All The Right Ingredients In One Spot!

[Shimmeron]

Here's a few things I've learned about the best marine fossil sites. All the right ingredients need to come together in one spot for a great fossil site to come together. But I know there's much more than what I've listed below. So I was hoping other people could add to my list and correct anything they see that's amiss. I figure if your going to search for fossils, you might as well go with the best ideas in hand.

 

 

All the right ingredients typically found at a good Marine Fossil site:

 

* High elevation limestone shale cliffs, high elevation hill country or areas around ancient seabeds.

*Marine rocks in the area like limestone, basalt, dolomite , loess, silica.

*Excessive iron presence, magnesium, sulfur and copper carbon ore in the area is ideal.

*Presence of certain minerals like bertheirine and calcium carbonates.

*Evidence of trace fossils on the surface so you don't waste time digging in the wrong spot.

* Mud stone, clay, coral formations, or coral rocks.

* Rocks with flow lines, water marks, algae or microorganism markings.

*Evidence of oxidation or oxidized rocks. 

 

1. Ross P. Anderson, Nicholas J. Tosca, Robert R. Gaines, Nicolás Mongiardino Koch, Derek E.G. Briggs. A mineralogical signature for Burgess Shale–type fossilization. Geology, 2018; DOI: 10.1130/G39941.1

[Kane]

Neat list! However, some of those hard and fast rules don't always apply.

 

1. I find stuff at low and effectively no elevation from time to time that contain marine sediments, particularly where I am where it is a lot of glacial till!

2. You forgot shale!

3. Not always excessive iron presence! Some marine sediments are dominated by, for example, calcitic mineralization!

4. Trace fossils are a good indicator, but not always. We can call those sufficient, but not necessary, conditions.

5. I have hauled out marine slabs with no visible visible water markings in more settled, deeper depositional environments. 

[Fossildude19]

One thing to keep in mind is that many construction sites expose fossiliferous layers of rock from time to time. 

Elevation is not strictly necessary.  

 

As a general list, this is pretty good as is.   

[ynot]

1 hour ago, Shimmeron said:

Marine rocks in the area like limestone, basalt, dolomite , loess, silica.

Basalt, loess and silica are not marine rock.

Basalt is a igneous rock, loess is a soil type and silica is an element.

 

1 hour ago, Shimmeron said:

*Excessive iron presence, magnesium, sulfur and copper carbon ore in the area is ideal.

*Presence of certain minerals like bertheirine and calcium carbonates.

The minerals present in the fossils has more to do with the surrounding rock and local geologic events.

Many mineralized zones will not have any fossils.

 

1 hour ago, Shimmeron said:

*Evidence of oxidation or oxidized rocks. 

Any iron rich rock can have "oxidation", so can many other mineral rich rock. It can show fossilization/fossils, but does not have to be associated with fossils.

 

1 hour ago, Shimmeron said:

High elevation limestone shale cliffs, high elevation hill country or areas around ancient seabeds.

Where ever the proper type of rock is exposed regardless of elevation. From the dead sea or death valley to mount everest there are fossil exposures.

[Fruitbat]

Ummmm...as long as we're being picky...SILICON is an element! SILICA is a compound (SiO₂), often known as silicon dioxide, commonly found in the form of quartz! 

 

-Joe

[ynot]

11 minutes ago, Fruitbat said:

Ummmm...as long as we're being picky...SILICON is an element! SILICA is a compound (SiO₂), often known as silicon dioxide, commonly found in the form of quartz! 

 

-Joe

Dyslexia strikes again. I can never keep them straight.

[Ludwigia]

Interesting list, some points of which hit the nail on the head, some are general and some don't quite fit, as mentioned above. If there's at least one thing I've learned, it's that a good amount of fossils can be found along ancient shorelines and continental shelves, as you have already pointed out, but even then it's no guarantee. On the other hand, fossils can sometimes pop up where you at the least expect them to be. Which leads me to my basic rules: Study a lot of paleontologic papers and geological maps, talk with people in the know, and keep your eyes open.

[Shimmeron]

Thanks for the info, a lot of good points made!

[Ptychodus04]

I have found that I only find fossils in locations where I look for them. Every time I pass a location that could have fossils and don't look, I never find any there...

[ynot]

38 minutes ago, Ptychodus04 said:

I have found that I only find fossils in locations where I look for them.

I have found a few in places where I would never have thought to have fossils, And when they were found I was not looking for fossils.

[Sagebrush Steve]

Another thing I have found very helpful is looking for holes with piles of rock around them where others have already dug.

[Ptychodus04]

57 minutes ago, ynot said:

I have found a few in places where I would never have thought to have fossils, And when they were found I was not looking for fossils.

 

I’ve never experienced this. I’m always looking.