Timorese Ammonites And Blastoids

[Timorgirl]

7/ Ammonite heaven more of number 26 - 30

[Timorgirl]

8*/ ar'n't these great 31 - 34

[Timorgirl]

9/ 35 - 378 hang in there...I am. And please pass this link/discussion on to the other ammonite lovers on the forum. THANKS

[Timorgirl]

10/ One more 38 - 41

[Timorgirl]

11/ 41

[Timorgirl]

12/ One more 45 - 49(1) slipping here...getting tired...not too many more folks...

[Timorgirl]

13/ 2nd last (I think) in our Baun batch......49(2) -

[Timorgirl]

14/ Rounding off our Baun (Triassic) trip with a couple of Miocene fossil coral creations from the carvers of the village of Hane in West Timor

OK thats it for a while...ENJOY I can hear Santa splashing in the pool and the kangaroos bouncing around in the bush.

I do have some ID's for these but anyone who wishes to dive on in with identifications is more than welcome.

[Auspex]

I am in awe! I was aware that there were fossils in Timor, but this has been a real eye-opener.

[Timorgirl]

Thanks Auspex, should I post the crinoids and cups etc? And show the differences between the blastoids?

Cheers and Merry Xmas.

[Auspex]

Don't hold out on us, now...

[Ludwigia]

Don't get me wrong, but as an avid ammonite collector I can't help but be extremely envious of you being able to forage around the sites in Timor. You've really managed to put together quite an impressive collection! Are there a good number of collectors underway, or is it still relatively pristine there?

[Terry Dactyll]

Great collection.... Looking at the location photo there is certainly more to investigate....

[andreas]

Hello Julie!

Thank you for the wonderful pictures.

I am sorry for my late answer but family and I had to visit our relationship during the last days. To your question:

The rounded form on the pic with Distichites sp. is a part of a bodychamber of a Triassic orthocone Nautiloidea like: “Orthoceras sp.”(Michelinoceras sp.), Atractites sp., Dictyoconites sp. or Aulacoceras sp.

I am not familiar with the Permian stuff but you can look at " Haniel, Die Cephalopoden der Dyas von Timor". I do not own this work and found unfortunly no link to it.

In the Baun aerea you can read the work of:

Franz Tatzreiter

Ammonitenfauna und Stratigraphie im höheren Nor(Alaun, Trias) der Tethys aufgrund neuer Untersuchungen in Timor

http://hw.oeaw.ac.at/0xc1aa500d_0x002f5eaf.pdf

It is written in German but shows good tables of the middle Norian ammonoid fauna of Baun. You will find some ammonoids from your pics there.

All upper Triassic ammonoids from Baun came from loose single limestone blocks. The blocks can be from Ladinian to lower Jurassic age.

A good overview of the geologic of the Timor Triassic deposits is in:

Triassic pelagic deposits of Timor: palaeogeographic

and sea-level implications

R. Martini a,*, L. Zaninetti a, M. Villeneuve b, J.-J. Corne´e b, L. Krystyn c,

S. Cirilli d, P. De Wever e, P. Dumitrica e, A. Harsolumakso f

http://geologie.mnhn.fr/PDW/Martini%20et%20al%202000.pdf

The next link leads to a important work of Triassic ammonoids where the Triassic ammonoids and ammonoid zones are shown. Maybe this helps to id the genus of some of your ammonoids.

http://wmsmir.cits.rncan.gc.ca/index.html/pub/geott/ess_pubs/194/194325/bu_467.pdf

Julie, if you have to id some Triassic ammonoids please post max. 3 pics. You can read my blog of the Triassic in Austria too. It may help you in case of the Carnian to Norian ammonoids too.

http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/blog/manage/

Kind regards

Andreas

Edited December 25, 2013 by andreas

[Timorgirl]

Ludwigia and Terry you are right there is alot more to be uncovered. As I said the villagers are very protective of their foraging/fossicking areas however there are only a couple of traders, the odd geological trip and a few fossickers who get in there. Given that some of my best finds have come from chasing down leads that were given to me as well as following the known fossil trails it tells me that there is more to come from Timor for the dedicated.

Sometimes it is a matter of connections. I have been travelling and trading handcraft and textiles in the highlands of Timor for over 20 years and it took me until 5 years ago to cotton on...I'm a bit slow like that. One big Australian trader has made big inroads in terms of upsetting the locals and taking advantage in one area....so they tightened ranks and now the trader has to follow appropriate channels and pay appropriately as well. And it is often the locals that welcome you to see what they have gathered as they can really do with the additional income. Language is a big barrier to getting to the people and the places.

Now for you Auspex....Merry Christmas.

Just finished resizing all images that I will post sometime soon.

Keep that popcorn hot.

Cheers Julie

[Timorgirl]

Thanks Andreas, I shall take some time to read your informative post tomorrow...and marry the images that I have with the examples I have identified to date.

All the best Julie

[Timorgirl]

Hello Andreas. Fantastic info thank you so much for the links. Have yet to get to your Blog...tomorrow night.

You will notice that all of my photos are numbered. A1, A2, etc and F305 , F627 etc...that is because I photograph, weigh, measure and describe and locate each of my finds. Otherwise it would all just get pretty messy.

I think F84 is a belemite? Any inpout appreciated.

F194...yes I do get offered mortar and pestles...YUM at least 10 generations of pounding and crushing in each.

Internal moulds Miocene....SoE area F31.....All lovely white limestone calcium , internals and externals.

F98- an elderly gentleman used to carve faces into the partial ammonites, until he sadly passed away a few years ago.

F123 Cyrstalline formations

F153,F163, Various Clams, Oysters and molluscs

F186 Early pecelypod anomia eohippoides (sorry really bad speling.

And some very interesting formation Manganese nodules. just for interets sake.

This is some geo info that a client sent me

Geology and Mineral Resources of Timor-Leste

UNITED NATIONS 2003 (some reference to West Timor as well)

Fossil coral terraces are found at elevations ranging from a few metres above

sea level to almost 1,000 metres (3,281 feet) in some interior plateaus. The most

obvious plateaus capped by fossil coral reefs are located along the north coast

between Manatuto and the eastern tip of the island. Inland, flat surfaces near the

coast are invariably capped by Pleistocene coral reefs that are essentially planation

surfaces and could be referred to as marine plains. These are surfaces upon which

coral development was temporarily limited to the height of sea level. The two most

obvious marine plains underlain by fossil coral reefs are the plain south of Baucau

and the gently south sloping surface occupied by a large freshwater lake in the east

located in Lautem District. Raised coral reefs are present as beach lines along the

north coast and are especially well developed west of Manatuto and east of Baucau.

The Quaternary and Recent coral terraces on the north coast of Timor and the

adjacent island of Atauro extend to 700 metres above sea level indicating rapid but

spasmodic uplift in the last 100,000-200,000 years. There are eleven different terrace

levels on Atauro, each of which is accompanied by the development of coral reef

limestone, but the most significant and best developed surface is at an elevation of

555 metres above mean sea level.

The first bibliographies of the geology of Portugal and its

colonies in which references to Timor are included were compiled by P. Choffat ( 1898,

1909, 1911, 1913, 1914.). Early detailed geological sections measured in eastern Timor

were made by a Japanese geologist, F. Hirschi, who made several traverses around

Manatuto and the south coast in 1904 to define the petroleum and asphalt potential

(Hirschi, 1907).

The German expeditions to Timor were led by J. Wanner in 1909 and 1911.

These were major geological expeditions which also visited Misoöl, Obi, and Halmahera.

The concept of the Alpine type overthrusts in Timor was first referred to by Wanner

(1913) in a short paper entitled “Geologie von West Timor”. Paleontological research

expeditions lead by Wanner began in 1906 and resulted in several major monographs on

the fauna of Timor by Wanner, Welter and Haniel in 1907-1911. These studies

culminated with Wanner’s classic 16 volume study, “Paleontology of Timor”.

The structural

complexity of Timor was emphasized. Molengraaff, Brouwer, Marez Oyens and

Weckherlinde reported the presence of six major tectonic units in western Timor.

The geological reconnaissance map of the Portuguese part of Timor on the scale

of 1:500,000 was prepared by S. St. Clair, J.P.M. Cullock, A.A. Stoyanov and C.R. Bontz

in 1920-1921. A geological map of Timor, Geologische overzichskaart van het Eiland

Timor, was prepared by L.J.C. van Es, a Dutch geologist, in 1926 and published in the

Jaarboek Mijnwezen Nederlandsch Oost-Indië. L. F. de Beaufort (1920) studied fossil

vertebrates from the deep sea deposits and Gerth (1926) described the Permian coral

faunas in a report entitled “Die Korallenfauna des Perm von Timor und die Permische

Vereisung” (Leidsche Geol. Meded., Vol. 2, Pt. 1, pp. 7-14).

In 1949, the three-volume geological monograph entitled “The Geology of

Indonesia” was completed by van Bemmelen. The work included a summary of all of the

Dutch work that had been completed at that time. The geology and mineral resources of

the eastern part of Timor were described with reference to the work of the Allied Mining

Corporation.

Audley-Charles (1968) carried out field work in East Timor between 1959 and

1961 for Timor Oil Ltd., an Australian oil and gas company. One of the outputs of this

work was a geologic map on the scale of 1:250,000 and a thorough review of the

geology, in which for the first time a concise description of the stratigraphy of East Timor

was attempted. The work has led Audley-Charles into a life-long dedication to the

geological research on and near Timor-Leste and resulted in a large number of papers and

reports. The ophiolites of Timor have been studied by Barber and Audley-Charles (1976),

Audley-Charles and others, (1979), Berry and Grady, 1981, and Berry and Jenner (1982).

The high grade metamorphic rocks of the Mutis Complex in the Boi Massif of West

Timor were studied by Earle (1981).

Berry and Grady (1981) proposed that “…all of the rock units now seen in Timor

and all the structural events which have affected them, originated while Timor formed

part of the continental margin of Australia (Barber and others,1981)”. Evidence cited

indicated that these rocks had been affected by major deformation of 17 Ma – 6 Ma (Mid

to Late Miocene) on greenschist and amphibolite facies rocks of the Aileu Complex of

3

Timor-Leste and that these rocks resulted from the peak metamorphic event that occurred

during the most intense phase of plate collision.

The oldest of these theories proposed in the 1970s suggests that Timor is the

leading edge of the Australian continental plate which had ‘stubbed its toe’ against Asia

in the Middle-Late Miocene (Audley-Charles, 1968). The relationship (distance) between

Australia and the island of Timor remained fixed until the collision because they were

part of the same plate (Audley-Charles and others, 1972; Carter and others, 1976; Barber

and others, 1977). This theory agrees with the ideas of Wanner (1913) who considered

that Timor consisted of two types of formations, para- autochthonous Australian strata

and allochthonous Asian strata, with the allochthonous strata thrust onto the

autochthonous sequence during the collision (figure2.3).

Late Pliocene - Pleistocene uplift.

The discussion on the origin of Timor and the other islands of the outer Banda arc

is by no means over and continues to this day. The references provided will guide the

reader through the details of the different interpretations, opinions and positions. The

main element in the different theories and on which they are all in agreement and that has

a direct bearing on the descriptive geology of Timor-Leste is that the island is built up

with contributions from the Australian continental plate, the mélange and the ophiolitic

Banda terrain.

The oldest rock unit found in Timor-Leste is a 600 metres thick shale of the

Permian age, the Atahoc Formation, considered to be autochtonous. The unit is exposed

in only a few places in Timor-Leste such as in the Loi Quero anticline in Los Palos

district. The dominant lithology is black pyritic shale, hard and unfossiliferous at the base

deposited as flysch or deep quiet water turbidity current sediments without graded

bedding. Sedimentary structures include current ripple-laminations. Sediments of this

type may occur on steep slopes in a range of environments from coastal to deep water.

The formation is overlain conformably by the Cribas Formation. The sparse fauna

indicates the Lower Permian age.

( Cribas Formation

The Cribas formation is a silty shale with calcareous and clay-ironstone nodules.

The base consists of pyritic black and blue-grey shale, micaceous siltstone and greenish

fine quartz-sandstone with red and green shale occurring in the middle. Limestone

occurs commonly at the top of the unit. Lava and tuff are rare. The Cribas Limestone has

a thickness of about 500 metres. Its contact with the overlying Aitutu Formation is not

clear and may be tectonic in some places and unconformable in others. Halobia occurs in

beds overlying the Cribas Formation. The Cribas Formation contains crinoids,

brachiopods, gastropods and bryozoa. The environment of deposition was shallow marine

but the muds were deposited not far from the shore as indicated by the presence of lignite

and plant remains.

the Bobonaro Scaly Clay, containing huge exotic blocks of the Mesozoic and

other rocks.

Dartollu Limestone

The Dartollu rests un-conformably on the Aitutu and Wai Luli formations without

any intervening tectonic slices. The lithology consists of thick bedded, brown

biocalcarenite containing calcareous algae, foraminifera and, locally, echinoderm

fragments. The environment of the unit is considered to be a reef.

The orogeny that preceded the deposition of the Viqueque Formation resulted in

the placement of large thrust sheets of the Permian rocks and the plastering of a huge

gravity-slide deposit, the Bobonaro Scaly Clay, over most of the island of Timor. When

Viqueque deposition began, Timor had been submerged and covered with the Bobonaro

Scaly Clay. As the island began to emerge, the clay provided a source for the mud of the

lower Viqueque Formation. The coarsening of the grain size of the Viqueque Formation

upwards indicates the beginning of the regressive cycle and the shallowing of the marine

basin followed by the gradual emergence of the island.

Maubisse Formation

This limestone unit is widespread in Timor-Leste (photo 2.6). The limestones are

well bedded and consist of dense beds and massive reef. They are colored red, pink,

white and grey. The fauna is rich, especially in the reef facies. Conglomerates contain

clasts of eruptive rocks and tuff. A sequence of 500 metres of basalt is found on Mt.

Ramelau. The environment of deposition was shallow marine in warm clear water.

The Maubisse Limestone thrust sheet crops out along the top of the mountain

on the skyline. The locality is about 7 km north of Maubisse town.

More images to come...hang in there...tomorrow. Blessings Julie

[andreas]

Hi,

The item on pic F84 is a fossil. That is all I can say for serious. Maybe other pics and additional information would help. It looks a little like a core of a fossil. Are the lighter parts rest of a shell? Belemnites is not very probably but not total impossible.

A very unsure estimation:

If Triassic it could be a part of Aulacoceras reticulatum HAUER from the transition of the bodychamber to the longish bulb at the end,

or a part of a Dictyoconites rostrum.

kind regards

Andreas

[Timorgirl]

Hi Andreas, how amazing is the internet. Worlds apart and yet able to connect in real time.

Putting a couple of extra pics of F84

[Timorgirl]

Will try to put a few images on every few nights.

F212 . Giant oyster-Miocene

F216 Large clam - Miocene

F217 Ditto

F219 Oyster - Miocene Front and inside

F229 - Ammonite - Basleo Permian

F234 - Possibly Cylindrus Owenensis (again apologies for the bad spelling)

F262 - Anomia Ehippoides (ditto for the spelling - Cant find these notes)

F263 - Dentalia, Dentoid Dentalum....Is it true that these are the precursors for the spiral carbonate families?

F264 - Cylindrus Owenensis - maybe

[Timorgirl]

F263 - Dentalia/Dentoid is from Basleo...permain in the above photos

A series of photos of MIOCENE brach's bi-valves, spiral carbonates and gastropods.

[Timorgirl]

Number 3 in tonight's viewing , More as above...

Cymatosprinx lunata

Turbo rhectogrammicus

Mucrospirifer medfordsis

[Timorgirl]

OK rounding off tonights viewing we have......

[Fallingfossils]

Really great specimens, thank you very much for sharing! It's always great to see fossils from less commonly posted locations

[Auspex]

F84 could well be a belemnite.