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Fossil coral?


Crazyhen

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I think it is a coral - a rather strangely preserved tabulate, a favositid kind of thing. It has very clear tabulae across the full diameter of each corallite (and no septa, as Scylla says).

 

(By the way, plurals of the structural terms are confusing as the singulars have different endings (different genders) - so it's tabula/tabulae but septum/septa!)

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Tarquin

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22 minutes ago, TqB said:

It has very clear tabulae across the full diameter of each corallite

It's has clear demarcation of diameter and color variations, but I flatly disagree that they are clearly tabulae.

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26 minutes ago, Rockwood said:

It's has clear demarcation of diameter and color variations, but I flatly disagree that they are clearly tabulae.

I believe this is a single vertical corallite in the middle, with weathered in tabulae going across it.

 

5c7a88f201b5b_Screenshot2019-03-02at13_41_30.jpeg.cf05f33b3d4de0a35c9ca88aa8349ff7.jpeg

 

 

Tarquin

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I’ve seen Favosites that have weathered this way. It appears that most of the coral has weathered but the matrix filling the corallites is more resistant.

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Just now, Al Dente said:

I’ve seen Favosites that have weathered this way. It appears that most of the coral has weathered but the matrix filling the corallites is more resistant.

I agree. The structure is like this little polished Michelinia (closest pic I could quickly find in my collection).

 

IMG_2716.thumb.jpg.f89adc506512208e6f4b44bff1eb9e12.jpg

 

 

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Tarquin

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31 minutes ago, Al Dente said:

I’ve seen Favosites that have weathered this way. It appears that most of the coral has weathered but the matrix filling the corallites is more resistant.

I have something like it from turbidite. The stacks look like they had been through an earthquake. Probably for good reason.

Definitely could work as an explanation.

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1 hour ago, Crazyhen said:

It is said to be Devonian.

A quick google had me thinking Cambrian.

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So an internal mold of a favosites if you will? With dissolution of the favosites to leave the crevices we see?:shrug:

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54 minutes ago, Scylla said:

So an internal mold of a favosites if you will? With dissolution of the favosites to leave the crevices we see?:shrug:

Excellent question.

Perhaps another angle would be to ask when did and to what degree did the actual body fossil dissolve away ?

My thought is that perhaps the disappearance was nearly complete relatively early in diagenesis.

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1 hour ago, Scylla said:

So an internal mold of a favosites if you will? With dissolution of the favosites to leave the crevices we see?:shrug:

That's pretty much it. I've seen similar weathering of other types of coral when it was certainly a recent phenomenon following exposure (UK Carboniferous stuff).

 

I suspect this one would look "normal" if it was sliced.

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Tarquin

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