New Members TheTravelingCouple Posted June 21, 2023 New Members Share Posted June 21, 2023 My partner and I went camping and while walking around, near the water ledges, this was lying partially in the dirt and cracked in half. When we pulled it up the cap came off and now we have this unknown fossil, possibly. It’s our first and I was curious to find people that had WAY more knowledge and would be excited to look at this puzzling find. Thank you! TheTravelingCouple Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted June 21, 2023 Share Posted June 21, 2023 I think the shape is the result of hydration weathering. Water is incorporated into the crystalline structure of the surface layer of the rock expanding its volume and causing the break. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digit Posted June 21, 2023 Share Posted June 21, 2023 Looks a lot like a siderite concretion. If you search this forum or the wider internet for the search term "Mazon Creek" you'll find that concretions like this occasionally contain interesting fossils. Animal or plant matter was buried in iron-rich mud. When the organic matter decomposed it released CO2 and that was taken up by the surrounding sediments which chemically transformed it into a more durable rock called siderite. The softer matrix wears away over geologic time (hundreds of millions of years) and the siderite concretions have effectively formed a "cocoon" around the organic matter preserving it as a fossil within. Weathering (freeze-thaw cycles) often naturally splits these concretions along the plane where the fossil lies within. Quite often outer shells of softer parts of the concretion flake off and that looks like what is happening in your item. Only a small percentage of concretions at well-known sites like Mazon Creek (SW of Chicago in Illinois) actually contain fossils so unfortunately not all siderite concretions contain recognizable fossils within. https://www.google.com/search?q=mazon+creek+&tbm=isch Welcome to the forum--lots of great information here! Thanks for taking well lit and focused images with a ruler scale in them. Cheers. -Ken 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digit Posted June 21, 2023 Share Posted June 21, 2023 BTW: If you are interested in fossils and rocks in general, you should check into some clubs that might be within driving distance for you: https://www.geology365.com/club-directory/state/Ohio You might also search this forum for the quoted phrase "St. Leon" to see a fabulous (well known) fossil location that might be a road-trip idea for a couple that travel. Cheers. -Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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