Al Dente Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 Several years ago I brought home a limestone block that had a green nautiloid partially exposed. I finally extracted it the other day and was surprised that there was a pleasing gloss to it. The green color is from a glauconite coating on the outside of the fossil. It is Eutrephoceras carolinense from the Eocene Castle Hayne Formation. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piranha Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 This beauty really deserves the appropriate emoticon: :greenwnvy: Fabulous fossil Al Dente! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullsnake Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 That is soooooo cool!!! Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xonenine Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 (edited) awesome Al, is this glauconite coating a frequent occurence in the area? Edited December 4, 2011 by xonenine "Your serpent of Egypt is bred now of your mud by the operation of your sun; so is your crocodile." Lepidus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosco Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 Beautiful specimen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roz Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 That is an excellent find and the green makes it rare.. Beautiful really Welcome to the forum! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vordigern Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 Awesome Nautiloid!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Dente Posted December 4, 2011 Author Share Posted December 4, 2011 awesome Al, is this glauconite coating a frequent occurence in the area? There is a bit of glauconite in most of the formations I collect in North Carlolina but usually not coating fossils like this. I occasionally see it coating echinoids but not where it is glossy like this example. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwigia Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 Very nice!!! Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger http://www.steinkern.de/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Dactyll Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 You cant beat a nice nautilus ... Is the green layer just on the surface or is all the fossil that colour do you think?... Cheers Steve... And Welcome if your a New Member... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkfoam Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 That is a really nice specimen, and green too! Congratulations on extracting it essentially whole from the limestone block. Most of our Eocene marine deposites here in Texas contain significant quantities of green glauconite sand sized particles but I have never seen a glauconite coated fossil from the deposites. Jim The Eocene is my favorite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lordpiney Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 beautiful little Nautiloid! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Dente Posted December 5, 2011 Author Share Posted December 5, 2011 You cant beat a nice nautilus ... Is the green layer just on the surface or is all the fossil that colour do you think?... It is just a thin coating along with a little iron staining. The matrix is typical Castle Hayne Formation color which varies from off white to yellowish at this location. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amaltheus Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 Thats a beaut,nautilus are one of my favourite fossils.Sure is a very asthetically pleasing specimen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Dente Posted December 5, 2011 Author Share Posted December 5, 2011 Here are a couple that show a more normal coloration for the Castle Hayne Formation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeDOTB Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 Interesting find, I didnt know you could find those in the castle hayne, I guess I will have to pay closer attention to it. I am usually just searching for what lies directly on top of it! DO, or do not. There is no try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siteseer Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 Those two are nice enough but that green one is incredible. Years ago, I received a pretty good one in a trade but yours are great. I was told it's hard to find a decent one. Would you expect to find a decent one every couple of trips or is it rarer than that? Jess Here are a couple that show a more normal coloration for the Castle Hayne Formation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Dente Posted December 7, 2011 Author Share Posted December 7, 2011 Those two are nice enough but that green one is incredible. Years ago, I received a pretty good one in a trade but yours are great. I was told it's hard to find a decent one. Would you expect to find a decent one every couple of trips or is it rarer than that? Jess There have been three species of nautiloids described from the Castle Hayne Formation. E. berryi was first describe in 1947 from a single specimen. The other two, E. carolinense and Aturia alabamensis are fairly common. The problem with nautiloids from this formation is that they readily fall apart. I find individual segments almost every trip. Finding specimens with a few attached segments isn't unusual but finding complete specimens including the living chamber is not common at all. I have never found a complete Aturia specimen but I have seen a couple in collections. I have heard of people extracting whole ones with a rock saw to avoid having them fall apart. Aturia can also be found in the Miocene Pungo River Formation at Lee Creek but they are usually individual segments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Dactyll Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 It is just a thin coating along with a little iron staining. The matrix is typical Castle Hayne Formation color which varies from off white to yellowish at this location. If it was a little deeper I would of said get it polished up but if the layer is thin it could spoil it....I think it looks fabulous as it is.... Cheers Steve... And Welcome if your a New Member... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the tatter Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 That is so beautiful. Hope you find more. Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen, and thinking what nobody has thought. Albert Szent-Gyorgyi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xonenine Posted December 8, 2011 Share Posted December 8, 2011 (edited) I'd like to say thanks for your timely post Al, I wouldn't have even glanced at this colored echinoid previously, now it is a happy new member of our fossil family - looking forward to IDing, the only info given was "Southeastern NC" Edited December 8, 2011 by xonenine "Your serpent of Egypt is bred now of your mud by the operation of your sun; so is your crocodile." Lepidus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickNC Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 Interesting. I'll have to look at things a bit more carefully. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TMNH Posted December 11, 2011 Share Posted December 11, 2011 Wow that's awsome!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Dente Posted December 11, 2011 Author Share Posted December 11, 2011 I'd like to say thanks for your timely post Al, I wouldn't have even glanced at this colored echinoid previously, now it is a happy new member of our fossil family - looking forward to IDing, the only info given was "Southeastern NC" Nice color. I think your echinoid is Echinolampas appendiculata, most likely from the Castle Hayne Formation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 That green nautiloid is really cool. A fine candidate for fosil of the month, perhaps... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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