hoplo Posted September 3, 2012 Share Posted September 3, 2012 (edited) Hi all, A few years ago my hubby dug loads of sandstone up in our garden, hes stated building a wall with it and we are seeing lots of fossils in it, can someone plz id it. We are in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, UK Picture 1 Picture 2 And what are these in it too Picture 3 Thanks in advance Edited September 3, 2012 by hoplo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trilobiteruss Posted September 3, 2012 Share Posted September 3, 2012 Those are very nice Calamiites (coal age-- probably Pennsylvanian scouring rush). The last photo has a quartz pebble conglomerate, the lower Pennsylvanian in US at least for midwest and east has these in the channel sandstone deposits. Nice finds! russ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoplo Posted September 3, 2012 Author Share Posted September 3, 2012 Edited my post as i forgot to put where we are. We are in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, UK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S233 Posted September 3, 2012 Share Posted September 3, 2012 Nice finds! : ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullsnake Posted September 3, 2012 Share Posted September 3, 2012 Very cool!!! Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted September 3, 2012 Share Posted September 3, 2012 Yes, a very nice 3-D coal-swamp Calamites stem. "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoplo Posted September 3, 2012 Author Share Posted September 3, 2012 thanks guys, also, we live at the top of a hill, my hubby dug down about 8 feet when he started find these Are they a common find? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
painshill Posted September 3, 2012 Share Posted September 3, 2012 Hi hoplo Are you on the West side of Barnsley? Roger I keep six honest serving-men (they taught me all I knew);Their names are What and Why and When and How and Where and Who [Rudyard Kipling] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoplo Posted September 3, 2012 Author Share Posted September 3, 2012 Hi hoplo Are you on the West side of Barnsley? Not sure where west side is We are at Worsbrough Common, not far from Barnsley town centre Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
painshill Posted September 3, 2012 Share Posted September 3, 2012 OK… not where I was expecting … but the reason I asked is that to the West of Barnsley, most of the exposed bedrock is Carboniferous (354-290 million years old), in 2 main series. “Millstone Grit” forms the base of that series and overlying it are the “Coal Measures”. For sure that coarse stuff looks like Millstone Grit but I suppose if you dig down, the formation also extends into Barnsley itself. These rocks were deposited as sediments in an ancient coastal environment with large river deltas leading out into the shallow tropical seas covering much of Britain. Silting up of the deltas created extensive low-lying, swamps rich in dense vegetation and that’s where the Coal Measures were subsequently deposited – formed from compressed vegetation. The “Coal Measures” are Upper Carboniferous and interspersed with layers of shale, clay, sandstone and mudstone. So you’re probably looking at material from the boundary area. The rocks are very rich in plant fossils (especially Calamites and Artisia) but you will also find marine shells and animals since there was repeated flooding and retreat of the seas throughout the Upper Carboniferous. Incidentally, that’s a “pith cast” – from sediment that has accumulated in the central cavity of the stem of the plant and created a perfect replica. Calamites is related to the modern Horsetail, but grew much larger – effectively a medium-sized tree. Roger I keep six honest serving-men (they taught me all I knew);Their names are What and Why and When and How and Where and Who [Rudyard Kipling] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trilobiteruss Posted September 3, 2012 Share Posted September 3, 2012 Painshill has good description. In the US we call the upper Carboniferous Pennsylvanian, and lower Mississippian. The basal Pennsylvanian or Upper Carboniferous was a time of erosion and such that these millstone grits or quartz pebble conglomerates were abundant in the fluvial deltaic systems. I know that Europe/Africa and US were close and colliding during this time, so I assume alot of the events of climate and tectonics were similar. We have some of these deposits in the midwest for example that are 20-50 feet or more thick and loaded with the quartz pebbles which are the eroded roots of the mountain belts formed along the continental collisions I believe. Calamities and other associated plants were especially abundant in our lower Pennsylvanian as I suspect it was elsewhere. There was a time of sea level drop before these were deposited, (drying and tectonic related) and then the paleovalleys filled here in NA, and along coasts. Some areas in western Illinois you have drowned estuaries as sea level rose and thick coals and marine deposits fill these, as you go east more of the grit from the erosion of mts to the east of us. Very interesting time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoplo Posted September 3, 2012 Author Share Posted September 3, 2012 Thank guys... some great info Its got me looking at every sandstone now before he puts it on the wall Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trilobiteruss Posted September 3, 2012 Share Posted September 3, 2012 That is an interesting time in earth history, those sandstones are quite interesting here in US, but it also appears in your area, enjoy looking at your sandstones, those are neat with the fossils of the plants from that time! russ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoplo Posted September 3, 2012 Author Share Posted September 3, 2012 This is a small amount of sandstone we have left from digging it up Picture 4 This is the wall my hubby is building... The piece in pics 1,2 & 3 is on the wall now... bottom right of this pic Picture 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trilobiteruss Posted September 3, 2012 Share Posted September 3, 2012 And I see more plants in this sandstone as well, cool! russ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoplo Posted September 3, 2012 Author Share Posted September 3, 2012 Yes... we are trying to get as many as we can find into the wall its going to look so cool Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoplo Posted September 3, 2012 Author Share Posted September 3, 2012 Whats this please? picture 6 And this one please. Picture 7 Thanks again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
painshill Posted September 3, 2012 Share Posted September 3, 2012 The first of those looks like it might be a piece of a Cordaite leaf - a primitive probable ancestor to conifers. Don't recognise the second one from what's left of it! Roger I keep six honest serving-men (they taught me all I knew);Their names are What and Why and When and How and Where and Who [Rudyard Kipling] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tachikoma_kun Posted September 3, 2012 Share Posted September 3, 2012 Man I'm jealous, all I find in my garden (South Wales) is old bricks and 1980's crisp wrappers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quest2k12 Posted September 3, 2012 Share Posted September 3, 2012 Those are some great finds, and the wall looks great as well. Best of both in there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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