Jump to content

Fern & bark ID + Random? Newbie post


Kgbow

Recommended Posts

Here’s the first fossils I’ve ever found! Found in Webster County, West Virginia. Where they hollow out a road. The stone is shale from my knowledge..... 

 

I’d love to know it’s age and name? And, how to prep them. 

 

 

5601672B-91D5-46FB-A885-AEF01486E08D.jpeg

813E1A04-2038-4F24-A7DF-210E7B9512E5.jpeg

38F5E42F-FEA4-4206-909C-2BFF20D1E041.jpeg

864239D9-0F72-414F-B651-198404DC4CCA.jpeg

68EDAABF-A098-42E6-BC84-37B4AC206383.jpeg

  • I found this Informative 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Kirk, 

 

Your first item looks like a branch or rachis of a plant, probably unidentifiable unless there are any leaves attached to it. 

Second item looks like possibly and Alethopteris sp. fern. 

Third, ... not sure I'm seeing any fossil at all. 

Fourth, looks like possibly a bit of Calamites sp. Hard to say, as there are no nodes present.

Fifth item looks plant-like, but too fragmentary to identify. 

 

These are probably from the Carboniferous period, probably the Pennsylvanian series.

 

Bedrock geologic map of WV. 

 

Looks like the bedrock in Webster County is mostly Pennsylvanian in age, with some Mississippian as well. 

Geologic_Map_of_West_Virginia.jpg

  • I found this Informative 3

    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      

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Plant material, may be someone more knowledgeable can help you get a more specific ID. Agree with Fossildude in carboniferous in age. As far as prepping, same cheap dental picks should would well as long as it is not too hard

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow! You guys know your stuff! 

 

This is is so exciting for me! Even if they are common finds! 

 

So, how do I go about preserving them? Take the fern? Or the calamite? Do I just dig them out? Cover them in lacquer? What do I do?

 

Sorry, I’m very new to this. Don’t want to mess it up. 

 

Do all the rocks i find have a chance of having a fossil? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, Kgbow said:

Wow! You guys know your stuff! 

 

This is is so exciting for me! Even if they are common finds! 

 

So, how do I go about preserving them? Take the fern? Or the calamite? Do I just dig them out? Cover them in lacquer? What do I do?

 

Sorry, I’m very new to this. Don’t want to mess it up. 

 

Do all the rocks i find have a chance of having a fossil? 

The forth one is a bit of cordiates leaf I think.

I think these fossils are fairly stable as they are. I've never worried about coating them.

In coal mining areas they tend to be very common. The old shale overburden dumps are a virtual playground for fossil hunting. Be careful though. That little ditch obscured by bushes could be a hundred feet deep.

Darn glad I happened to look closer before I hopped by the way. ;)

  • I found this Informative 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Rockwood said:

The forth one is a bit of cordiates leaf I think.

This is probably correct. I had that thought, but didn't know if Cordiates got that big. 

But this makes more sense, as the lines are not evenly spaced. 

Thanks for the correction, Dale. :) 

    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      

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Rockwood said:

The old shale overburden dumps are a virtual playground for fossil hunting. Be careful though. That little ditch obscured by bushes could be a hundred feet deep.

Darn glad I happened to look closer before I hopped by the way. ;)

So you're saying a parachute could make sense as part of a fossil hunters gear. :headscratch:

Accomplishing the impossible means only that the boss will add it to your regular duties.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, daves64 said:

So you're saying a parachute could make sense as part of a fossil hunters gear. :headscratch:

No I'm saying part the bushes and look before you assume you are going to just hop across the ditch.

For me It was in PA. The ditch was a mined out coal seam that just happened to be next to the road. The depth might be exaggerated, but it got my attention right off.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Perfect! Thank you guys. We’re (very slowly) learning. 

 

We have just found an old coal mine it’s literally dripping with fossils. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

46 minutes ago, Kgbow said:

We have just found an old coal mine it’s literally dripping with fossils. 

Cool!

Got any pictures?

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

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...