Geojonser Posted April 2, 2023 Share Posted April 2, 2023 Hello A friend gave this to me...It was found in a garden on a property on the southern North Sea coast of The Netherlands... After reading a lot about coprolites, spiral fish coprolite mainly...led me to burrows...which in turn, led me to corals...I now suspect that it may be some sort of Horn coraI... It is 2" (5.5cm) long...the opening has a diameter of approx. 1" (2.5cm)...it is rounded on one side...flat on the other...from the texture and weight of 56 grams I am certain that it is completely stone... I am hoping that someone could confirm my thoughts and help with the age of it and the material that it is now made of... Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted April 2, 2023 Share Posted April 2, 2023 (edited) It's heavily mineralized, and a little beat up, but that is a rugose horn coral. 250 - 450 million years would be roughly the range of the age. Edited April 2, 2023 by Rockwood 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geojonser Posted April 2, 2023 Author Share Posted April 2, 2023 Hello Rockwood...thanks for the reply... Yes, it is heavily weathered... I am not familiar with what is meant by heavy mineralization exactly... I understand that any of the actual animal surviving until now is highly unlikely...but, when you say "heavily" mineralized, do you mean that that the skeleton of the coral is covered in a lot of mineral or that the animal has deteriorated and been replaced with a lot of mineral?...or both?...or something else? It's an interesting thought, to me...Thanks for your time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted April 2, 2023 Share Posted April 2, 2023 4 minutes ago, Geojonser said: Hello Rockwood...thanks for the reply... Yes, it is heavily weathered... I am not familiar with what is meant by heavy mineralization exactly... I understand that any of the actual animal surviving until now is highly unlikely...but, when you say "heavily" mineralized, do you mean that that the skeleton of the coral is covered in a lot of mineral or that the animal has deteriorated and been replaced with a lot of mineral?...or both?...or something else? It's an interesting thought, to me...Thanks for your time This might be thought of as the house of the animal, although skeleton is probably correct. Some of the minerals that it was made of may still be there, but most has been lost, replaced and added to in the fossilization process. Calling it heavily mineralized indicates that much of the original form has been lost or obscured. The soft tissues undoubtedly decomposed before any of this occurred. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doushantuo Posted April 2, 2023 Share Posted April 2, 2023 (edited) Rockwood bedoelt*,eeuh means that the original shape has been somewhat altered after being embedded in sediment *sorry, beetje raar gevoel voor humor After (and even during) the life of the animal,several biological and mineralogical processes affect the skeleton,altering pristine("primary") structures. e.g.: fragmentation,encrustation,compression,silicification,ferruginization,compaction,and epitaxial cementation Edited April 2, 2023 by doushantuo 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geojonser Posted April 2, 2023 Author Share Posted April 2, 2023 Got it...Thanks for the explanation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doushantuo Posted April 2, 2023 Share Posted April 2, 2023 For those who like to know such things: I started my response before Rockwood posted his slightly more plainspeak reponse . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doushantuo Posted April 2, 2023 Share Posted April 2, 2023 coral -sediment(substrate) relations(NON-Fossil corals): 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Kmiecik Posted April 3, 2023 Share Posted April 3, 2023 On 4/2/2023 at 6:27 AM, doushantuo said: For those who like to know such things: I started my response before Rockwood posted his slightly more plainspeak reponse . Yes, but to those of us who just love epitaxial cementation . . . I once knew this gal who had fantastic crystalline structure that was so nicely aligned with her inner self. 1 Mark. Fossil hunting is easy -- they don't run away when you shoot at them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geojonser Posted April 3, 2023 Author Share Posted April 3, 2023 Hahaha...:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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