elizabeth
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since August 2011
Posts: 94
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Post by elizabeth on Aug 8, 2011 14:30:26 GMT -5
I found this on the beach in Bandon Oregon. Could this be bone? Thanks all you experts for helping someone that doesn't know much about this stuff. Janet Attachments:
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Post by Toad on Aug 8, 2011 15:15:44 GMT -5
Hard saying. Can you cut it
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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 8, 2011 15:22:00 GMT -5
There's certainly petrified whale bone all up and down the west coast. Lots of other big mammal bone in those same deposits too. Most I've seen seems to be smoother than your specimen but perhaps yours is fresher from the sedimentary deposits so has not smoothed down yet. Some is agatized and will cut and polish but some like the whale bone from Sharktooth Hill over by Bakersfield, CA is too soft and porous to work so is mainly specimen quality.....Mel
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elizabeth
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since August 2011
Posts: 94
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Post by elizabeth on Aug 8, 2011 20:10:45 GMT -5
I wanted to share this with my students unless I am sure I think I will hold off on sharing with my little munchkins.
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Post by johnjsgems on Aug 9, 2011 19:58:24 GMT -5
If you can grind a window you will see marrow similar to dino bone but scattered through out if marine mammal bone. Hard to tell from picture but like Mel I'm used to ocean worn samples.
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Post by NatureNut on Aug 9, 2011 20:50:04 GMT -5
John has a good idea. Can you grind a window on one of the corners? (that way you would get multiple angles and might be able to catch the pattern) Jo
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elizabeth
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since August 2011
Posts: 94
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Post by elizabeth on Aug 13, 2011 20:01:17 GMT -5
On what I thought was bone. I was told by a geologist/anthropologist to put HCL on a small area of the object and if it bubbled it was bone. It fizzled and bubbled all over the place. I guess it is bone!! Yeah! This piece is 8 inches long 4 1/2 wide and 2 inches thick and weight 4 1/2 pounds. Well I was excited.
Janet
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Post by NatureNut on Aug 13, 2011 21:12:17 GMT -5
Yeah! Very, very cool. I will have to remember that. Thanks! Jo
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jspencer
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since March 2011
Posts: 929
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Post by jspencer on Aug 13, 2011 23:14:06 GMT -5
What is HCL? That`s a good trick to know!
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elizabeth
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since August 2011
Posts: 94
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Post by elizabeth on Aug 14, 2011 14:31:04 GMT -5
hydrochloric acid. (muriatic acid) I got mine from the local hardware store
Janet
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elizabeth
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since August 2011
Posts: 94
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Post by elizabeth on Aug 14, 2011 14:34:43 GMT -5
Don wrote this reply to me. Janet, if that's completely fossilized bone, it won't always fizz in acid. It just depends on which mineral replaced the bone cells.
My defiantly bubbled!
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