SEM of Cornulites

In early March 2010 I sent a number of samples to ASPEX Corporation to be imaged with a Personal Scanning Electron Microscope (PSEM).  It was part of their free scanning promotion talked about in this February 26, 2010 post. One item sent was Cornulites tube from the Ordovician Period.  The fossil was found in the Kope Formation of Carroll County, Kentucky.  Yesterday, I received the results which I now present in this posting.

Binyam of ASPEX Corporation was the analyst and report preparer. He used the PSEM eXplorer (image below) to analyze this fossil (above).  A manual SEM and EDX Analysis was done using Backscatter electron detector (BSED) to collect images under variable pressure conditions (0.15 Torr) and 20 KeV. 

Here is a SEM image with 200 um scale of the area between multiple growth rings.

A even more close up view provided by this image at 100 um scale.  Yikes, I need to clean these fossils better!

Thanks to ASPEX for doing this analysis and imaging!  Visit this weblink for more information about their promotion.

Waldron Shale Fossils

Atrypa newsomensis brachiopod fossil found in Waldron Shale of Clark County. It existed in the Silurian Period.

Unknown holdfast of probably a crinoid.

My favorite cephalopod the Dawsonoceras sp. found in Silurian Period rock.  This one appears to be crushed and the growth lines are not easy to see.

A fragment of the Eucalyptocrinites crassus crinoid calyx that was probably over 2 cm in width when in intact.

Next four pictures are of the Atrypa sp. brachiopods fossils.

Eospirifer eudora brachiopod fossils that existed in the Middle Silurian Period.

Leptaena waldonensis that existed in the Silurian Period.

These horn corals appear to be Metriophyllidae.

Stegerhynchus whitii? found in the Middle Silurian Period.

While I was photographing fossils I started hearing the birds start chattering like crazy.  So I thought where is the cat stalking around making them so nervous.  As it turns out a raptor landed on the corner of roof and it eventually flew off.  All I got was the silhouette.

Fossils of Bullitt County

Pictures contained in this posting are of Ordovician Period fossils found in Bullitt County, Kentucky. I believe they are from the Grant Lake Formation.

This first fossil is a Platystrophia sp. brachiopod.  I like to think of it as the Kentucky's state fossil even though all brachiopods found in the state are.

This pelecypod or clam is called Caritodens demissa? (Conrad, 1842).  They are somewhat rare where I look and this is probably the 6th one I have found in 2 years of looking.

This fragment is of an Ambonychia robusta? Hall clam fossil.  Another rare find and I used the engraver to reveal more of the shell pattern.  It reminds me of the modern day fan shell (family Pinnidae).

Mold of another clam that might be an Ischyrodonta elongata? (Ulrich).  Finding molds like is probably the most common clam fossil to find.

Pygidium (rear section) of a Flexicalymene trilobite.  I found two the say this was collected.  How did it come to be?  Part of a molt, broken remains of the trilobite, or maybe a piece left after a cephalopod made a meal of the rest of its body?  The answer is lost from a previous time.

Feeding scoop or hypostoma of an Isotelus trilobite.

Playstrophia brachiopod with some matrix still attached to the fossil.

A cluster of Rafinesquina brachiopods which is rare for me to find.  The clump probably contains over 20 shell fossils.  This brachiopod is named after the famous yet eccentric French naturalist Constantine Rafinesque.  Rafinesque is buried at Transylvania University located in Lexington, Kentucky.

Platystrophia brachiopod embedded in matrix but with great growth lines exposed.

Another Platystrophia brachiopod that needs to have residue matrix cleaned off.

Hebertella brachiopod not as common as the Platystrophia at this site.

I think this in an internal mold of a Hebertella brachiopod.

These next two images are of maybe a Liospira gastropod fossil.

Last two images are of the unknown straight shelled cephalopod.  Appear to be molds.