Zenmaster6 Posted April 25, 2019 Share Posted April 25, 2019 Me and my girlfriend went to Murdock Beach, we found a ton of concretions, one of which (which I left in the car and can't include) was an agatized acila clam I believe. With pretty good detail. However that was the only fossil that I found which I could recognize. I will post all the finds here which I was curious about. I continually saw these rectangular cross sections of some strange agatized fossil. Then, I split one of these rectangular fossils just right and got a print of what the "skin" or outside layer looks like as almost a cast from a mold of agate. The perfect mold is the last picture I posted. If anyone has any clue as to what this is, you might be the first to identify what all these famous Murdock beach concretions are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyanDye Posted April 27, 2019 Share Posted April 27, 2019 From what I see it all looks geological, but I'm not familiar with the area. I don't see anything suggesting a fossil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bronzviking Posted April 29, 2019 Share Posted April 29, 2019 These are pretty interesting concretions. We have many discussions on the forum about them. Here is a neat picture gallery to compare. https://www.thoughtco.com/gallery-of-concretions-4122853 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossilis Willis Posted May 4, 2019 Share Posted May 4, 2019 I'm no expert, but I've found tons of these at murdock beach and have always believed them to be what is called a pseudomorph. A Google search of the term will give you a much more coherent defenition than I could. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Ryan Posted April 20, 2021 Share Posted April 20, 2021 From my own investigations and comparisons, I believe the cylindrical fossils are petrified kelp. In addition to the kelp cylinders (identifiable by their weird rectangular core), there are also bulb shapes on the beach, which I believe to be the "float" portion of the kelp. If I am correct, then the kelp from this era got to be huge, as I have seen cylinders as big as the diameter of a basketball. Unlike the concretions on the beach, in which a matrix forms around a dead creature (possibly catalyzed by acid from the body of the dead creature), petrified kelp seems to be a organic-silicate substitution, just like petrified wood, with no additional matrix material catalyzing on to it. In other words, cracking open petrified kelp will not yield more fossils; it just destroys unusually shaped rocks. FYI, the museum in nearby Joyce, Washington has a pretty nice collection of fossils, including the skull of an extinct dolphin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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