Community The Rock & Fossil Collecting Thread

Nekoban Ryo

aka icycatelf
Member
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I picked up the hobby a couple months ago and was wondering if any of you enjoy it as well. How did you get started? What are some of your favorite finds? How did you find them?

For me, it all started with two bowls too many of macaroni and cheese. I felt ill and the need walk it off, so I headed outside (which I rarely ever do) for a healthy stroll. My dad had recently done some dozer work, so I randomly decided to walk around that area. That's when something caught my eye, probably the most bizarre rock I had ever seen:

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Despite its turtle-like appearance, I knew that it was unlikely a fossil (at this point, I was convinced that we didn't have fossils here), so I asked a geologist to ID this interesting piece. I was told that it was an ironstone concretion. As I suspected, not a fossil, but still pretty neat.

A day or so later, I went out to see if I could find anymore of these concretions. Instead, I see this really interesting texture poking out from the side of the wet, muddy hill. I tried various methods to pull it out, including kicking it (don't do this -- you could damage the specimen or trigger a cave-in), but it was just in there too good and too slick to get a grip on. I returned the following day after it had dried up a bit and the rock eased out of the hill with no problem at all. I was half-expecting it to just be a regular slab of rock with sedimentary lines on the end, but it was instead cylinder-shaped (just about the width of a soda can) with vertical lines going all around it (well, aside from part of the back which was broken off and nowhere to be seen). This totally topped the turtle rock, but what was it? I cleaned it up so I could take photos to get it ID'd and noticed a horizontal groove wrapping around the top. This probably wasn't just a "rock."

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The geologist I was messaging wasn't from around here and wasn't sure what it was, but after doing some research on my own, I accidentally-on-purpose found a photo of what was obviously the same thing: a Calamites fossil. (Calamites are ancient tree-like reeds, related to modern-day horsetails, which could grow up to 100 feet. They went extinct about 360 million years ago.) 25 years-old and my first fossil ever.

Now that I knew there were fossils here, I started keeping an eye out for them and went out nearly every day. I've found several other Calamites fossils (although none quite as cool as my first), but I've found a few other things as well. Here are some of my favorite finds, all of which were found nearby my house:

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My first that isn't plant-related and favorite at that time. I asked several people, including a paleontologist, and they nearly all agreed that it was a trace (tracks) fossil of an ancient marine invertebrate. (It's unknown exactly which species left them. I was told that it's very hard to identify them without finding the animal itself "dead in its tracks.")

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I had found a couple other pieces of Artisia (a pith cast) before, but this is the coolest as it's the only one that has part of its tree, Cordaites, still attached to it. They were seed-bearing plants that grew in wet ground and lived around the same time-frame as Calamites.

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While not native to this part of the state, I found this horn coral in a hole on the edge of our property that had been filled-in -- my very first non-plant find that still had the specimen inside. There are some other marine things going on in the matrix (fossil-bearing rock) as well, including what may be crinoid (sea lily) stems, but nothing in it is quite as easy to make out as the horn coral.

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I've dreamed of finding an ammonite fossil ever since I started fossil-hunting, but I had more or less given up on the idea after being told that my area isn't a "true marine deposit." However, while looking through the washed-up creek rock one day, this caught my eye. I thought it may have just been a suggestive rock since I didn't think I'd ever actually find an ammonite, but after comparing it to the polished ammonite fossils my dad ordered me last year, I noticed some uncanny similarities. To make sure it wasn't just wishful thinking, I asked around several more experience collectors and it turned out to be an ammonite after all! (Well, it's technically an ammonoid, not a "true ammonite," but the words are commonly used interchangeably.) While not my largest or most-detailed find, this is hands-down my favorite. :)

EDIT: To be more specific, it's a goniatite ammonoid. These pre-date true ammonites and eventually evolved into them.

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My most attractive driveway fossil thus far! I actually didn't even notice the fossil at first (that part was buried), but rather a small portion of the chert that was exposed. Imagine my surprise when I pulled it up and this was attached!

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My largest fossil yet, measuring about a foot long. It's the cast of a "scale tree" trunk.

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I've got more cool fossils in my collection, but I'm just posting the ones I found myself.

Now for the rocks:

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This Quartzite caught my eye one day when I was walking by the creek. Not rare by any means, although it's about 3-4 times larger than those I typically see in rock beds around hospitals and such.

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I thought this was a lycopod root fossil for months (since that's what it was originally identified as), but it's actually not a fossil at all. In fact, it's a siderite (or manganese) nodule. I'm not super-disappointed that it's not a fossil, because I also collect cool rocks and this fits the bill.
 
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/me does an unusually high pitched scream

I love rocks, minerals and gems and am pursuing a career in Gemology! ^_^

Here's just a few pieces from my collection that I have pictures of. (I have enough rocks/minerals to weigh down the back of a pick up truck, it would take a while to photograph them all! :p)

I like to call this one the Mega Mineral because it has quite a few different minerals on it.
Sphalerite, Citrine, Calcite, Granite, Quartz, Mica and Hematite.

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This is a relatively unknown type of Obsidian. There was a volcano that erupted in Ethiopia. In a rock & gem club I was part of, someone who was part of the exploration crew that discovered the newly unearthed greenish-blue Obsidian that nobody had ever seen sold two pieces to me. I was one of the first Americans to own it.

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This is a green and purple Fluorite from Africa. It's quite a nice specimen and it means a lot to me because it's from part of a collection I was given as a present from a client of mine who passed away.

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This is a large Amethyst geode half which I purchased from a client who had mined it herself in another country. I don't remember which one, but I believe she said Colombia.

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This is just a random piece I have, but I like how it looks. It's polished on the front and rough everywhere else.

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And finally, I guess you could say this is the "heart" of my collection...
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This is extraordinary. It is a Septarian geode with Calcite crystals inside. It was hand carved by a lapidary artist in Albuquerque.

Edit: It appears most of the images aren't working. If you right click them and click view image you can see them though!
 
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I think I found my new favorite fossil today! I was rummaging through some rock that was used to fill in a hole on the edge of our property when I spotted this horn coral. You can't tell in the photo, but the fanning lines (septa?) inside, visible in the chipped part near the base, have been crystallized.

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Heres some pics of my stuff. Not all of it just recent pics I took for the Chat on here months ago.



Very rare to see Green on a Bornite aka Peacock Rock.



Purple Flourite



Amythist



Calcite and other stuff mixed in.
some parts of the darker material glows green under the UV tube light I have.



Silicon based material, Calcite Geode, Franklinite



Dilithium



Nahh just kidding its Quartz.
 
*snipped*
I've always loved the look of amethyst. It's beautiful. <3

- - -

Update on my fossil collecting: Ever since I started fossil-hunting 3 months ago, I've dreamed of finding an ammonite fossil (the type of fossil Omanyte is based on). However, since I've been told by other collectors that my area isn't a "true marine deposit," I had more or less given up on the idea of finding one. Today when I was surface-collecting by the creek again, something caught my eye... was this what I thought it was or was it just a suggestive/misleading rock?

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After asking around, it turns out that it is what I thought it was -- my first ammonite! (Well, the first that I found myself.) I'm so excited!
 
And to think I've been away for a bit and just now discovered this thread.

While all of my large rocks are in boxes back home, I do have some of my smaller gems (no pun intended) lying around.
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This is a large chunk of corundum I had cut to fit in my pocket. Corundum is my favorite mineral and this is the largest piece I've ever found so it made me pretty ecstatic. There are small black inclusions of biotite that grew in between a set of planer joints giving it a distinct purple/black color.

Normally people never think of corundum as its own mineral, but rather by its other names, Ruby and Sapphires. Well this is technically a sapphire, not gem grade but could potentially be polished eventually when I have time. All of the other rocks I have in my apartment are work related, bags and bags of basalt and carbonaceous tufa I collected and use in my research.

Also, very nice fossils you have there. Reminds me of my undergrad field trips in Southern Idaho, lots of fossils in that desert.
 
That sapphire could be turned into a nice Cabochon! Of what shape though is up to your preference! I recommend an oval though.
 
*snipped*
Sorry for the delayed response!

That is so cool! I'd love to find stuff like that (even though my mom would take it -- lol). Unfortunately, the only crystals I've ever came across were the quartzite above, some pieces of chert/flint from driveway gravel, and what I think is granite (some white, some pinkish) from railroad tracks. It would be really cool to come across an emerald (my favorite gem, color, and my birthstone), but I have a feeling I'd have to go elsewhere for even a shot at finding those. I'm really not familiar with what minerals exist in my area, nor how to find them other than looking for those that are already exposed (much like how I look for fossils).

Sounds fun! I'd love to go somewhere covered with fossils (non-mammal fossils, anyway -- something about those is unsettling to me). I'm not much for traveling, though, so I guess I'll have to do with the occasional find here for now. (Really hoping to come across more marine stuff when the weather clears up, but will most likely just find more Calamites and Artisia.)

Speaking of driveway gravel and marine stuff:

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Found a seashell and didn't even have to go to the beach. :D
 
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Looks nice :)

Thats some unique gravel to be having small fossils in it :)
I think it's mostly limestone, which commonly bears marine fossil material. Took me years to realize it, though. It's hard to say just how many fossils I overlooked growing up.
 
Hope you find some Limestone Fish ones later :)
While fish are a lot rarer than them, I'm really more of an invertebrate person. (I guess Pokémon is to blame, since all my favorite fossil Pokémon are invertebrates.) The things I'd most like to find now are a trilobite (Dome Fossil) and crinoid (with a visible crown and somewhat-intact column -- Root Fossil). (I've found several small crinoid columnals, but none that really scream "fossil.")
 
Good Like finding a Trilobite :)
Thanks. I probably won't find one here, but maybe eventually!

- - -

New find:

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This fossilized plant material ("paleo mulch") was poking out of the creek when I found it about a week ago. There are some leaves and maybe twigs in there (not sure what kind yet).
 
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