need all info on fossil hunting I can get:)

[retro-redux]

Hi there,
My DH, son (8) and I are new to both fossil hunting and metal detecting. We live about an hour from Houston and I'm wanting any info on where to fossil hunt. What about this spliting rocks-how is that done-how do you know a fossil is in that particular rock? Or what I might actually find in my area? Has anyone found any at the Boliver Penisula Beaches or Galveston? My son LOVES all fossils and rocks and really want to get into this hobby but don't know where to begin. Thanks in Advance for any help!
Laura

 

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[retro-redux]

Thanks Shermanville

On the rock you split-how did you know there was a fossil inside? Are there any marks or indictions on the outside of the rock? I hope this doesn't like I'm a total lame brain They just all look like plain rocks in the pics I've seen-until they are split, of course I didn't want to damage a bunch of rocks with nothing inside, or do it improperly and mess up the fossil.

Also, the info I've read says you can go places and literally find them in a bunch of pebbles or among shells at the beach-Idont think I have knowingly seen that yet-any hints on what kind of rocks/area to look for? Have you found any fossils in "the open"?
Laura

 

[searcher]

(quote) O.K.. Your working Texas. What I'm searching for in Illinois may not even be located in Texas.
shermanville*ill- what are you looking for up there

retro redux- why are you splitting rocks for fossils? specifically what are you hoping to find?? geodes and minerals i can understand...
also the best thing for id'ing and locating i have done is researching bone structure and general anatomy.. eye training is good also.
if you're ever west of San Antonio and want to go "serching" let me know, i can hook ya up...
searcher

 

[retro-redux]

went to beach Tues.

Here are so pictures of our finds. Could any of these be bone? If so does it look old to you? The biggest obect is the size of a dinner plate across-I believe that one and the smaller white one on the right are Vertebrae? If so what kind do you think? Also-those black looking rocks have bits of shell and rock in them-could those be fossils?

Thanks!

PS-the sm white object on the left is just a shell with barnacles

 

[bakergeol]

Retro-redux

Looks like recent whale vertebrae. I don't find this stuff at the beach but living in Colorado we are lacking in whales here. I bet you found that black material at the Galveston beach. Decades ago I was down there and I remember a lot of asphaltic tar like stuff on the beach. I don't know if it was natural or from the oil industry.

George

 

[retro-redux]

George,
Thanks for the info. I did find the natural petroleum deposits-but they were soft, kinda like firm play dough-these rock are hard. They may just be those deposits that have hardened.
Laura

 

[searcher]

i feel kinda dumb!! :P i just remembered i have also split rocks to find fossils!! but it's been awhile... thats how i found my trilobite
heres some more links i found
searcher
www.colossal-fossil-site.com/422-phylum-photos.htm www.backyardnature.net/g/fossils.htm
bassexpert.com/fossil/index.htm;jsessionid=a5xOCfb838mh www.hanmansfossils.com/

 

[daydreamer]

I suggest you get a USGS topo map and look at the writing real carefully. The map will have places like "fossil point" written on them, these places generally have fossils. That is how I found my first big batch of clamshells, shark teeth, snails, and whale vertebra.

The other way I have found fossils is to look along a river or ocean shore and sit down in a spot and just turn over rocks looking at them carefully. I found a mudskipper in an agate this way in Nebraska, and my mother found a very large (dinosaur)lizard foot on a shore in South America. I recently have found another shark tooth in southern Ca., but my best finds have been on an eroded cliff in Southern Oregon. Fossils are everywhere, it is like gold- no one believes its there until you find it.

 

[GabbyGEP]

The dark stones that have shells in them is probably a form of coquina, usually found in shell middens where the shells have cemented themselves together over a long period of time. In Wyoming they have a similar type of stone called turitella agate. It has long snails shells in it, with a brownish agate background. It looks like you might also have a bacculite, the long dark one. Look to see if it has wavy lines going around it. You may have to wet the rock to see the lines. I hope this helps a little. You are well on your way to amassing a large collection of fossils. Good luck and happy hunting.

GabbyGEP(Gaylord)

 

[Ed in SoDak]

Hi,

Cool finds! Sometimes that oil matrix can get hard like old roofing tar. It'll definitely color the bone. The LaBrea Tar Pits in California is a good example.

Up north of you a few states, freeze/thaw will eventually crack many mudballs. Maybe chuck a few into the deep freeze for a week then out into the Texas sun.

Usually they split one side or the other of a find. If there are small multiples, the crack could veer off or be irregular. Chisels can help, but usually you look for a small exposure and take a whack with a crack hammer. Roll it around and take another and watch for a split to appear, then work that. Hopefully it splits and not shatters. Sometimes you won't know what's inside till you break them, but that takes fun out of it for the next guy, finding a bunch of split-open halves everywhere. On the other hand, who wants to haul a bunch of duds?

Good luck!
-Ed