Fossil Echinoderms

5-point Star Fish

Echinoderms first appeared around 540 million years ago. They are found as fossils in rocks of all ages, and are still common in oceans across the world. Whole echinoderm fossils are quite rare, but are amongst the most beautiful of fossils.

Beautiful markings on fossil sand dollar

Echinoderms are amazing with their diverse symmetry and unique markings. They left behind a very excessive fossil record and can be found in every ocean depth from intertidal to abyssal zone. Echinoderms are important both biologically and geologically. Their ossified skeletons area an important contribution to the many limestone formations and provide detailed clues as to any given areas geological environment. 

Crinoid Stem Plate

Fossil Sand Dollar

Fossil Sand Dollars

Don't forget to check out my new fossils  and jewelry for purchase at Rock Hard Fossils LLC

Petrified Wood....

petrified knobby wood

I don't believe there is anything more diverse and amazing as petrified wood. Each piece has a unique story to tell. It tells the story of a beautiful tree or plant that once lived millions of years ago. Many pieces of petrified wood are so well preserved that you can easily identify the tree's growth rings. You can distinguish the type of tree that it once was simply by studying it's bark or cell pattern.

agatized tree stump

                                                                                           
 Trees and fossil plants can tell us the climate of any given area. We know that much of the land was once covered in dense, swampy marshes or tropical forests simply by studying the fossils plants that have been meticulously preserved in the coal seams or arid desert sands. Petrified wood often offers insight into the type of fauna found in a particular area as well. Evidence of animal life is often preserved in amber (fossilized tree sap) or through trace fossils found on the wood itself. For example, below is an amazing piece of wood that has been preserved with what is believed to be a small prehistoric woodpecker nest.

prehistoric wood pecker nest 

                                             

holes bored in wood by prehistoric wood pecker

           

Tree sap also trapped and preserved insects, seeds, pollen, and a variety of other scientifically important objects. So the next time you're out and about, keep a close eye out for petrified wood. Each piece has an important story to tell and you never know what you'll discover.

extremely rare flower preserved in amber

cricket preserved in amber

           

Fossils, fossils and more fossils.....Enter my Giveaway!!

Have you ever wanted to start your very own fossil collection? Well, now you can...simply enter my Fossil Starter Kit Giveaway....The rules are simple.

1). Follow my Blog
2) Friend RockHard Fossils on Facebook

And for additional entries...

4) Share this blog with friends on Facebook
5)Tweet this blog

* Leave your name and email address in a private message on Facebook (comments on my blog are not currently working) so I know how to contact you if you win. Then tell me what steps you have completed so I know how many times to enter your name. Results will be determined using Random.org.

Here is what you can win....



Includes:
Porpoise Vertebra-Miocene Era
Calvert Cliffs, MD
                                                                                                 
Fulgurite-Lighting fused sand
Sahara Desert

Jellyfish-Mazon Creek
 Scallop-Mazon Creek
Clam-Mazon Creek

Trilobite-Lebabnon
Native American Potery-Arizona
Echinoderm-Texas
Woolly Mammoth Hair-Siberia

Hematite-Utah
Brachiopod-New Mexico
Shark Vertebrae-Texas
Set of 3 Fish Vertebrae-Calvert Cliffs, MD                                              
Bag of Late Cretaceous Fossil Amber-New Jersey

Set of 2 Fossil Turtle Shell-FL
Ruby-Madagascar
Nantan Meteorite
Burrfish Mouthplates-N.C
Quartz with Pyrite-CO

Flashy Ammonite-Morocco
Shark Tooth-Upper Cretaceous Era

                                            *This Giveaway closes September 14th at midnight*

Labradorite....

Labradorite ((Ca,Na)(Al,Si)4O8), a feldspar mineral, is one of my favorite stones. It occurs in large crystal masses in anorthosite and shows a play of colors called labradorescence. The labradorescence, or schiller effect, is the result of light refracting within lamellar inter-growths. The usually intense colors range from violet, blue, greens, yellows and oranges. Labradorite is also unique in that it must be viewed at a precise angle of light. Each piece or slab is exceptional in the way light is refracted. The resulting color effect is wholly it's own. Labradorite makes amazing jewelry and can be cut, polished or slabbed.

For more information visit Rockhard LLC

To purchase Labradorite please visit my store today!!

 

Calcite Replacement of Fossils

The term “fossil” is used for any trace of past life. Fossils are the actual remains of organisms, such as teeth, bones, shell, and leaves(body fossils). However, a fossil can also be result of their activity, such as burrows and foot prints (trace fossils), and organic compounds they produce by biochemical processes (e.g. waste products). Most fossils are created as a result of mineral replacement, such as in calcite replaced shells. Calcite, a carbonate mineral, which often forms  trigonal-rhombohedral crystals, can replace the original structure. The parts of the animals that didn't rot (usually the shell) were encased in the newly-formed sediment. After a time, the chemicals in the buried animals' bodies underwent a series of changes. As the shell slowly decayed, water infused with minerals seeped into the shell and replaced the chemicals in the shell with calcite. This process results in a heavy, rock-like copy of the original object - a calcite fossil.

All shells listed are available for purchase at Rock Hard Fossils LLC

Rare Calcite replaced sea snake eggs in coral

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rare calcite replaced clam shell

Calcite replaced gastropod

Rock Hard, LLC

Watch for Fossils of the week on our upcoming blog.