fossil?

Thread view:

Enable EMail Alerts

Start New Thread

Thread rating:

Margret Huntress - 23 Apr 2005 01:03 GMT

I live in north western Indiana, not too far from Lake Michigan. I have
several large rocks in my back yard, about two feet in diameter. In these
rocks are the forms or sea live, such as shells, and what appears to be
anemone or coral. These are now part of the rocks. Would these be
considered fossils?
Any help would be appreciated.

Tom H.

Reply to this Message

Ken Shaw - 23 Apr 2005 02:15 GMT

> I live in north western Indiana, not too far from Lake Michigan. I have
> several large rocks in my back yard, about two feet in diameter. In these
> rocks are the forms or sea live, such as shells, and what appears to be
> anemone or coral. These are now part of the rocks. Would these be
> considered fossils?
> Any help would be appreciated.

They could be fossils. take some pictures and post them to a website and
post a link to this thread and I'll take a look.

Alternatively you could check with a local university geology department
to see if someone could come take a look. Valpo or UofC might have a
willing expert.

Ken

Reply to this Message

Don Kenney - 23 Apr 2005 07:25 GMT

>I live in north western Indiana, not too far from Lake Michigan. I have
>several large rocks in my back yard, about two feet in diameter. In these
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
>
>Tom H.

Probably.

There are some non-organic things that can be mistaken for fossils,
but given that the bedrock in your area has a lot of fossiliferous
Paleozoic age layers, the chances that they are fossils are pretty
good. If you can get some pictures onto a web site, probably someone
can assess them. Alternatively, take some photos or sketches to your
local public or school library. The librarian may very well be able
to point you to a book or pamphlet that describes fossils that are
likely to be found in your area.

Reply to this Message

Don Kenney - 27 Apr 2005 00:29 GMT

Interesting question. The crude maps I have around here don't show
any Paleocene in Arizona, and that's probably accurate for the
Colorado Plateau. There are some Cretaceous exposures South of Tuscon
that don't seem to have been all that well studied. Might be
something there.

Nothing in the California Desert that I know of. Mesozoic rocks are
rare there. But there are Cretaceous and early Tertiary rocks in
coastal California. I don't know if they include the KT boundary.
One possibility would be around La Jolla where Cretaceous marine rocks
are capped by a lot of Eocene. I don't recall (if I ever knew) what
the top of the Cretaceous sequence there looks like. There are
similar rocks around Oceanside.

>>I live in north western Indiana, not too far from Lake Michigan. I have
>>several large rocks in my back yard, about two feet in diameter. In these
[quoted text clipped - 15 lines]
>to point you to a book or pamphlet that describes fossils that are
>likely to be found in your area.

Reply to this Message

Natural Science Forum / Biology / Paleontology / April 2005

fossil?