentioned no longer exists, and the area is off limits to trespass. Please respect tribal laws.

It is stated that this was found by a tribal member, but it is still good that you clarify the restriction publicly.

"There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant

“Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley

>Paleontology is an evolving science.

>May your wonders never cease!

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38 minutes ago, WhodamanHD said:

Looks a bit like paleodictyon.

Kinda', but it lacks the hexagonal arrangement of paleodictyon.

"There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant

“Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley

>Paleontology is an evolving science.

>May your wonders never cease!

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Just now, Auspex said:

It is stated that this was found by a tribal member, but it is still good that you clarify the restriction publicly.

You're right. Federal law prohibits tampering with the cliffs in any way.

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Wow, I just tried to find the stratigraphy of Gay Head Cliffs...it's a real mashed-up train wreck!

"There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant

“Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley

>Paleontology is an evolving science.

>May your wonders never cease!

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10 minutes ago, Auspex said:

Kinda', but it lacks the hexagonal arrangement of paleodictyon.

I’m no expert on the subject, but from what I’ve read on it the uniform hexagonal structure is not constant among all ichnospecies. Also this one is quite worn.

“...whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been and are being evolved.” ~ Charles Darwin

Happy hunting,

Mason

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1 minute ago, WhodamanHD said:

I’m no expert on the subject, but from what I’ve read on it the uniform hexagonal structure is not constant among all ichnospecies. Also this one is quite worn.

I refer not to the shape of the bumps, but to their un-honeycomb-like arrangement.

"There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant

“Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley

>Paleontology is an evolving science.

>May your wonders never cease!

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