Janet
starting to shine!
Member since January 2011
Posts: 32
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Post by Janet on Jan 6, 2011 15:31:30 GMT -5
I was on the beach at Bandon Oregon and found some petrified Wood. I went to a local rock shop (nasty lady) and was told that it was not myrtle wood as there was no myrtle wood around the area even though I was told by locals that it was myrtle wood. Could someone help me identify my finds. Kind Regards, Janet Attachments:
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Janet
starting to shine!
Member since January 2011
Posts: 32
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Post by Janet on Jan 6, 2011 15:38:26 GMT -5
Hopefully I was able to capture this picture. Thanks Attachments:
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Post by tandl on Jan 6, 2011 18:28:33 GMT -5
i don`t know what myrtlewood is , but that is a solid looking piece of wood you have
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Post by rockrookie on Jan 6, 2011 19:35:56 GMT -5
nice find !! --paul
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Janet
starting to shine!
Member since January 2011
Posts: 32
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Post by Janet on Jan 6, 2011 19:40:26 GMT -5
Thank you so much for your expertise. I appreciate your time. I found so much of this wood the last time I was there. I also found some great fossils. I run a Elem. School library in Paradise Ca. and always bring my finds back to share with the students. I just wish the person at the rocks shop Jail House Rocks could read this forum.
Janet
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Janet
starting to shine!
Member since January 2011
Posts: 32
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Post by Janet on Jan 6, 2011 21:45:06 GMT -5
I found all this wood the same day. Attachments:
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Janet
starting to shine!
Member since January 2011
Posts: 32
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Post by Janet on Jan 6, 2011 21:46:28 GMT -5
more goodies from the beach
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Janet
starting to shine!
Member since January 2011
Posts: 32
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Post by Janet on Jan 6, 2011 22:47:34 GMT -5
Fossils found the same day Attachments:
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Post by roy on Jan 7, 2011 0:03:16 GMT -5
is'nt oregon great
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Post by bobby1 on Jan 7, 2011 1:12:44 GMT -5
I was at the rock shop a few years ago and the people there (husband and wife team) seemed nice though not particularly knowledgable about rocks. Bandon has struggled the last few years since the super cheese factory has been gone. Their cheese was super good. It seems that the giant cheese factory further north wanted a monopoly on the Oregon cheese market. They bought out the Bandon factory, fired everyone and tore the place down. It was one of the major employers in town. In my opinion Tillamook cheese ain't all that good. Bob
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Janet
starting to shine!
Member since January 2011
Posts: 32
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Post by Janet on Jan 7, 2011 11:06:47 GMT -5
Thank you, lots of great info. I have already scheduled 4 days in February to go again. Love to go rock hounding! Love Oregon!
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Janet
starting to shine!
Member since January 2011
Posts: 32
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Post by Janet on Jan 7, 2011 11:10:42 GMT -5
I think maybe the women in the rock shop was having a bad day. In fact, the other couple that was in the shop and left after she started talking to me were still outside. When I walked out they asked me what her problem was, I just said maybe she doesn't like out of towners! Oh well, I won't be visiting the shop again!
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Janet
starting to shine!
Member since January 2011
Posts: 32
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Post by Janet on Jan 12, 2011 11:04:21 GMT -5
Okay guys this email I received this morning. Maybe it is not Myrtle Wood. Gosh this can get confusing!
Dear Ms. Thorup: Your question regarding your find at Bandon was forwarded to me because I’m the Curator of Petrified Wood for the Crater Rock Museum. The black and white color is a result of trace minerals present when the wood petrified, not burning prior to petrification. This petrified wood eroded from mid Eocene aged geologic formations (about 40 to 45 million years old) now found in the Coast Range, although they were deposited long before the Coast Range rose. In fact, in the mid Eocene, present day “Oregon” was located near where present day southern Florida is located, and it had a tropical climate, so most such petrified wood are tropical hardwoods without growth rings, although an extinct genus of sycamore is also common. When cut, this beach petrified wood is usually black, inside; but by soaking the cut surface in household bleach the black usually turns to black and gray so the wood’s vascular structure is visible. (The Crater Rock Museum, I believe, will cut one or more of your finds for a fee.) Sincerely Doug Foster
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chromenut
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since December 2009
Posts: 1,971
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Post by chromenut on Jan 12, 2011 11:34:47 GMT -5
I'm starting to wonder if Oregon's not just full of dead, petrified stuff.....
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Janet
starting to shine!
Member since January 2011
Posts: 32
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Post by Janet on Jan 12, 2011 13:07:53 GMT -5
Another message from the expert. Wow I am so thankful for people like him and on this website.
Janet: Rockhounds usually refer to the black & white petrified wood found on the beach as myrtle wood. This is not accurate, but understandable. The surface markings as seen in cross section, which show the wood’s vascular structure, are reminiscent of myrtle wood, a/k/a California bay (Umbulellaria). The Lauraceae family, which is considered a tropical family, typically has small vessels spread evenly across its growth rings (“diffuse porous”). Needless-to-say, if you cut down a branch of living myrtle wood and look at it’s cross-sectional face, it will have growth rings. Why? Because Oregon has a temperate climate with marked seasonality. Petrified wood from the tropical mid Eocene show no growth rings, just as living wood in the Lauraceae family found in the tropics today have no growth seasons. (Moreover, extant myrtle wood did not grow in the mid Eocene, it is a more recently evolved deciduous tree.)
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Janet
starting to shine!
Member since January 2011
Posts: 32
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Post by Janet on Jan 12, 2011 13:13:33 GMT -5
Gosh darn don't burst my bubble! I'm a believer! Well I will take a little of this and a little of that and hopefully be a little more knowledgeable in the long run. The bottom line is I love what I find no matter what it is.
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rockhound97058
freely admits to licking rocks
Thundereggs - Oregons Official State Rock!
Member since January 2006
Posts: 760
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Post by rockhound97058 on Jan 12, 2011 13:44:49 GMT -5
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,456
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Post by Sabre52 on Jan 12, 2011 16:58:31 GMT -5
Wow that Foster letter don't make a lot of sense to me. I know the Oregon climate was supposedly similar to south Florida during the hot period of the Eocene and the area was full of a bunch of volcanoes and mountain building was taking place but I had no idea continental drift was such that today's Oregon moved to it's present physical position from where south Florida is now. Methinks that statement needs a bit of fact checking *L*.....Mel
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rockhound97058
freely admits to licking rocks
Thundereggs - Oregons Official State Rock!
Member since January 2006
Posts: 760
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Post by rockhound97058 on Jan 13, 2011 0:50:17 GMT -5
I agree with Jack - The book they published is a must for the library. I have a copy I've had for many years, and I used to sell it in my shop. It's a thick book with tons of information regarding Oregon.
If I recall in their book they spoke of a Gravel Pit in my area back in the 30's. The area they speak of for the life of me I cannot find a old gravel pit! Think about it everytime I head to the area due the records of finding great leaf prints.
Speaking of leaf prints - I used to dig fossil plates by the hundreds of pounds years ago down at Fossil, Oregon. Many I kept and used to peak interests for the kids and finally the last of what I had I donated to the local College for the Geology Dept. Should have held on to them as now you can't collect to speak of - They now have the so called Fossil Nazi who controls the dig as it's her own.
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Janet
starting to shine!
Member since January 2011
Posts: 32
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Post by Janet on Jan 13, 2011 11:40:04 GMT -5
Thanks so much for the info. See, I 'm taking a little of this and a little of that. I ordered the book by Bill and his wife and now I will learn more.
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