New Members MelanieH Posted June 6, 2023 New Members Share Posted June 6, 2023 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Members MelanieH Posted June 6, 2023 Author New Members Share Posted June 6, 2023 Anyone know what this might be? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwigia Posted June 6, 2023 Share Posted June 6, 2023 Maybe calcite with iron impurities giving it the color. It's anyway a mineral and not a fossil. Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger http://www.steinkern.de/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fin Lover Posted June 6, 2023 Share Posted June 6, 2023 I agree not a fossil, but it's pretty, though! Fin Lover Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DPS Ammonite Posted June 6, 2023 Share Posted June 6, 2023 Yes calcite crystals. Put a drip of vinegar to see if it fizzes. Calcite crystals are common in clams that are buried not too deep to crush them. Calcite forms in the hollow space between the shells: sort of an interior mold. I saw them in the Pliocene Merced Fm fossils just south of San Francisco along the coast. 1 My goal is to leave no stone or fossil unturned. See my Arizona Paleontology Guide link The best single resource for Arizona paleontology anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digit Posted June 6, 2023 Share Posted June 6, 2023 Yup. It's called dog-tooth calcite (at least here in Florida where it often forms inside empty quahog [Mercenaria sp.] shells which form the void where the crystals can grow). You can see the shape of the bivalve and a trace of the shell at the base of these crystals. Very nice! Cheers. -Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Kmiecik Posted June 7, 2023 Share Posted June 7, 2023 3 hours ago, digit said: You can see the shape of the bivalve and a trace of the shell at the base of these crystals. So, is it technically a trace fossil, even if it's recent? 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...
digit Posted June 7, 2023 Share Posted June 7, 2023 1 hour ago, Mark Kmiecik said: So, is it technically a trace fossil, even if it's recent? How about "fossil adjacent"? It likely takes a long time for dogtooth calcite crystals like this to form so I'm not sure there is much "recent" about calcite filled bivalve shells. There used to be a site in central-southish Florida (just north of Lake Okeechobee) called "Ruck's Pit" and there are likely members here on the forum who have dogtooth calcite filled mollusk shells from that site in their collections. You used to be able to go there as a pay-dig site and collect them right out of the formation. Lots of images of what those look like can be easily found with a simple image search. You can easily see how the beautiful cluster of crystals found by the OP relate to the images in this search: https://www.google.com/search?q=ruck's+pit+calcite+fossils&tbm=isch Cheers. -Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DPS Ammonite Posted June 7, 2023 Share Posted June 7, 2023 1 hour ago, Mark Kmiecik said: So, is it technically a trace fossil, even if it's recent? This is not trace fossil or a fossil adjacent. Trace fossils are a record of the activities or behavior of an organism. There are bits of the shell, a body fossil, and an interior mold which is rather incomplete. Molds are any material deposited or grown against a preservable part of an organism, (such as a shell). Overall this is a very neat fossil. 1 My goal is to leave no stone or fossil unturned. See my Arizona Paleontology Guide link The best single resource for Arizona paleontology anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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