New Members ruffalo Posted April 19 New Members Share Posted April 19 Hi all! The weather out here on the East Coast of the U.S. has finally started to warm up (sorta…) and for my husband and I (+ the occasional friends) that means a day trip out to Big Brook Preserve for a day of sifting and picnicking. The most major change we noticed was the new erosion. We had a stormy winter out here, with a lot of rainfall, winds, and flooding. There’s newly exposed strata throughout the brook, but about 5 minutes into the main trailhead there’s been a massive mudslide along the far bank. Several trees have fallen across the brook and those that were able to keep their grip on the bank have exposed roots. The bank will resettle and stabilize back up soon enough, but in the meantime please exercise caution when exploring/hunting in this area, especially during storms or high winds. Of course, with these changes comes newly exposed fossils along the creek bed ripe for the sifting! Here’s a collection of what my group and I found out on our first trip of the season. An overview We didn’t find as many teeth as we expected to with all the new collapsed strata and no particularly large ones - but we did find some with a beautiful pale coloring, including the stunning white one in the center there! I was able to find some of my first trace fossils! Two lovely pebbles, with possibly some sort of belemnite/shellfish/burrow imprints on the left side there, and some amazing shell imprints on the one on the right (both include imprints on both sides of the stones). And speaking of shells - we have some lovely marine fossils! The 4 scallops(?) in the foreground are fully closed, with both top and bottom shells intact - a first for us at Big Brook! And these guys range from tiny to itty-bitty. In the newly exposed strata within the major mudslide area there seemed to be a layer close to shoreline containing a MASSIVE amount of shells, and I’m assuming these baby scallops came from that layer. My hunch says it’s a layer from a period of local/mass extinction, but if anyone knows more about what that layer could be please let me know! Top image includes the finds that I think could be either fossilized wood or bone….then again they could just be your everyday rock! I’ll be posting in the Fossil ID topic soon with clearer images, so any help would be appreciated! Bottom image includes our first two vertebrae! The one on the right is about the size of a dime and so the one on the left is absolutely minuscule! I’m just amazed we were able to spot it in our sifters. And these…are our unknowns. Coral? Concretions? Fossilized bone? Or maybe just a rock? (But I am crossing my fingers for pure Gold on that one at that top…) And finally, here’s a bonus image of some of the beautiful stones we picked up along the way! 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
automech Posted April 19 Share Posted April 19 A jeweler would be able to determine if that's gold or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Members ruffalo Posted April 19 Author New Members Share Posted April 19 5 minutes ago, automech said: A jeweler would be able to determine if that's gold or not. It’s almost certainly not gold, but it is definitely something interesting. The closest picture I could get from my iPhone shows some kind of? oozing bubbles? And I had no idea it would glitter/reflect like that until I took a photo of it with flash! Without the flash it’s just a dull red rock - I guess it’s the clear yellow bits that are reflecting? Makes me think of amber, but I’ve never seen it look anything like this. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Dente Posted April 19 Share Posted April 19 3 hours ago, ruffalo said: And speaking of shells - we have some lovely marine fossils! The 4 scallops(?) in the foreground are fully closed, with both top and bottom shells intact - a first for us at Big Brook! These are brachiopods- Choristothyris. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted April 19 Share Posted April 19 Nice fossil haul. A tip for IDing gold. bring it out in the sun in your hand; it will shine like gold. Now turn around an put your hand in your shadow. Gold will still shine. pyrite or other non-golds will not. I don't know much about gold in the northeast, but I would be shocked if it is gold. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted April 19 Share Posted April 19 Last item cropped and contrasted: 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...
New Members ruffalo Posted April 19 Author New Members Share Posted April 19 1 hour ago, Al Dente said: These are brachiopods- Choristothyris. Just started working on NJ fossil ID research and found the Fossils of NJ website, which is very helpful! The “scallops” appear to be the common C. Plicata - interesting that I hadn’t seen one at Big Brook until now. I also think I’m seeing some gastropods in the same photo as the Plicata - the two black ovals at the top. I also believe I have a few others in varying states from previous Big Brook excursions. I’m also noticing that the smaller of the two “vertebraes” is actually a tooth or grinding plate from a cretaceous era boney fish - possibly a Drum Fish or Bonefish? I do believe the larger one and the same image is a vertebrae, possibly from a shark, but the rounded back is confusing me a little. I’ll definitely be studying this guide for the rest of the day, hopefully I’ll be able to limit the amount of finds I’ll need to photograph for the fossil ID topic. Thank you for the help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Members ruffalo Posted April 19 Author New Members Share Posted April 19 28 minutes ago, Fossildude19 said: Last item cropped and contrasted: Wow thank you! I’m not familiar with rocks and minerals, so hopefully somebody will be able to shine some light of what’s going on with it. The rock is only a few millimeters long, mayyybe a 1/4 inch, so even with good eyesight you can barely see the yellow circular bits - I didn’t notice until I was able to get a decent enough focus on a wide angle close up (on iPhone). Interestingly enough, it’s not the type of rock I usually gravitate to when I’m collecting - I usually just go by feel or “je ne sais quoi.” Some part of just felt compelled to pick it up and take it home - lucky! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Members ruffalo Posted April 19 Author New Members Share Posted April 19 54 minutes ago, jpc said: Nice fossil haul. A tip for IDing gold. bring it out in the sun in your hand; it will shine like gold. Now turn around an put your hand in your shadow. Gold will still shine. pyrite or other non-golds will not. I don't know much about gold in the northeast, but I would be shocked if it is gold. That’s very helpful! With the additional photos - it’s definitely not gold, and I haven’t heard much about finding gold in NJ streams, but I am from California so this tip will definitely help while collecting out there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilDAWG Posted April 19 Share Posted April 19 I think the circled fossil may be an Ascaulocardium armatum (Morton, 1833) (note: this species was previously called Clavagella armata). Internal molds are not uncommon at Reedy Point on the the Chesapeake Canal, and they should occur at Big Brook. An extremely weird bivalve!! Compare to this figure from Pojeta & Sohl 1987, linked above: Don 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRexEliot Posted April 19 Share Posted April 19 There's a ton of pyrite in big brook. I have two bright gold mussell steinkerns that I found last year. Most likely that is what the "gold" is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MuckyBottles Posted April 19 Share Posted April 19 5 hours ago, jpc said: Nice fossil haul. A tip for IDing gold. bring it out in the sun in your hand; it will shine like gold. Now turn around an put your hand in your shadow. Gold will still shine. pyrite or other non-golds will not. I don't know much about gold in the northeast, but I would be shocked if it is gold. The only gold found in the northeast is placer gold from glacial deposits. Too much effort for little reward. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Members ruffalo Posted April 20 Author New Members Share Posted April 20 9 hours ago, FossilDAWG said: I think the circled fossil may be an Ascaulocardium armatum (Morton, 1833) (note: this species was previously called Clavagella armata). Internal molds are not uncommon at Reedy Point on the the Chesapeake Canal, and they should occur at Big Brook. An extremely weird bivalve!! Compare to this figure from Pojeta & Sohl 1987, linked above: Don I’ve included a better close up of the circled fossil and it certainly seems to match up with that species! (And better yet, at this particular angle it also looks a bit like a large slug, weirdly, one of my favorite animals - so thanks for making me take a second look!) 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandyB Posted April 27 Share Posted April 27 Only one I am sure of is the bottom center is a partial stingray tail barb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted April 27 Share Posted April 27 5 minutes ago, RandyB said: Only one I am sure of is the bottom center is a partial stingray tail barb. It actually looks more like an echinoid spine, to me. 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...
RandyB Posted April 27 Share Posted April 27 Hmmm... I guess I have some relabling to do once I figure out the difference. Thanks @Fossildude19 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted April 27 Share Posted April 27 Just now, RandyB said: Hmmm... I guess I have some relabling to do once I figure out the difference. Thanks @Fossildude19 Well, you might hold off a bit. I'd like to see a cross section of that item. 1 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...
Coco Posted April 28 Share Posted April 28 And a closer pic, please. Coco ---------------------- OUTIL POUR MESURER VOS FOSSILES : ici Ma bibliothèque PDF 1 (Poissons et sélaciens récents & fossiles) : ici Ma bibliothèque PDF 2 (Animaux vivants - sans poissons ni sélaciens) : ici Mâchoires sélaciennes récentes : ici Hétérodontiques et sélaciens : ici Oeufs sélaciens récents : ici Otolithes de poissons récents ! ici Un Greg... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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