Natural Science Forum / Biology / Paleontology / April 2004

The Devil put them there to test our faith.

You lost.

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Lenny Flank
"There are no loose threads in the web of life"

Creation "Science" Debunked:
http://www.geocities.com/lflank

DebunkCreation Email list:
http://www.groups.yahoo.com/group/DebunkCreation

The following is a picture of a fossil shell in my collection.
http://aix1.uottawa.ca/~weinberg/mars/shell_bc.jpg  
It is either from Denman or Hornby Island off Vancouver Island in
British Columbia.

I am interested in why the material inside is pitted and full of
holes.  I think that it could be one of
1./ Worms ate the fleshy interior and these worm tunnels have been
petrified.
2./ Small pits in the rock collect organic matter with carbonic acid.
The acid dissolves the pit deeper.
3./ The hardness of the rock matrix varies.  The holes erode following
these invisible lines of weakness.

I doubt #1 and prefer a combination of #2 and #3.

What have me interested is that there are similar features on some
eroded Mars spherules.
http://aix1.uottawa.ca/~weinberg/mars/disintegrating_m_062.jpg
http://aix1.uottawa.ca/~weinberg/mars/long_degraded_m_056.jpg
http://aix1.uottawa.ca/~weinberg/mars/degraded_spherules_m_053.jpg

Does anybody know the accepted theory for the formation of this type
of pitting.

Have a look at my Mars fossils page if you have a minute.

Michael
marsfossils@canada.com
Mars Fossils, Pseudofossils and Problematica
http://aix1.uottawa.ca/~weinberg/mars/
The best Mars Fossils site on the Internet
Remind me not to post to Talk.Origins anymore.