Monday, August 13, 2012

Pyrite/Marcasite Silurian Fossils

All these fossils were found in the Waldron Shale of Clark County, Indiana. All contain pyrite or marcasite minerals. These first two pictures show the iron sulfide clusters embedded in a Silurian Period brachiopod Homoespirifer evax.

 The next two pictures show a segment of byrozoan encrusted with pyrite.


The last two pictures do not this fossil pairing justice. It is a crinoid stem that has another crinoid holdfast wrapped around the stem. Both are encrusted with pyrite or marcasite. A nice photo of one these crinoid ensembles at the Falls of the Ohio State Park web site: CLICK HERE.