Dylan Posted April 23, 2017 Share Posted April 23, 2017 (edited) Howdy folks! So took advantage of a beautiful friday afternoon with my girlfriend. Went for a hike on the river bed that I usually sport alone. She hasn't found any fossils/fragments before so I was more then willing to help her find her first. Came up with a couple finds, Pictures posted below. One coral and another a fragment of an Ammonite. I tried getting the best possible shot i could with my phone camera for the colours on this piece. Pictures do no justice when it comes to the array of colours this piece emits. Then for lunch we settled down for a little wiener roast by the stream. As she was finishing up her lunch, I walked to a near by eroded hill. I stumbled upon a ton of calcite crystals.. no fossils but still very unique to find around here. Edited April 23, 2017 by Dylan Posted In Wrong Section.. Sorry.. Should of been under Fossil Hunting Trips Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Posted April 23, 2017 Author Share Posted April 23, 2017 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kane Posted April 23, 2017 Share Posted April 23, 2017 Sounds like a lovely time outdoors. thanks for posting these. Although it is a challenge to make the camera do justice to the irridescence of the ammonite, many of us have seen ammos like these in person, and they are stunning. ...How to Philosophize with a Hammer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coco Posted April 23, 2017 Share Posted April 23, 2017 Hi, Are you sure they are calcite ? They look like gypsum. May we have more pics 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...
Wrangellian Posted April 23, 2017 Share Posted April 23, 2017 Those look like gypsum to me too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fifbrindacier Posted April 23, 2017 Share Posted April 23, 2017 So do i think, gypsum. "On ne voit bien que par le coeur, l'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux." (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry) "We only well see with the heart, the essential is invisible for the eyes." In memory of Doren Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossil-Hound Posted April 23, 2017 Share Posted April 23, 2017 @Dylan please note the river name and your location. Excellent color on that ammonite. Do or do not. There is no try. - Yoda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abyssunder Posted April 23, 2017 Share Posted April 23, 2017 (edited) Maybe they are Barite crystals. Could you determine the hardness and the specific gravity? Edited April 23, 2017 by abyssunder " We are not separate and independent entities, but like links in a chain, and we could not by any means be what we are without those who went before us and showed us the way. " Thomas Mann My Library Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Posted April 24, 2017 Author Share Posted April 24, 2017 Haha thanks guys for all your input!! Embarrassing when you think it's calcite but everyone tells you it's gypsum or barite..from what I'm looking at on google images and the sort it looks more like gypsum...it's clear for the most part, fairly brittle..it marks up easy! Found within a eroded sand hill...thanks for viewing the post guys 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted April 28, 2017 Share Posted April 28, 2017 There seem to be quite a few sites in the Prairies where this kind of gypsum crystals come out of the clay. I've got some myself (not self-collected, but acquired from other rockhounds) Sorry I don't have a pic but they are unmistakable. Soft enough to scratch with fingernail, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridgehiker Posted April 29, 2017 Share Posted April 29, 2017 The gypsum are selenite crystals. Gypsum is most commonly found in Alberta in transitional zones...terrestrial and marine....an area where both ammonites and vertebrate bones ( dino, etc.) In these areas there are hoodoos with a rough surface of soft bentonite clays we call 'popcorn'. They are usually bare of vegetation. For some odd reason they often yield random but good quality fossils like a tyrannosaur tooth or champsosaur vertebra. Rarely the thousands of fragments, chunks, etc. found elsewhere. The tooth is just 'there' as if saying 'pick me up'...nothing else around it for 10 meters but bare clay. A good example of this in Alberta is Southwest of Medicine Hat....neat scenery, wildlife, native artifacts and fossils. The top of that flat grey mound in the background will yield selenite crystals and likely a fossil or two. The adjacent coulees may have either ammonites or terrestrial vertebrates. Faily remote area...Pronghorns, Rattlers, Golden Eagles, etc...but no people ( yay!). 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridgehiker Posted May 4, 2017 Share Posted May 4, 2017 Related to the the topic. I was out Tuesday on a hike. Not really looking for fossils or collecting anything. This is a terrain in which those types of crystals are found. The one photo shows gypsum on the surface and there would be crystals in the clay if one was digging for them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridgehiker Posted May 4, 2017 Share Posted May 4, 2017 In this type of popcorn bentonite clay there are concretions...I didn't have a hammer or anything but inside are often ammonites. These are about soccer ball size. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridgehiker Posted May 4, 2017 Share Posted May 4, 2017 Both marine and terrestrial fossils among the gypsum crystals. A Baculites and a Hadrosaur caudal vertebra. For whatever reason the dino fossils are usually good quality but isolated specimens 'just sitting there'. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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