Coral

Another like above from same gravel bar.
Many of these were mounted in sawn halves on Lucite bases and sold to an interior decoration store in big Atlanta. They liked them.
Sun side up and root side down.

And this one.

jamesp Bravo, I was hoping you'd start this thread!

Some agatized coral from the Oregon Coast

Thanks for sharing the Oregon coast coral amygdule. Very nice coralite and tube details. Are they easy to find or infrequent ?
If you know the era and type please share.

Ok. We now have coral from 4 locations. Florida, the Yellowstone River, the Oregon coast and fernwood's Wisconsin corn field.

The state of Florida has ID'd the Florida coral and the era it came from. By the way it is a shallow water sun loving coral preferring 0 to 20 feet deep.(I'll have to chase that info to post).

Perhaps lunker (Yellowstone River), amygdule (Oregon coast) and fernwood (seriously, Beth's Wisconsin cornfield) can share the ID, age/era, and habitat of their corals.

Was identified by local UW geologists as favosites.
My land is the confluence of the latest glacier in this area, about 10,000 years ago and ancient glacial Lake Wisconsin.

My land and near where I live is covered with eskers and other featurs.
My fields are near where the land elevation increases about 500'.

I was told that the fossils on my land could be glacial debris or from lake wisconsin.

I have found many other than corals. Snails, clams, Algae, sponges, etc. Many interesting rocks, too.

Just love being able to walk my land and find fossils.

Yes, glacial debris. Those glaciers can alter the original location of fossils in a quick !

You have an ID ! Far out/well done - favosites on Wiki Beth. Check it out:

"Favosites is an extinct genus of tabulate coral characterized by polygonal closely packed corallites (giving it the common name "honeycomb coral").[1] The walls between corallites are pierced by pores known as mural pores which allowed transfer of nutrients between polyps. Favosites, like many corals, thrived in warm sunlit seas, feeding by filtering microscopic plankton with their stinging tentacles and often forming part of reef complexes.[2] The genus had a worldwide distribution from the Late Ordovician to Late Permian.[3]"


Of course coral taxonomy is rarely simple due to complex sub-categories.

species of Favosites(prepare yourself):

F. abnormis
F. adaverensis
F. afghanicus
F. antiquus
F. bowerbanki
F. burkhanensis
F. desolatus
F. exilis
F. fallax
F. favosiformis
F. favosus
F. fusiforme
F. goldfussi
F. gothlandicus
F. hisingeri
F. ingens
F. intricatus
F. issensis
F. jaaniensis
F. kalevi
F. lichenarioides
F. mirandus
F. multicarinatus
F. oculiporoides
F. permica
F. petropolitana
F. praemaximus
F. privatus
F. serratus
F. subfavosus
F. subforbesi

And it does not stop there. Coral is notorious for changing it's structure(for lack of better word) based on many various habitats like depth, water quality, sun access,etc etc. Modern studies have found this out. Even DNA identification methods have shortcomings.

"Down on the Withlacoochee River..." This river receives little conservation protection. Noticed illegal timber practices for miles along the shore. So the banks will cave in and silt will inundate the river bottom. It will lose it's natural beauty sooner than later. Welcome to Georgia where timbering rules.

This day the river was at a near record low and waaay downstream a real load of coral is exposed. This trip tested boat and captain.
No signs of rock hunters having hammered windows or visited this bar. Undisturbed. Only a limited amount could be collected due to it's weight burdening the upstream trip back home.



The bottom of this section of the river as far as eye can see is covered with coral.
Guess what, the coral in the center of the river at the deepest pools has been laying in the mineral/metal rich sediment for many moons and has the most color absorbed.



Windowed samples reveal some corallite patterns and color.



this one a trophy:



This site deserves a return.

October fruit of the Tupelo Gum. Known for it's fine honey and interesting honey plantation history.



Low water obstruction and yes the boat did get hung up and the October water was cold.



Not so well silicified. Never would have known till the hammer hit it.



A probable hollow pseudomorph judging from the pimply surface. No hammers, must take home and saw.



Target practice tree at the boat ramp. Leaving truck/trailer there gives that warm and fuzzy feeling.
Better than having a bunch of law enforcement restricting collecting !



Local artifacts and dead Bahia grass tubers.



The USS Coral back at the Clyattville hotel.