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I joined with the hopes that someone here may know more about Natlandite fossil stone. 

 
My wife inherited a polished three piece set and unfortunately there is very little information available about it online. 
 
Within the two articles I could find we have learned that "it was first discovered in 1954 in Los Angeles, Ca. by geologist Manley L. Natland, during a small dig he made in his offices backyard. He was given a rock brought up during soil testing for an annex to the old Atlantic Richfield Building at 6th and Flower streets. 
 
Natland estimated the fossil stone to be between 5 to 7 million years old and said that it was likely formed when an earthquake dislodged a great mass of sludge from the Los Feliz area (then the seashore) and moved it to the Arco site, where it solidified. 
 
He had it cut and polished, revealing shells of bivalves, gastropods and coral in a marble like material, but thought no more about it until 1969, after he had retired from Atlantic Richfield, now Arco. That year, he asked to examine the excavation site where the building and it's annex were being torn down to make way for Arco towers, now known as City National Plaza. 
 
What he found was an entire bed of the fossil stone that he had seen years earlier. Natland arranged to have 500 tons of it hauled away and eventually had the rock cut and shaped into tables and statuary. 
 
The rock is about as hard as quartz and it contains about 350 different species. It was also named the official gemstone of Los Angeles in 1981."
 
I have spoken with a paleontologist here at our local museum of natural history and he stated that he believes that some record of the stones should be preserved in a museum, if that has not already happened. 
 
He gave me the contact information of a paleontologist at the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History and suggested that I contact them, as they would be the most appropriate place to store such fossils.
 
They are absolutely beautiful pieces and any info or suggestions will be greatly appreciated! Thank you so much for taking time to read my post.
 
Brandon Massey

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I dont see that you're asking a question.

This is very interesting rock and would certainly make great decor pieces.

 

 

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Thank you for responding. I am honestly just hoping to find someone that has more information about Natlandite than I am able to find online. 

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Natland was a micropaleontologist.

This is  coquina, btw, an indurated shellbed.

I believe natlandite to be at least a valid gemmological term.

 

acrosp.jpg

 

 

 

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6 minutes ago, BrandonMassey said:

Thank you for responding. I am honestly just hoping to find someone that has more information about Natlandite than I am able to find online. 

It is common for sellers to give fancy names to a common rock to make it easier to sell.

The piece You have looks like a coquina. A sandstone full of shell.

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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6 hours ago, doushantuo said:

Natland was a micropaleontologist.This is  coquina, btw, an indurated shellbed.

I believe natlandite to be at least a valid gemmological term.

 

 

 

What was the source for this information? 

    Tim    VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

   MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png      PaleoPartner.png.30c01982e09b0cc0b7d9d6a7a21f56c6.png.a600039856933851eeea617ca3f2d15f.png     Postmaster1.jpg.900efa599049929531fa81981f028e24.jpg    VFOTM.png.f1b09c78bf88298b009b0da14ef44cf0.png  VFOTM APRIL - 2015  

__________________________________________________
"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."
John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~   ><))))( *>  About Me      

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A peer-reviewed source.

I seldom post non-peer-reviewed literature, and if and when I do, I mention the fact that it is a non-technical publication.

It's from his short biography by Ken Finger.

 

 

 

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Beautiful piece! Looks like a pectinid is peeking out there.

“...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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On 6/9/2018 at 7:43 AM, doushantuo said:

a peer-reviewed source.I seldom post non-peer-reviewed literature,and if and when I do,I mention the fact that it is a non-technical publication.

It's from his short biography by Ken Finger

Thanks. ;) 

 

LINK , for any who might be interested. 

 

Natlandite0-vert.jpg

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    Tim    VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

   MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png      PaleoPartner.png.30c01982e09b0cc0b7d9d6a7a21f56c6.png.a600039856933851eeea617ca3f2d15f.png     Postmaster1.jpg.900efa599049929531fa81981f028e24.jpg    VFOTM.png.f1b09c78bf88298b009b0da14ef44cf0.png  VFOTM APRIL - 2015  

__________________________________________________
"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."
John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~   ><))))( *>  About Me      

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  • 9 months later...

I am currently dating a great nephew of the founder of Natlandite. I can currently tell you it is considered rare because there was only so much pulled out of the ground. There are other stones state are similar to Natalandite but I believe Natlandite has a different makeup than the others he was able to classify it as a new type of rock and name it. We have a few articles at the house and also have a few pieces that are polished and one unfinished. I believe they also sent a Natlandite desk to the White House. If I can I will take a picture of the article.

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  • 3 years later...

I have several stones from the arco towers location. After Mr Natlan? passed away my mom bought a carload of what he still had stored. Part of it is now the base of our back yard fountain. I don't know if I can send a picture. She sold most of the jewelry pieces and I still have a few others. She gave away copies of the article with the pieces she sold so I don't know if I still have a copy. They thought it was from a rockslide from a beach in I think the Glendale area when l.a. was part of  the ocean.

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