US
11 MIN READ TIME

CASTANEA CORALS

STORY AND PHOTOS BY ROBERT BEARD
These two rocks exhibit distinct coral structures and were found loose on the ground surface.

I have spent countless hours investigating roadcuts, stream-banks, and outcrops for fossils. The vast majority of the time, I am not successful. Experienced fossil collectors know that many rocks are barren of fossils, especially in early Paleozoic sediments. Many sedimentary rocks are just vast sequences of shale, sand, and limestone. Whatever lived in the seas or on the seafloor did not always become part of the rock.

If you want to find fossils, you must look in rock sequences conducive to hosting life and preserving fossils. Thick beds of shale, sandstone, and limestone often did not have the right conditions. Shales formed from vast deposits of mud, and sandstones can sometimes represent rapid deposition from alluvial fans or river deltas that could not preserve animal bodies. Limestones, especially early Paleozoic limestones, at times formed from solely chemical precipitates and carbonate mud and often do not have visible fossils.

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Rock&Gem Magazine
Oct 2020
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