Zenmaster6 Posted February 4, 2019 Share Posted February 4, 2019 Ok, I went looking for fossils in Renton, Washington state. I also went to Tukwila Washington (supposedly there are plant fossils here.) I found some things and maybe anyone could confirm if they are indeed fossils or something else. I'm not aiming for species of genus, the quality of these are not to that level, BUT if you have an idea, let me know. Thanks all. (I'm going to do kind of a dump here with all my findings.) Fig. A: Found in Green River Tukwila Washington. Not sure just picked the piece up about 1 1/2 inches long. Fig. B: Found in sedimentary rock in Renton Cedar river park. (people have found fossils here before) The picture of the boulder shows where the rock / fossil was lodged into it. Fig. C: I have no idea, it jumped out at me at Cedar River on the river bank next to a natural cut in the sediment. Fig. D: I believe this is old Carbonized wood or something like that but I'm so amateur I probably don't know what I'm talking about. It was found in the sediment (in the picture you can see it sticking out of rock). The Geologic map says Renton is in the Eocene time period but I know wood takes 300 million years to carbonize (So I read) Anyways if you could tell me how this got so deep in the sediments and maybe its age that would be great. (the sediment was on the side of a cliff so it wasn't someone's campfire unless they broke gravity.) Fig. E: Again, not sure. It feels like carbon but maybe with bark or something on it. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The last few images I couldn't take home because they were too huge ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fern maybe: I found this in Renton WA by Green river. Carbonized Log Maybe: I found this streak of charcoal looking substance imbedded in a rock and I cant get it out but it is indeed deep in the rock. You can see on the side that it goes all the way through. Tukwila Maybe Plant: Probably the only fossil I found so far. I have my best bet on this one. No idea what it truly is. Dash Point Leaf?: At Dash point Tacoma Washington I found this chunk of clay with a deciduous looking leaf shape but I did not take it home with me. A lot of this clay had black splotches on it and it was probably only a coincidence. If you made it this far holy cow I'm sorry for just dumping but anything helps. THANK YOU! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted February 4, 2019 Share Posted February 4, 2019 I see a bunch of non fossil rock and mineral pieces. 1 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zenmaster6 Posted February 4, 2019 Author Share Posted February 4, 2019 I'm mostly curious about what you think about this rock, I want to know about the others too but, maybe you know what this thing is? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolf89 Posted February 4, 2019 Share Posted February 4, 2019 I'm not seeing any fossils Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zenmaster6 Posted February 4, 2019 Author Share Posted February 4, 2019 : C Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plantguy Posted February 4, 2019 Share Posted February 4, 2019 Interesting stuff. Unfortunately I dont see any obvious macro fossils either. I do think you may have some pieces of coal or possible wood pieces..hard to tell exactly...as I recall my Grand Dad mentioned coal mining in Washington when they were there eons ago. That coal isnt the Carboniferous aged deposits 300 MYold but much younger like Eocene as you described. That dark finger like streak in that one photo could be coal. I cant tell what that last dark almost crystalline design is...could be just a mineral or possibly a coal trace or something else that is carbonized but need more info/closeups. Sometimes those are really tough to get in the field and I understand. Good to always put some type of ruler/scale in those shots to provide size. Regards, Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted February 4, 2019 Share Posted February 4, 2019 I had the same thoughts as Chris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plantguy Posted February 4, 2019 Share Posted February 4, 2019 3 minutes ago, Plantguy said: Interesting stuff. Unfortunately I dont see any obvious macro fossils either. I do think you may have some pieces of coal or possible wood pieces..hard to tell exactly...as I recall my Grand Dad mentioned coal mining in Washington when they were there eons ago. That coal isnt the Carboniferous aged deposits 300 MYold but much younger like Eocene as you described. That dark finger like streak in that one photo could be coal. I cant tell what that last dark almost crystalline design is...could be just a mineral or possibly a coal trace or something else that is carbonized but need more info/closeups. Sometimes those are really tough to get in the field and I understand. Good to always put some type of ruler/scale in those shots to provide size. Regards, Chris Forgot to add that alot of times the layers/beds around (above and below) coal can have plant remains...they show up in shales sandstones as carbonized remains/imprints so look around very closely in those areas/rock types when you start to see any thick black layers like that. Alot of times the coal layers have obliterated most of the actual plant remains. not always but alot of times. Sounds like youve started to look into the geology in the area but I'd do some more research online and see what sorts of rocks are showing up in your whole state.. I did a quick search and found this that might give you some clues about what you are finding...not sure if it covers your specific area but might.. https://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/0672/report.pdf Geology of the Renton, Auburn, and Black Diamond Quadrangles, King County, Washington GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 672 Regards, Chris 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zenmaster6 Posted February 4, 2019 Author Share Posted February 4, 2019 Hey, thanks Chris for the detailed reply. I read the PDF before I traveled and was looking for a locality called "Steels Crossing" but could not find it anywhere on maps or the internet. Also I was lead to this spot but DNR of Washington that claimed plant fossils had been found here many time before. I was wondering, if plants can only turn into coal after 300 million years, how is it possible the Eocene had formed coal from plants as well. (not even sure if that's true but if not, how long does it take to produce coal?) Again, I appreciate you taking the time to tell me your feedback. - John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted February 4, 2019 Share Posted February 4, 2019 3 minutes ago, Zenmaster6 said: , how long does it take to produce coal? Man can produce coal in about 3 days, but We call it charcoal. 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted February 4, 2019 Share Posted February 4, 2019 One of the items looks like a lichen of some sort, to me. Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FranzBernhard Posted February 4, 2019 Share Posted February 4, 2019 (edited) 7 hours ago, Zenmaster6 said: not even sure if that's true but if not, how long does it take to produce coal? No, not true. For low-rank coal (lignite), some 100.000 years (maybe even less?) are enough. Such stuff was mined underground here in Austria locally - coal from interglacial periods. For high-rank coal (bituminous coal), more then 100°C-200°C are necessary, that means, an overburden of at least 3 km would be needed, assuming a normal geothermal gradient. It takes some time to accumulate such overburden. Not very far from you, Cretaceous (about 100 Million years old) bituminous coal was mined, on Vancouver Island @Wrangellian. But it is correct, that the most voluminous bituminous coal deposits are about 300 Million years old, formed during the Carboniferous (nomen est omen). It is also possible for nature to produce some high-rank coal quite quickly, when lavas or igneous intrusions came close to organic matter and oxygen is excluded. But these are not extensive deposits. Franz Bernhard Edited February 4, 2019 by FranzBernhard Info added, wording, clarifications 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UndercoverN Posted February 4, 2019 Share Posted February 4, 2019 The town of Franklin has shale deposits that have leaf fossils. I have a bunch of them from the area. They are laying on the ground from the shale cliff wall. Franklin is between black diamond, Cumberland and enumclaw wa. Fyi 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zenmaster6 Posted February 4, 2019 Author Share Posted February 4, 2019 I figured out what the plant I found was on that rock! Its called a PseudoFossil. From mineral deposits which look like plants Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted February 5, 2019 Share Posted February 5, 2019 Yup, nice dendrites! The coal we have over her is about 80million yrs. You might be in the Chuckanut formation, but I can't say for sure without a geo map. That is younger - Paleogene (after the dinosaurs checked out). There are plant fossils in the Chuckanut, but again I can't direct you to any sites as I've never been fossiling over there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zenmaster6 Posted February 15, 2019 Author Share Posted February 15, 2019 On 2/4/2019 at 4:05 PM, Wrangellian said: Yup, nice dendrites! The coal we have over her is about 80million yrs. You might be in the Chuckanut formation, but I can't say for sure without a geo map. That is younger - Paleogene (after the dinosaurs checked out). There are plant fossils in the Chuckanut, but again I can't direct you to any sites as I've never been fossiling over there. chuckanut is an hour and a half away from me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plantguy Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 On 2/3/2019 at 9:20 PM, Zenmaster6 said: Hey, thanks Chris for the detailed reply. I read the PDF before I traveled and was looking for a locality called "Steels Crossing" but could not find it anywhere on maps or the internet. Also I was lead to this spot but DNR of Washington that claimed plant fossils had been found here many time before. I was wondering, if plants can only turn into coal after 300 million years, how is it possible the Eocene had formed coal from plants as well. (not even sure if that's true but if not, how long does it take to produce coal?) Again, I appreciate you taking the time to tell me your feedback. - John Hey John, glad to help. Look more closely at that pdf...USGS docs are loaded with immense detail. It has quadrangle map names, section #'s, range and township info to what you are looking for..Not sure about the accessibility to those areas but alot of clues/detail there for you....good luck! @Zenmaster6 It looks like the others have covered coal questions/formation already... Nice Dendrites! Regards, Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zenmaster6 Posted February 15, 2019 Author Share Posted February 15, 2019 36 minutes ago, Plantguy said: Hey John, glad to help. Look more closely at that pdf...USGS docs are loaded with immense detail. It has quadrangle map names, section #'s, range and township info to what you are looking for..Not sure about the accessibility to those areas but alot of clues/detail there for you....good luck! @Zenmaster6 It looks like the others have covered coal questions/formation already... Nice Dendrites! Regards, Chris thanks for the regaurds but I already found the spot... and the fossils : D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plantguy Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 5 hours ago, Zenmaster6 said: thanks for the regaurds but I already found the spot... and the fossils : D Great! Regards, Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abyssunder Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 On 2/4/2019 at 8:42 PM, Zenmaster6 said: I figured out what the plant I found was on that rock! Its called a PseudoFossil. From mineral deposits which look like plants Those are manganese dendrites, considering their color. " We are not separate and independent entities, but like links in a chain, and we could not by any means be what we are without those who went before us and showed us the way. " Thomas Mann My Library Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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