Fossil ID near Durham, NC

[Gandoril]

This is the first time I've tried to go looking for fossils and found this while breaking apart some sedimentary rocks. I don't know if I'm seeing the cross section of something. The lighter grey, white area really stood out against the normal red yellow white of the surrounding stone. Located near the edge of a creek bed. According to the usgs the area is Felsic Metavolcanic Rock and in the period of Cambrian/Late Proterozoic. 

[Rockwood]

I think usgs torpedoed you out of a chance on this one. The odds of finding an identifiable fossil there are close to zero. 

[DPS Ammonite]

Do not take a granite for a fossil. Agee: not a fossil.

[Fossildude19]

Welcome to the Forum.

Looks like metamorphic or igneous rock, to me. Sorry, not seeing any fossils. 

[Rockwood]

1 hour ago, Gandoril said:

Metavolcanic Rock

Perhaps you were confusing this with a truly sedimentary rock composed of volcanic ash ? Such rocks do contain fossils, and they look very igneous until you identify an obvious fossil in it.

[Gandoril]

Bummer, thought i might have gotten lucky. I just assumed it was sedimentary based on how flaky the rock was and that its surrounded by clay. Did find a ridiculous amount of iron in it. The search continues 

[caldigger]

If you haven't already, take a look see in the Forum topic "Fossil Locations", scroll down to North Carolina.

You might find a locality near you with a track record of having fossil material.

[grandpa]

Welcome to the fossil forum.  NC has a large # of places to find fossils.  If you have the interest, I'd recommend joining the NC Fossil Club, a really great organization with lots of great, helpful folks.  Also, if still avail, there is a NC govnt published (1987) book on NC Fossil Sites.  I picked one up at the govnt office in Raleigh in the early 1990's and found it quite useful.  Some of the info may be outdated now, but much isn't. 

[hemipristis]

The only sedimentary rocks that I'm aware of in the Durham area are the Triassic reddish mudstones associated with the failed rift called the "Durham Basin".  They're exposed in at least one quarry there, and several railroad cuts.  My paleo prof recovered an entire new species of reptile from the quarry. They nicknamed it "Alison" after his wife at the time.

 

UNC research link

 

You're better off driving eastward until you hit at least Goldsboro. That's when searching the riverbeds gets fun...  Goldsboro has lignite & amber.  As you proceed eastward, the more fossiliferous formations appear.   The same professor wrote the book that @grandpa references, which is available from the NC Geological Survey: NC Geological Survey fossil book

[Plax]

Like Hemipristis said there are fossils in Durham. The North Carolina Museum of Natural sciences in Raleigh has some nice fossils from the Durham area and if my memory serves me they are also in conglomerates. If I lived in the area I'd look at rip rap along streams and bridges for Triassic fossils that were locally quarried. There are also no doubt natural exposures in the area. This is very difficult collecting with a good amount of research required. Most collectors just go where someone tells them to go and the book "Fossil collecting in North Carolina" has a lot of great sites.