CarrieOkie Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 Hello From Arizona-Great to find this forum:) How would I classify this quartz fossil? Thank You, Carrie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kane Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 Topic moved to Fossil ID Unfortunately, this is not a fossil. It bears only a very remote resemblance to the skull beside it, but is much lacking in any distinct morphological similarities. I would class this as a non-biogenic geologic specimen. 1 5 ...How to Philosophize with a Hammer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 Agree that this is not a fossil of any kind, unfortunately. 2 Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minnbuckeye Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 I agree just a (nice) rock but it reminded me of the movie 'Alien". 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarrieOkie Posted January 21 Author Share Posted January 21 I have knowledge of the anatomical features of the human body.That’s not in question. How would you classify a fossil that has been formed in the same manner as petrified wood? Where silicon has taken the space of oxygen in the organic matter. Resulting in a crystallized form. I am merely asking how to classify this type of “petrified” fossil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kane Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 As this item is not a fossil, I am a bit unclear what you are asking. Mineral replacement of organic material, that underpins most processes of fossilization, is largely contingent upon mineral availability in the depositional or diagenetic environment. For example, the presence of siliceous sponges in some marine strata can account for organic replacement by cryptocrystalline quartz (chert) or the presence of high sulphides in replacement by pyrite. Pure silicon does not naturally occur, and is typically found already bound to oxygen in the form of SiO2 (and hence why the chief source of silicon is through the process of mining high purity quartzite which is processed to extract the pure silicon). 1 ...How to Philosophize with a Hammer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarrieOkie Posted January 21 Author Share Posted January 21 Thank you Kane. How are the petrified trees in the Petrified Forest National Park classified? We know they are trees and they have been crystallized. What is their classification? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kane Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 I would class them as fossils. ...How to Philosophize with a Hammer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarrieOkie Posted January 21 Author Share Posted January 21 A fossil is the geological remains of a plant or animal or organic matter? And the petrified wood is classified as what type of fossil? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kane Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 The term “petrified” simply means conversion of organic matter to stone. The process for wood is somewhat similar for, say, trilobites or echinoderms, etc., where the organic material is gradually replaced and infilled by minerals. So in terms of classifying a type, I would simply say it is a fossil. Unlike more flattened forms of plant fossils that may show as a carbonized film, fossil wood retains its three dimensional shape. ...How to Philosophize with a Hammer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarrieOkie Posted January 21 Author Share Posted January 21 Thank you and your help is very much appreciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opabinia Blues Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 (edited) That's a chunk of felsic intrusive(?) igneous rock, not a fossil. Such minerals do not replace organic material during fossilization, they form from magma which cools under the earth's surface. The technical term for when minerals fill the empty spaces in bone or wood is called permineralization, and it's one form of fossilization. Fossils formed in this manner retain a near-perfect copy of the biological structures present in the bone or wood, not just the vague shape. Edited January 21 by Opabinia Blues Missing period 1 “The worse the country, the more tortured it is by water and wind, the more broken and carved, the more it attracts fossil hunters, who depend on the planet to open itself to us. We can only scratch away at what natural forced have brought to the surface.” - Jack Horner Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarrieOkie Posted January 21 Author Share Posted January 21 It appears, that organic material can, in fact, be transmuted from its organic form infilled with minerals to form a crystallized fossil of the organic material. Thank You, this has been so helpful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mahnmut Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 (edited) On 1/21/2024 at 5:44 AM, CarrieOkie said: It appears, that organic material can, in fact, be transmuted from its organic form infilled with minerals to form a crystallized fossil of the organic material. Thank You, this has been so helpful. Yes, its possible. But its much more common for rocks to break into more or less familiar shapes by coincidence. And usually its possible to distinguish the one case from the other by structure, detail and context. For example the structure you labeled foramen magnum is neither round, nor is it different from the parts that you interpret to be replaced bone, as an infilled hole should be. Its just a fracture. Take an especially close look at the place where you would expect teeth to be, teeth are often the last thing to keep their structure after bone is altered very much, because teeth are highly mineralized in life. I bet you there are no teeth in your skullshaped rock. I also expect that you may not see this reply as helpful, but its my informed opinion. Best regards, J Edited January 23 by Mahnmut vocabulary correction 1 1 Try to learn something about everything and everything about something Thomas Henry Huxley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl Posted January 22 Share Posted January 22 I also agree that there is nothing in the posted rock to suggest a fossil of any kind. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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