|
Fossil Specimens
Fossils are precious gifts from the geologic past:
signs and remains of ancient living things preserved in the Earth's crust. The word has a Latin origin, from fossilis
meaning "dug up." If fossils are things dug up, then they must begin as whatever can be buried. If you look around,
though, very little that is buried lasts long. Soil is an active, living mixture in which dead plants and animals are broken
down and recycled. To escape this round of breakdown, the creature must be buried, and taken away from all oxygen, soon after
death. When geologists say "soon," though, that can mean years. Hard parts such as bones, shells and wood are what turn
to fossils the great majority of the time. But even they need exceptional circumstances to be preserved. Usually they must
be quickly buried in clay or other fine sediment. For skin and other soft parts to be preserved requires even rarer conditions,
such as a sudden change in water chemistry or decomposition by mineralizing bacteria.
|
|
|
| Click on photo to enlarge in new window. |
|
Very affordable specimen of Rhynchotrema dentatum collected along the Fox River in Yorkville, Il. There
are also many crinoid stem pieces visible throughout the surface. Approx. size: 77x60x15 Weight: 134.2 grams
|
|
|
|
|
| Click on photo to enlarge in new window. |
|
Rather large interesting piece with fossil brachipods, I think they are Rafinesquina ponderosa. This fossil was collected along the Fox River in Yorkville, Il. Approx. size: 156x88x12
Approx. weight: 327 grams
|
|
|
|
|
| Click on photo to enlarge in new window. |
|
Here's another nice fossil collected along the Fox River ini Yorkville, Il. with some of the original shell material
still attached of what I'm pretty sure is the brachiopod Rafinesquina ponderosa. Approx. size: 75x73x26 Weight:
144.7 gm.
|
| Click on photo to enlarge in new window. |
|
|
|
|
|
| Click on photo to enlarge in new window. |
|
Here's another nice brachiopod fossil of I think is Rafinesquina ponderosa from the Fox River in Yorkville, Il.
Approx. size: 84x76x23 Weight: 234.9 gm.
|
| Click on photo to enlarge in new window. |
|
|
|
|
|
| Click on photo to enlarge in new window. |
|
Fist-sized piece of fossil coral recovered from a cornfeild near Dekalb, Il. Large parts of this coral was replaced
with quartz instead of the typical calcitic replacements found in this area. Approx. size: 85x66x49 Weight: 250
gm.
|
| Click on photo to enlarge in new window. |
|
|
| Click on photo to enlarge in new window. |
|
|
|
|
| Click on photo to enlarge in new window. |
|
Interesting piece of petrified wood that I collected back in the early 90s south of Fargo, North Dakota while traveling
with my future ex-wife. This is strictly a fossil, not cutting material. Approx. size: 190x119x61 Weight:
1704 gm.
|
| Click on photo to enlarge in new window. |
|
|
| Click on photo to enlarge in new window. |
|
|
|
|
| Click on photo to enlarge in new window. |
|
Fist-sized specimen (My fist anyway.) of a single brachiopod surrounded by a mess of crinoid stem pieces. Collected
along the Fox River in Yorkville, Il. Approx. size:110x85x60 Weight: 491 gm.
|
| Click on photo to enlarge in new window. |
|
|
|
