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Post by ammocarbsteve on Feb 16, 2011 4:22:28 GMT -5
Cont... (these drawers are westphalian) Upper carb... Attachments:
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Post by ammocarbsteve on Feb 21, 2011 6:52:40 GMT -5
A couple of nodules from yesterday... a very nice Calamostachys with potentially an Equisetites near the tip... Attachments:
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Post by ammocarbsteve on Feb 21, 2011 6:54:11 GMT -5
a Laveinopteris loshii... (I think) You can sit all day staring at slight differences in veination... Attachments:
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Post by ammocarbsteve on Feb 21, 2011 6:55:21 GMT -5
and a seed from the shales above a coalseam that has only done Lepidodendron material... Attachments:
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Post by ammocarbsteve on Feb 21, 2011 6:59:44 GMT -5
I polished one half of the seed nodule... hopefully to see some definable structures, but I dont see anything other than possible spines around the 'husk' which I have put a red dot next to... They look pretty convincing to me and I dont remember seeing any spiney seeds previously documented anywhere and why would a tree need to have developed spines on its seeds with potentially nothing to actually feed on them....spines are a defence mechanism.... It may be something to do with the way the seed was perserved... Interesting ! Attachments:
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Post by Joe Botting on Feb 21, 2011 7:43:04 GMT -5
Fascinating seed... and the preservation is interesting too. The "spines" (always hard to interpret from a 2D section, of course) are mostly on the outermost layer, and the robust bit of the seed appears to be smoother and inside it. It reminds me a lot of the the cones I mentioned from Allerton Bywater, Leeds, with an additional layer on the outside - similar preservation, if nothing else. I wonder whether we are seeing something new here? (caveat - I'm not a palaeobotanist!)
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Post by ammocarbsteve on Feb 21, 2011 8:03:53 GMT -5
Thanks Joe.... Yes difficult to interpret from a 2D image but interesting none the less... I have asked someone I know who is writing a book on carb plants for an opinion on it... I polished a broken nodular carb cone section previously (It would of been disguarded otherwise) to see what I could see... Attachments:
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Post by ammocarbsteve on Feb 21, 2011 8:05:33 GMT -5
The plan also shows some deposition/variation in the surrounding sediments as well I think... Attachments:
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Post by ammocarbsteve on Feb 22, 2011 5:08:59 GMT -5
Spiney seed...Just an update...A friend pointed out that sometimes as seeds dry out the 'flanges' in the seed coat can become more prominent... Its a possibility that these spines could represent those flanges...
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Post by Joe Botting on Feb 23, 2011 9:18:04 GMT -5
I was wondering... but then, the interesting thing still seems to be this outer layer around the thick shell. I'm still intrigued as to what's going on.
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Post by ammocarbsteve on Apr 11, 2011 4:49:35 GMT -5
I was wondering... but then, the interesting thing still seems to be this outer layer around the thick shell. I'm still intrigued as to what's going on. One for the experts Joe... lol Heres the progress on the latest drawer...Some material I wouldnt normally collect as its not upto 'standards' but for comparative purposes for each unique exposure you have to keep a representative sample I guess... Attachments:
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Post by Joe Botting on Apr 22, 2011 23:04:14 GMT -5
Indeed you do, Steve - it's when you start working out what the world was like that this subject gets so fascinating (to me at least), and for that you need to know about distributions, life proportions, and anything else you can get. It does tend to make for a house full of rocks, but on the plus side, it makes dusting much more difficult! ;-)
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Post by ammocarbsteve on Apr 23, 2011 5:03:43 GMT -5
Indeed you do, Steve - it's when you start working out what the world was like that this subject gets so fascinating (to me at least);-) Joe... I'm with you there, its supprising what can you learn by just finding stuff, it creeps up on yer ;o)
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Post by ammocarbsteve on Jul 10, 2011 10:34:26 GMT -5
Heres a few new bits... The exposure has almost gone and I have been too busy doing other stuff to get down there but i managed a few hours today... The first I think is a seedfern rachis based on the other fossils found in the same layer... I took an educated guess...very often when found insitu a stem runs through a number of adjoining broken nodules just like this one... being 'exsitu' you only find a section of it... Attachments:
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Post by ammocarbsteve on Jul 10, 2011 10:35:15 GMT -5
Calamostachys... Attachments:
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