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Ordovician "blob", brachiopods and more.


Recker

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I've found a blob me thinks.  Came across this on the Whitewater River, Southeast Indiana.  What the heck do you think is in this?  I see a Leptaena.

 

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I do see the Leptaena but I dont know what heck the blob thing is...first guess maybe another brach internal mold/cast but of a different more robust species but you may need to expose more of the edges to get a better sense of its complete shape. Maybe one of the gang will recognize it without further excavation...Curious to see what the others  think.  Will check back after some more yard work---still got some daylight to play with...

 

Regards, Chris  

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3 minutes ago, Plantguy said:

I do see the Leptaena but I dont know what heck the blob thing is...first guess maybe another brach internal mold/cast but of a different more robust species but you may need to expose more of the edges to get a better sense of its complete shape. Maybe one of the gang will recognize it without further excavation...Curious to see what the others  think.  Will check back after some more yard work---still got some daylight to play with...

 

Regards, Chris  

Maybe this blob will be my first victim in learning how to use my Dremel Etching Tool.  I don't think pecking away with a needle is going to make a dent in this baby.  LOL

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I see Leptanea and Rafinisqiuna, very worn

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"Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence"_ Carl Sagen

No trees were killed in this posting......however, many innocent electrons were diverted from where they originally intended to go.

" I think, therefore I collect fossils." _ Me

"When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."__S. Holmes

"can't we all just get along?" Jack Nicholson from Mars Attacks

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Looks like a water-tumbled block of matrix rich in brachiopods.  I see a Strophomena, possibly S. planumbona here (internal valve view):

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Ya'll are awesome, just ripping out all the names of this and that.  I saw a big mess in this, kinda like my unidentified Ordovician "cookie", but this is more like a pie size LOL.  Although you can't see from the photos, when I look into the openings on the "blob" I see more detail of what lies beneath.  I've learned so much from you all here and I appreciate it so much.  Being new to new to prepping do you have any tips on how to "attack" this?  I have a Dremel engraving tool, just not sure how to go about it and where to start.

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Like most hash plates, the beauty in them is how mother nature created  such wonders in the first place. When man intervenes, the results are often inferior to what the initial plate looked like. Therefore, I'd leave it as is, unless the burning desire to expose the blob outweighs destroying this eye pleasing piece. 

 

Mike

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23 minutes ago, Recker said:

Ya'll are awesome, just ripping out all the names of this and that.  I saw a big mess in this, kinda like my unidentified Ordovician "cookie", but this is more like a pie size LOL.  Although you can't see from the photos, when I look into the openings on the "blob" I see more detail of what lies beneath.  I've learned so much from you all here and I appreciate it so much.  Being new to new to prepping do you have any tips on how to "attack" this?  I have a Dremel engraving tool, just not sure how to go about it and where to start.

You can use the engraving tool to remove the rough matrix until you start getting close to a fossil you are interested in saving / cleaning.  You want to avoid touching the fossil with any power tools.  

 

Prepping on or very near the fossil can be done with a pin vice.  You can use hypodermic needles (best) or similarly designed body piercing needles (not as durable) in the vice.  I like these because of the shape of the tip which allows scraping.  And they are really sharp. 

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Use magnification and gently scrape the matrix.  Prepping takes a ton of time.  I'd recommend focusing on one fossil or maybe pick just one from one of your hash plates. Trying to prep an entire hash plate might turn you off from prepping, lol.  Learn on single fossils and get motivation from the results of those endeavors.  After that, you may find that you want to invest in a pneumatic scribe.

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There are layers within the Ordovician of that area that are made up of jumbled and already worn shells. They represent high-energy environments probably well within the wave base. This kind of limestone is sometimes called packstone, as in packed with fossils. Unfortunately, despite being loaded with fossils, they are often eroded and broken.  

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28 minutes ago, minnbuckeye said:

Like most hash plates, the beauty in them is how mother nature created  such wonders in the first place. When man intervenes, the results are often inferior to what the initial plate looked like. Therefore, I'd leave it as is, unless the burning desire to expose the blob outweighs destroying this eye pleasing piece. 

 

Mike

Mike, I agree and I'm going to leave it as is versus messing it up.  Thank you!

 

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It does make sense to leave it as is, so many fossil's are static, but this blob captures a moment, an event en vivo.  So why break it apart into static pieces.  I'll quit yapping now!

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