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Post by NatureNut on Jul 31, 2010 14:11:17 GMT -5
Found this in Montana in the White Sulpher Springs area on top of a mountain in the Little Belt Mountains. It's limestone. Back Front Let me know if you need better quality pics. Thanks. Jo
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Post by texaswoodie on Jul 31, 2010 18:26:06 GMT -5
It's a trash plate Jo. Lots of tiny animals and pieces all in one rock. Take some macros and you'll be able to see some microscopic animals.
Very cool
Curt
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Post by Toad on Aug 1, 2010 9:22:44 GMT -5
So probably something from the bottom of a prehistoric lake/sea?
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Post by NatureNut on Aug 1, 2010 9:38:16 GMT -5
Wow! So, I guess it was from before the mountains pushed up? Any idea how best to clean it? or should I leave it as is.
I'll do some macros soon for y'all.
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Post by jakesrocks on Aug 1, 2010 9:48:53 GMT -5
I'd just clean it with water and an old tooth brush. Anything stronger may dissolve your specimen. Nice find. Looking forward to the macros. I can see several things in the pics already. Crinoid stem pieces, oyster shell fragments and what may be a small bone. Don
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Post by NatureNut on Aug 1, 2010 11:03:18 GMT -5
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Post by jakesrocks on Aug 1, 2010 11:31:57 GMT -5
Boy ! What a mixture of fossil pieces. Don't think I'd scrub any more. Looks like a piece for the pros to figure out. Don
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,466
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Post by Sabre52 on Aug 1, 2010 11:48:47 GMT -5
Yeah , looks to be a marine fossil death plate. Just a hunk of the graveyard that forms when dead animals settle to the bottom. Looks to be fairly old as I seem to see some crinoid material along with pelecypods and gastropods. We have lots of that here on the ranch but no crinoids as ours is younger, from the Cretaceous. Don't use any kind of acid as the fossils in limestone are usually calcified and any that are not silicified will dissolve along with the matrix....Mel
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Post by texaswoodie on Aug 1, 2010 13:00:21 GMT -5
Oops, I meant a hash plate, not trash. ;D
Curt
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Post by NatureNut on Aug 2, 2010 23:43:10 GMT -5
Well, I saw a sign today that put it all together.
This piece seems to be a part of the Madison Limestone formation (or Madison Group) that stretches from the Black Hills to western Montana and eastern Idaho and and from the Canadian border to western Colorado and the Grand Canyon of Arizona. Most of the Madison Limestones were deposited during Early to Middle Mississippian time (Tournaisian to Visean stages), about 359 to 326 million years ago. (info from Wikipedia)
You are all so awesome. Thanks! Jo
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rallyrocks
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since November 2005
Posts: 1,507
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Post by rallyrocks on Aug 3, 2010 16:15:42 GMT -5
That was what I was going to say- you can also find seashells up at the top of the Bridger's as well, I used to think that was pretty cool as a kid climbing Mt Ross and Sacajawea...
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Post by NatureNut on Aug 3, 2010 16:23:04 GMT -5
So cool, Rally. Well, we drove up the mountain (we're old). What a thrill it was to find this. After I found this piece and realized what I had, I spotted more and wanted to go get some, but Bill could have sworn he heard a bear and wouldn't let me get out of the truck. LOL, I just think he was keeping me from filling the back of the truck with these.
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,466
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Post by Sabre52 on Aug 3, 2010 18:36:45 GMT -5
I Love that kind of stuff! Here's a pic of one of the death plates from the creek bed right behind my shop. Most the shells in this stuff are marine turritella type stuff, Cerithium sp. snails. Younger than yours ( 65-100 million year old Edwards Limestone, Lower Cretaceous stuff). The crinoids, rugose ( horn) corals, and most brachiopods were killed off in a mass extinction way before the Cretaceous. Ain't these little windows into the world's prehistory cool! I take kids out for nature walks to collect this stuff and they are always blown away ( except for the creationists who say all this is a few thousand years old from the great flood and God put fossils in the rocks just to fool us scientists)......Mel
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Post by texaswoodie on Aug 4, 2010 10:00:44 GMT -5
Not all creationist are created equally Mel. I'm one of them and I have no problem with this stuff being 10,000 to a million years old. I wonder about the billions of years though. I have a feeling scientist just throw numbers out there when it comes to billions. Kinda like Obama does with unemployment and the economy.
Curt
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Post by NatureNut on Aug 4, 2010 10:30:04 GMT -5
Now how did my lil ol fossil thread turn into a political one? LOL
I swear it's all relative, once we get over the first million years, I can't fathom the age, let alone how it ties in with the evolution vs. intelligent design debate. Wow, that just blows my mind!
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Post by texaswoodie on Aug 5, 2010 5:45:19 GMT -5
Well, Mel turned it to religion and i just took it on a natural progression to politics. ;D
Curt
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Post by NatureNut on Aug 5, 2010 9:53:40 GMT -5
Ha, the two of ya just can't be trusted! ;D (jk, we loves ya)
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Post by rockrookie on Aug 5, 2010 15:03:50 GMT -5
Great specimen , Jo !! thanks for sharing ! --paul
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Post by sitnwrap on Aug 8, 2010 10:54:21 GMT -5
The macros you took are great, I bet you spent some time looking with your loupe. the thread was fun to read.
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