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Geology, Palaeontology & Archaeology / What are these fossilised snail-like creatures?
« on: 07/12/2016 03:21:10 »
We have an odd one here: A group of snail shells (1/2" to 2" diameter) Not completely infilled (no sediment?) The shell and body of the animal have been replaced with crystaline matter (carbonate?) This was found at about 300M elevation 20 miles from the ocean, on Northern Vancouver Island, Canada.
The area has an annual rainfall of about 150"/year. I am wondering why the fossil did not disolve like the surrounding limestone does. So far, we have not discovered the deposit this sample came from and can only say that it was found adjacent to a bedded deposit of compressed mudstone.
My interpretation is that this gray limestone was deposited by an undersea vent, and then rapidly uplifted at some point in the recent past. There are no reports that I've found, suggesting a major uplift of this area in the past few thousand years?
Paul
The area has an annual rainfall of about 150"/year. I am wondering why the fossil did not disolve like the surrounding limestone does. So far, we have not discovered the deposit this sample came from and can only say that it was found adjacent to a bedded deposit of compressed mudstone.
My interpretation is that this gray limestone was deposited by an undersea vent, and then rapidly uplifted at some point in the recent past. There are no reports that I've found, suggesting a major uplift of this area in the past few thousand years?
Paul