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Post by rockpickerforever on Jan 10, 2014 13:26:45 GMT -5
Here's the first installment of the fossils. A few of these are actually from the trip at Thanksgiving, same location.
Hope this slakes your thirst for now.
Mel's favorite, devil's toenails. Had never seen these before in the locations I've been. 1 
The most common fossils are the corals. 2 
Most of them are kind of, eh~ You can see pattern, but not much color. Also a little grainy. 3 
4 
Some could be used to stamp patterns on clay or something... Lotsa texture. 5 
Now these are the ones I like to look for. Very silicified (or are they agatized?), hard, and lots of color. These make some cool cabs. 6a 
6b 
Pattern galore! 7 
Who'd have known what lurks beneath the rind of this one? 8 
On to the crinoids. Well, impressions of crinoids. 9 
10 
This one is pretty cool, left the central column of rock. 11 
A lot like this one out there 12 
Wonder what this one will look like inside? 13a 
13b 
13c 
Several stromatolites. Love this green/yellow one. 14a 
Another view 14b 
Three smaller ones. Surprised I was even able to make these out, they weren't wet when I found them.  15 
From Thanksgiving, a crinoid death plate. 16a 
Sliced open, wonderful things 16b 
Other half. 16c 
And lastly, this is for meviva , who found one of these in the AZ desert and tumbled it. A Bryozoan (sponge) of some type. 17a 
17b 
Will try to add the second half later today. Will include pics of more bryozoans, corals, pet wood, corals and shell imprints.
Have to make a trip to the RV store for some parts and to fill propane tank. Leaving for Quartszite one week from today, how did that get here so fast?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 10, 2014 13:52:39 GMT -5
nice pics. That thumb looks painful.  |
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Post by rockpickerforever on Jan 10, 2014 18:23:58 GMT -5
Here's more fossils from extreme southeastern Cali. Wanted to get this done today, or you'd have to wait until at least Tuesday. Enjoy.
Let's get the ugly petrified wood out of the way. This is the type I mostly run accross at Ocotillo Wells. 1 
A river tumbled piece. Still pretty ho-hum. May polish, may not. 2 
A lot of rocks out there with fossil imprints. Some kind of shell. 3 
4 
5 
6 
This is an imprint from a bivalve, don't know what kind. Scallop? 7 
I used to think these were branching coral, but I think they are a branching bryozoan (sponge). 8 
A couple years ago, I isolated one out of the host rock and polished it on my flat lap. 9a 
9b 
Cross section of a branch, most likely through a tabulate coral. 10a 
10b 
A bunch of the branches cut diagonally when the rock was river tumbled. 11 
Another one perpendicular to the break. 12 
This could be either a coral or bryozoan, I never did find out. Leaning towards bryozoan. 13 
Branching bryozoan. 14 
15 
This is for sure a bryozoan. 16 
Same here. You can even see the ridges running between the pores of the sponge. 17 
Imprint (negative) of a bryozoan. 18 
Not sure what this is. 19 
Alien head in helmet. Just kidding. 20a 
20b 
Probably a type of coral, something like a horn coral. Top side. 21a 
Edge. 21b 
Back side. 21c 
Thanks for lookin'. Maybe I'll come across some more to post next week. Got so much to do, it might have to wait until after I get back from Quartzsite 
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Post by rockpickerforever on Jan 10, 2014 18:25:32 GMT -5
nice pics. That thumb looks painful. Thanks, Scott. The blood blister not, the split yes. Hard to even use my hands without bumping them. Could say it stuck out like a sore thumb? Ouch! |
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jamesp
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Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,612
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Post by jamesp on Jan 10, 2014 18:42:40 GMT -5
When will you get another blood blister. I will put it into my photo collection too.
Why did you do that? Did it hurt ? Can you show how you did it ? Why would you get your thumb so close to the hammer? If you hit the same thumb again it will really hurt.
The guys where i used to work at would pinch it -if it was one of your fingers. That's just mean.
I like the fossils and the alien helmut and the crinoidal death plate. Lots of coral. So cool.
I am jelly ish that you got to go for like 30 days. What a life.
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Jan 10, 2014 18:44:25 GMT -5
Alien foot print |
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Sabre52
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Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
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Post by Sabre52 on Jan 10, 2014 18:51:48 GMT -5
Wow, my favorite post from the three! Awesome fossils. I'd seen wood, coral, and bryozoans from that region but had no idea there were crinoids and stromatoiltes there too Incredible variety of finds and agatized too. Great and extremely interesting post.....Mel
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Post by rockpickerforever on Jan 10, 2014 18:56:56 GMT -5
When will you get another blood blister. I will put it into my photo collection too. Why did you do that? Did it hurt ? Can you show how you did it ? Why would you get your thumb so close to the hammer? If you hit the same thumb again it will really hurt.
I'll save any photos of boo-boos for you James from now on. Yes, it did hurt. I did it while I was holding agates on a larger (sometimes tilting) flat (sometimes not so flat) rock, hitting them with my Estwing to window them. Sometimes, they would try to get away from me (ever have a chicken do that when you are trying to cut its head off?), hammer comes down and hits whatever happens to be there. In this case my thumb. Like I said before, the split hurt much worse. My fault for not putting lotion on 1432 times a day.
Yeah, I'll try not to hit the same thumb again. Maybe I'll do the other one next time. No, that won't work, I'd probably mash my entire right hand if I held the hammer in my left....
NOT an alien footprint, lol! It's tiny, less than an inch across. Maybe aliens have small feet?
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Post by rockpickerforever on Jan 10, 2014 19:10:53 GMT -5
Wow, my favorite post from the three! Awesome fossils. I'd seen wood, coral, and bryozoans from that region but had no idea there were crinoids and stromatoiltes there too Incredible variety of finds and agatized too. Great and extremely interesting post.....Mel Thanks, Mel, glad you liked the fossil installment. There are also crinoids and stromatolites in the Ocotillo Wells are. Lots and lots of fossils. And the bubble gum agates that Lowell elementary likes.
Like meviva had said, hard to imagine the entire desert covered with an ocean! When I windowed some of the rocks, then licked them (naturally), some of them tasted like salt. I know, it sounds crazy, but it's true. DH said maybe one of the wild burros pissed on them. Funny - not.
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Post by beefjello on Jan 10, 2014 19:15:22 GMT -5
Nice finds Jean! Cool crinoids and devil's toenails. Were these from your side of the river or my side? |
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jamesp
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Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,612
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Post by jamesp on Jan 10, 2014 19:34:24 GMT -5
I use a little 8 once hammer with a long handle to get windows. It is way easier to control for accuracy. The flat side of a ball peen. The coral is all pretty big chunks
and has a padded layer of limestone on it. You can see nothing. And there is often aquatic plant like moss covering it. I have to window 20 to find one that is w/color.
By the end of the day i am tired. Often in water where you can't sit. So the little hammer saves energy too. It gets a lot of speed with great chipping ability. It is hard to
steer a heavy hammer.
But big hammers make cool blood blisters.
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Post by nowyo on Jan 10, 2014 22:06:07 GMT -5
What a great bunch of fossils. Do you know what geologic epoch those are? Not familiar with anything quite that far south, myself.
Russ
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quartz
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breakin' rocks in the hot sun
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Post by quartz on Jan 11, 2014 0:07:25 GMT -5
Very enjoyable show, well worth the wait since yesterday, thanks. Quite a deal, hunting the bottom of the ocean way out in the desert.
Larry
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Post by pghram on Jan 11, 2014 0:47:44 GMT -5
Those are some really nice specimens.
Rich
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Post by rockpickerforever on Jan 11, 2014 4:24:15 GMT -5
Nice finds Jean! Cool crinoids and devil's toenails. Were these from your side of the river or my side? Thanks, Beef. They are from my side, although to get there, we drive up 95 from Yuma and head west on Imperial Dam road back into Cali. Easier than driving up from Winterhaven. You cross over the river at Senator Wash Road near Laguna Dam. It's on BLM land. |
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jollyrockhound
spending too much on rocks
Member since March 2013
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Post by jollyrockhound on Jan 13, 2014 13:02:57 GMT -5
Wow nice finds, heck most of those I would have never picked up as I would have not known what they are, thanks for sharing. I now know what to look for more often, esp love the one that is in the center.
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bushmanbilly
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Post by bushmanbilly on Jan 13, 2014 16:21:35 GMT -5
Looks like you had a good time made better with the pickers. Gold does do funny things to folks. thanks for sharing.
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Fossilman
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Member since January 2009
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Post by Fossilman on Jan 15, 2014 18:36:28 GMT -5
Holy crap Jean,those are "CRAZY" awesome!!!!!!!
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Post by rockpickerforever on Jan 16, 2014 11:36:20 GMT -5
What a great bunch of fossils. Do you know what geologic epoch those are? Not familiar with anything quite that far south, myself. Russ Sorry it took so long to get back to you, Russ. The area is such a hodgepodge of geologic time frames, and types of rocks. Within a 1/4 mile span, you can jump from several different ages/types of deposits.
The rocks are Quaternary, Tertiary and Pre-cambriam in age, all within a stones throw.
The map that this came was found on www.quake.ca.gov/gmaps/GMC/stategeologicmap.html, taken from extreme SE corner of the state. Some sedimentary Tertiary deposts, since the Colorado River has flowed all through that area over the eons. I know a lot of the fossils I have found in the Ocotillo Wells area (50 miles or so to the west) came down that ancient river from Northern Arizona, even Utah.
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jamesp
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Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,612
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Post by jamesp on Jan 16, 2014 12:05:27 GMT -5
That map damaged my brain. can you read that thing Jean? All i get is a boring ocean bottom. With swamp muck caked on it.
And members of the food chain of higher level.
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