New Fossil Poplar Leaf

[Zapsalis]

Hello, all! Sorry I haven’t losted in a while. I’ve been busy with college this semester. 

 

Anyways, I recently purchased a fossil poplar leaf from my local rock shop! I’m pretty excited to have it on my collection! They say that it is Cretaceous in age, but I’m not sure. Part of me thinks it’s from the Green River Formation and is Eocene in age, but part of me thinks that the leaf is indeed Cretaceous in age. My reasoning for it being Cretaceous in age is because I’ve heard of fantastic leaf fossils come out of Ellsworth County in Kansas. The Ellsworth County area is part of the Dakota Formation, I believe. 

 

My question is: What age you think this fossil is add what formation do you think it came from?

 

I tried to take a photo of it with my phone, but the photo came out crappy and I feel that the lighting was bad. I probably take better photos later on if you guys want. I feel like I should’ve also provided a ruler or something for scale, but I’m pretty exhausted. Let me know if you need a scale for figuring out the size of the leaf fossil. 

 

Thank you all!

[Zapsalis]

Oops, I left in the price tag. Sorry! Just ignore that. 

[Zapsalis]

This example that I’m posting isn’t a poplar leaf, but it’s a leaf fossil from the Dakota Formation by Ellsworth County, KS. 

 

https://woostergeologists.scotblogs.wooster.edu/2011/02/06/wooster’s-fossil-of-the-week-a-chewed-up-leaf-upper-cretaceous-of-kansas/

[caldigger]

Yours looks a lot like Florissant ( Colorado) fossil matrix.

[Zapsalis]

7 minutes ago, caldigger said:

Yours looks a lot like Florissant ( Colorado) fossil matrix.

I see. Thanks! Is that Eocene to Miocene in age? Also, do you have any good fossils to compare to mine? 

[caldigger]

Google" Florissant leaf fossil", that should give you an indication of where I am going with this.

It might not be, but it sure looks like it to me.

[Zapsalis]

Just now, caldigger said:

Google" Florissant leaf fossil", that should give you an indication of where I am going with this.

Okay, I will. Thanks! 

[Zapsalis]

I attempted to take a couple of more photos. Hopefully they aren’t too bad. 

[Zapsalis]

And some more photos. I manipulated the first photo on my iPhone in a (rather poor) attempt to bring out a good color. My iPhone 6 doesn’t capture pictures all that well. 

[Sagebrush Steve]

It doesn’t quite look like the Green River matrix I am familiar with for either the 18” layer or the Split Fish layer.  Does the slab have any kind of oily smell if you hold it close?  It could be Florissant, although my experience with that material is it is pretty soft and crumbly.  Don’t know about Kansas fossils, I don’t have experience with them.  It is a very nice specimen!

[Zapsalis]

21 hours ago, Sagebrush Steve said:

It doesn’t quite look like the Green River matrix I am familiar with for either the 18” layer or the Split Fish layer.  Does the slab have any kind of oily smell if you hold it close?  It could be Florissant, although my experience with that material is it is pretty soft and crumbly.  Don’t know about Kansas fossils, I don’t have experience with them.  It is a very nice specimen!

Thanks for info, @Sagebrush Steve! I’ll smell it when I get home to see if it has an oily smell. It’s a fairly hard rock matrix and I have yet to see any crumbling. I know that the stone has shiny sparkles to it, so it has to be a sedimentary rock. Maybe shale or sandstone? I’m not sure.

[Wolf89]

I do not think it is green river either

[piranha]

The leaf is from the Eocene Parachute Creek Flora, Green River Formation, Colorado-Utah: Populus wilmattae

 

 

figure from:

 

Manchester, S.R., Judd, W.S., & Handley, B. 2006

Foliage and fruits of early poplars (Salicaceae: Populus) from the eocene of Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming.

International Journal of Plant Sciences, 167(4):897-908   PDF LINK

 

[DeepTimeIsotopes]

On 10/31/2018 at 8:18 PM, Sagebrush Steve said:

It doesn’t quite look like the Green River matrix I am familiar with for either the 18” layer or the Split Fish layer.  Does the slab have any kind of oily smell if you hold it close?  It could be Florissant, although my experience with that material is it is pretty soft and crumbly.  Don’t know about Kansas fossils, I don’t have experience with them.  It is a very nice specimen!

Utah and Colorado’s GRF is slightly harder and more compact. There are a few locations where abundant bugs and plants exist in the harder matrix so this may still be GRF.

[minnbuckeye]

If this is Florissant material, I photographed and posted the typical finds in this post:

 

Florissant Finds

minnbuckeye replied to Uncle Siphuncle's topic in Fossil Hunting Trips

[PaleoNoel]

15 hours ago, UtahFossilHunter said:

Utah and Colorado’s GRF is slightly harder and more compact. There are a few locations where abundant bugs and plants exist in the harder matrix so this may still be GRF.

Agreed, there are key differences between UT/CO GRF and the Wyoming material of the same formation. It doesn't split the same way, (which was a pain in the derriere when I was hunting at Douglas Pass this past summer) and the fossils are different. Bugs and plants are the most common fossils to find in the parachute creek member. However if it is from Florissant that would make it a bit younger in age and not a part of the Green River formation.

[DeepTimeIsotopes]

2 hours ago, PaleoNoel said:

Agreed, there are key differences between UT/CO GRF and the Wyoming material of the same formation. It doesn't split the same way, (which was a pain in the derriere when I was hunting at Douglas Pass this past summer) and the fossils are different. Bugs and plants are the most common fossils to find in the parachute creek member. However if it is from Florissant that would make it a bit younger in age and not a part of the Green River formation.

Yes, that is true if it is from Florissant. I just wanted to highlight that the fish quarries in Wyoming don’t represent all the Green River Formation and that the same formation can change over distance. For those wondering, even though both formations are Eocene age, there’s a difference of 10Ma between the formations.

[Zapsalis]

Thanks for the helpful comments, everyone!  So, I’m a nutshell, is this more likely a Florissant fossil or a Green River fossil?  

[Zapsalis]

And by the way, where can I purchase a good Cretaceous leaf fossil? 

[Kato]

On 10/26/2018 at 5:14 PM, Zapsalis said:

This example that I’m posting isn’t a poplar leaf, but it’s a leaf fossil from the Dakota Formation by Ellsworth County, KS. 

 

https://woostergeologists.scotblogs.wooster.edu/2011/02/06/wooster’s-fossil-of-the-week-a-chewed-up-leaf-upper-cretaceous-of-kansas/

Found this in Ellsworth County, near Black Wolf, KS. Specimen is in red sandstone. Formation unknown but above the water line in a side creek (Cow Creek?) just northwest of Black Wolf. Required wading under railroad track bridge crossing...

 

[Zapsalis]

10 hours ago, Kato said:

Found this in Ellsworth County, near Black Wolf, KS. Specimen is in red sandstone. Formation unknown but above the water line in a side creek (Cow Creek?) just northwest of Black Wolf. Required wading under railroad track bridge crossing...

 

What an amazing specimen! 

[Kato]

On 12/26/2018 at 7:17 PM, Zapsalis said:

What an amazing specimen! 

I found this back in the late 1970's but happen to know the formation is exposed in low water times on the east bank. Look for red sandstone. I found mine in the red circled area, but the whole area in yellow may show the formation. Allegedly, the leaves that would be found here are sassafras leaves. Mine seems to be an overlay of several leaves so it is difficult to tell if it is sassafras or not.

 

seems I attached the wrong pic so will need to re-post

[Kato]

[Zapsalis]

6 hours ago, Kato said:

I live in Wisconsin, but I’ll definitely have to give then Dakota Formation a look of I ever go to Kansas!

 

I wish you and your family a happy New Year! 

[Kato]

8 hours ago, Zapsalis said:

I live in Wisconsin, but I’ll definitely have to give then Dakota Formation a look of I ever go to Kansas!

 

I wish you and your family a happy New Year! 

If you do make it there, research Kanopolis Lake. There are some very nice fossils, flora and fauna, and well worth the drive.

 

Approximately where in Wisconsin? We try to get up to Eagle River for 2-4 weeks during the dog days of summer.