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NJ Cretaceous Stream Oddity


Fishinfossil

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Hello, 

Can you take a picture of the item from directly above it?

Top and Bottom would be useful. 

Also, Size?  Everyone's hands are different sizes. ;) 

 

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Here's a photo of the bottom of it. Pics 1 and 3 are basically photos of the top of the piece. I'll see if I can get another image. Also, it is about 3-1/2 inches in length, 2 inches in width, and half inch in depth

 

P4043943.thumb.JPG.e94f55bb1a30cf46fbfb6f3893ab85c3.JPGHere's

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I think this an import from up north.

They look like brachiopods, poorly preserved molds mostly, in Paleozoic rock left by glaciers. 

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Looks like erosion marks on a thinly bedded sandstone to me. 

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31 minutes ago, Tidgy's Dad said:

Looks like erosion marks on a thinly bedded sandstone to me. 

+1 (or possibly fossiliferous chert?)

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Not looking that highly silicified to these amateur eyes. Possibly @ynot will chime in with a geological opinion.

 

I am in the camp of thinking this is basically non-biological (other than possibly the traces showing in the top level of this laminated rock). Though I don't think it is a fossil, I do think it would make a stellar display mount for some actual fossils found in the same creek. ;)

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

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One more vote for geologic piece.

But it's definately cool enough to display on a what-not shelf. :dinothumb:

Dorensigbadges.JPG       

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The rock looks like chert or possibly a very fine-grained metamorphic quartzite. Notice the circular percussion scars on the bedding plane that are common in pieces of chert. Banding is also common in chert. 

B8008B6A-7863-4020-8386-F767C921BE9F.jpeg

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My goal is to leave no stone or fossil unturned.   

See my Arizona Paleontology Guide    link  The best single resource for Arizona paleontology anywhere.       

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New Jersey's Cretaceous streams produce a lot of interesting, oddly-shaped and colored stones. Much of it is glacial debris from up north. Other stuff is provocatively shaped  concretionary material. Experience teaches what is a fossil and what isn't.

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Thanks for the replies, sounds like it could be banded chert. I've had many fossil-looking concretions, but this one stumped me. Dang if it doesn't look and feel like bone! DPS AMMONITE - what did you mean by "percussion scars" and how are they created? I noticed those markings as well thinking they could have been bite marks originally.

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1 hour ago, Fishinfossil said:

Thanks for the replies, sounds like it could be banded chert. I've had many fossil-looking concretions, but this one stumped me. Dang if it doesn't look and feel like bone! DPS AMMONITE - what did you mean by "percussion scars" and how are they created? I noticed those markings as well thinking they could have been bite marks originally.

Percussion scars form when a rock hits another object and forms a fracture. Chert and many quartz type rocks have curving or conchoidal fracturing. See the Wikipedia article: 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conchoidal_fracture

My goal is to leave no stone or fossil unturned.   

See my Arizona Paleontology Guide    link  The best single resource for Arizona paleontology anywhere.       

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1 hour ago, Fishinfossil said:

Rockwood, what am I looking at that you circled?

I'm looking at something like this.

From this perspective the rock looks like metamorphosed sandstone to me. There also seem to be shapes consistent with internal molds of similar brachiopods in the other side, and to a lesser degree (exposure) in the intermediate layers. 

brachiopod.jpg

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Not something that would find its way into my collection. Over the years I've literally gotten rid of tons of "interesting" stuff because the crates filled an entire garage from top to bottom, front to back and side to side. I would be trying to separate those layers to see if there's anything collectible between them, although experience has taught me that it is a low-percentage possibility. If you don't have another like it or better, put it in your collection. If you already do, split the layers and see what you can find. My gut tells me there isn't much there.

 

 

Mark.

 

Fossil hunting is easy -- they don't run away when you shoot at them!

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