THE FOSSIL NEWS January - March, 2013
October 2011
INSIDE THIS EDITION Field trip report from the Belmont Insect Beds... and Jenolan Caves... Microfossil extraction techniques... Conodonts revealed...
The Fossil Club NSW
October 2011!
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THE FOSSIL CLUB OF NEW SOUTH WALES. Inc.
April are financial until 30th June the same year - fee is half of the Single or Family rate.
THE CLUB OFFICERS AND COMMITTEE 2010-2011
Insurance payments are payable from July through to June each year. New members will need to renew their insurance each new financial year.
President: Gary Davies, (02) 9618-1254 Vice President: Jennie Hall Secretary: Albert Sequeira, secretaryfossilclub@yahoo.com.au Fossil Club of NSW Inc. C\- The Secretary, 2 Hugh Place, Kings Langley, NSW 2147 0402879266 Minute Secretary: Albert Sequeira
Payments made to: Fossil Club of NSW Inc., 9 Florence Ave, Denistone 2114 NSW
Front cover picture: The club at Jenolan Caves. Photo by D. Hindmarsh, 2013.
Treasurer: Carrie Wang, treasurerfossilclub@yahoo.com.au Newsletter Editor: James Strong, 0405 400 030, editorfossilclub@yahoo.com.au Public Officer: Albert (Albie) Gamble, (02) 9651-1920 Field Trip Coordinators: David & Diana Hindmarsh, (02) 4234-1468 or 0414 383 076 dhindy@bigpond.net.au Webmaster: Albert Sequeira, fossilclubnsw@yahoo.com.au Website Address: www.fossilclubnsw.org.au Sub Committee Members: Katherine Smith, Ron Williamson & Diana Hindmarsh
Meetings: For the latest information about Club/Social Meetings, please contact the Secretary for time and place.
Taxonomic Disclaimer: This publication is not deemed to be valid for taxonomic purposes.
Opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and are not necessarily those of the Fossil Club of NSW or its sponsors. Material presented in Fossil News may be copied for personal use or published for purpose, provided that any extracts are fully acknowledged. Where any material is credited to and/or copyright to another source, the original author must be contacted and permission gained.
Correspondence: To the Secretary - Albert Sequeira Newsletter material to the Editor editorfossilclub@yahoo.com.au Subscriptions: Fees are due for renewal 1st June each year. New members joining after 1st The Fossil Club NSW
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IN THIS ISSUE Belmont Insect Beds 3 Jenolan Caves 4 Trip Leader’s Ramblings 5 Microfossil Extraction 6 What Are Conodonts? 8 Word Search 10 Membership Renewal 11 Activities Bulletin 12
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BELMONT INSECT BEDS Upper Permian Field Trip Report Text by David Hindmarsh, Trip Leader Saturday 9th March 2013 One of the best attended field trips since I took over Trip Leader from Milton and Elvie Coffey. The Newcastle location suiting many travelling from the North Coast, South Coast and local areas. Twenty members signed in for the day, all meeting on time- just! at the nearby Shopping Centre car park. Having been given the location, and a mud map, Diana and I visited the location last year, and found good leaves of Glossopteris and a Horse Tail variety. We had walked to the site from the Shopping Centre, a fair distance up hill.
Photo: the group at Belmont Arriving there on Friday 8th afternoon, we spent some time consulting road maps, then driving suburban roads seeking a more practical route for the number of cars expected, and in consideration of people’s physical limits, especially carrying buckets and bags of tools, food and, hopefully, fossils. Parking on the side of a busy road was not an option. The Fossil Club NSW
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Photo: Glossopteris leaves
Photo: insect wing
Several defined and weathered tracks through the bush area gave the opportunity for locating suitable material to split, without the need to dig down the stony layering. The common material was a hard Chert, a fine grained grey colour, and in most cases, of brick size. Member John Riley gave an explanation of the possible events that lead to the forming of the beddings, and the layering of “Straw”; vegetation litter, whole leaves, dismembered insects pieces, and fresh water Crustaceans. The Insect bits and shells were small- tiny! While leaves were quickly found, John was the first to claim a Beetle, Doug a possible, then later Kevin and Doug scored wings, the last showing excellent detail in the veining, and John, possibly a fish fin!. For the first-timers, of whom there were nine attending, hopefully, they all took home something to start a collection. For them the day was a steep learning curve, regarding the “ hit and miss” luck of finding something good, as well as the suitability of different tools available, given the hardness of the rocks needing to be split. I personally would not go past the junky tool stalls at local markets, for hammers, cold chisels, bars, etc. Used, second hand, but made to last, and at a good price! The Fossil Club NSW
Diana and I stayed another hour after everyone had left, and did NOT find an insect! A special mention must be made to John, who over the day, was continually interrupted from his own endeavours, to identify other peoples finds. Thank you, John.
JENOLAN CAVES Field Trip Report Text by David Hindmarsh, Trip Leader Saturday 9th February, 2013 Believed to be first found by white people in the 1830’s, the caves were referred to as the “Fish River Caves”, then “Binda Caves” before being called the Jenolan Caves. The Jenolan Caves wilderness reserve covers an area of 2,416 hectares of Sclerophyll forest. The 300 plus recorded caves lie within a limestone band some 9km long by 300 metres wide. About twelve caves are normally open to the public. The caves are formed in limestone, with fossils indicating an age of about 430 million years. The horizontal layering has been lifted, tilted
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and folded. Latest testing indicates the caves at more than 340 million years- among the oldest caves world wide. In the caves, fantastic shapes of crystals, called “cave forms” or speleothems, are formed by slightly acidic water containing dissolved carbon dioxide seeping through the limestone, leaving deposits in the caves as crystal calcite; Stalagmites, stalactites, canopies, shawls, flowstones and helictites. The day: Fourteen members made their way to the caves, for our first field trip for 2013, meeting at the lower car park, fed and watered, to start at 10.30am. Ranger Ted had already found the first arrivals, and made himself known, this being the culmination of over a year of letters, phone calls and emails following a tip-off by member Jenny.
formally opened up before being enlarged by the underground streams. Horizontal bands of erosion on the walls indicated where the flowing river levels had been constant for long periods of time. As can be expected, the visual spectacle of the different forms of crystal growths were well recorded by the cameras present. After a deserved lunch break, those who stayed, joined in tours of other caves, in our case the Temple of Baal, even if it meant going underground to escape the daily thunderstorm! Beryl and Janette saw a total of 6 caves over 2 days. Information above taken from in part from the distributed “welcome to Jenolan caves’’ brochure, printed March 2012. For more information, or to visit: www.jenolancaves.org.au or call 1300 76 3311
TRIP LEADER’S RAMBLINGS Text by David Hindmarsh Photo: the group spelunking
Saturday 9th February, 2013
All assembled near the Rangers Office, where Ted gave us a briefing of the day’s activities, before leading our group in through the Grand Arch, and into the Diamond Cave, then part of the adjoining Imperial Cave, exiting again from the first- Diamond Cave. Ted took much effort to show us fossils; shells and stromatolites, in situ, usually along the roof of the caves, in parallel bands or layers, the whole plating having been rotated vertically! He was eager to put forward his theories on how the caves were
Visit to Jenolan Caves
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Living on the South Coast of the State, it was easier for us to travel to Goulburn, then North via Taralga to Oberon, staying at the Jenolan Caravan Park. Lunch time had us catch up to Peter and Corrie, travelling from Queanbeyan, at a river side rest area, out from Taralga. On arrival at Oberon and setting up camp we did a quick walk looking for “old things” but a
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threatening sky, rumbles and BIG spits of rain had us quickly back under cover. When selecting Oberon for a base for the weekend, our research indicated that the weekend of 9/10 February was Oberon’s annual “Highlands Steam & Vintage Fair”. We missed the Saturday events including the highly acclaimed street parade due to the Jenolan Caves visit. After leaving the Jenolan Caves location on Saturday, we drove to the impressive sandstone Kanangra Walls, for a photo shoot, before returning to a wet Oberon about 6pm, a second thunderstorm having just passed over!
and a short drive to the nearby water storage dam for a look see. The usual four pm thunderstorm had us in the van, but the 6.30pm T/S while we were at the RSL Club came with much wind and a heavy dump of rain. A cooler Monday had us do a last walk of the main street of Oberon, before heading South to home, calling in to the Forestry office at Black Springs for info on access to their quarries and free camping areas. A great weekend, with great company.
MICROFOSSIL EXTRACTION Text by James Strong, editor A significant part of my lab work for my thesis has involved extracting microfossils from limestone – and a number of club members have expressed an interest in hearing more about these techniques.
Photo: Kanangra Walls Sunday had us in the main street at 9am, then to the local sports ground for day two of their festival. Live steam displays and road steamers; vintage tractors, cars, trucks and bulldozers; stationary “ hit and miss” engines, many driving period machines; timber working displays as well as the usual market and craft stalls. That filled in until after 2pm! Then a trip to the information centre to get free fossicking “mud maps” of designated fossicking locations near Oberon, Black Springs and the Abercrombie River, most of these for Quartz Crystal, Sapphire, Gold and Zircon. Then to the Military Museum for a quick look as near closing time, The Fossil Club NSW
There are two steps to this work: dissolving the limestone away with acid (but not the fossils!) and then separating the fossils out of the resulting residue with sodium polytungstate. Step 1: Acid leaching The science of liberating non-calcareous fossils from limestone consists in preparing an acid solution that is strong enough to dissolve limestone but not so strong as to eat away the target fossils. This article will focus on conodonts (microfossils made up of the phosphatic mineral apatite), but essentially the same process can be used to etch out larger phosphatic fossils like teeth and fish skeletons, or silicified fossils – those shells or corals whose calcium minerals have been replaced by
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silica. Calcareous fossils – most brachiopods, molluscs, echinoderms, corals, etc – that have not been silicified will dissolve away with the limestone. Typically a solution of 10% acetic acid is used. This is the same acid that gives vinegar its bite but is considerably concentrated. A number of safety (and environmental) precautions must be followed, so it goes without saying that this sort of work should not be attempted at home. First, the samples of limestone are given a good scrub to remove any caked-on dirt, vegetation, lichens, etc and then they are placed in a sieve or basket that sits in a larger tub. The tub is carefully labeled to identity the sample – it is important not to confuse your samples, as the fauna locked within a block of limestone can be quite different from that in a block collected only a short distance up or down the same stratigraphic column. The tub is then filled with the acid solution and covered to prevent evaporation; it is then placed in a wellventilated cabinet and left for a week or so. As the limestone slowly dissolves the fossils fall through the perforations in the sieve or basket to collect in the sludge at the bottom of the tub. At the end of the week the basket is pulled out of the tub and will contain chunks of whatever portion of the limestone that has not yet dissolved. These are set aside, and then the top portion of the liquid in the tub is carefully decanted into a bucket and set aside. Then the remainder of the liquid plus the sludge (containing the fossils) is poured into a second bucket. The basket with limestone is returned to the now empty tub, and the liquid in the first bucket is poured into the tub to roughly a fifth of the depth of the tub. This liquid will “buffer” the next round of dissolution – it contains a mix of ions that the acid dissolved in the first round that will help protect the phosphatic fossils by The Fossil Club NSW
preferentially buffering them from the acid in the next round. That is, the solution contains ions from both the phosphatic and calcareous material in the limestone, and while the acid attacks both, it “prefers” the calcareous material so the phosphatic ions already in solution help protect the fossils still in the limestone. (I apologise for that poor paraphrase!) Then the tub is topped up with fresh acid solution, covered, and tucked back in the cabinet for another week. This process is repeated weekly until the limestone is completely dissolved. Depending on the size of the sample, it can take more than a month.
Photo: Preparing the samples for their second acid bath The contents of the other bucket – with the fossil-laden sludge – is poured through a coarse sieve into another bucket to screen out larger bits of un-dissolved limestone and debris (or larger fossils, which may be interesting in their own right). The finer sludge is allowed to settle in the bucket, and several rounds of gentle washing with tap water and settling in the bucket follows to remove the remaining acid (and hopefully the finer mud and clay). The water from all of this washing must be treated to neutralize all traces of acid – it is very damaging to aquatic life in our streams – and in the case of Macquarie University’s acid leaching facility, the water going down the drains in the lab is
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treated by a rather sophisticated automated system before being released to the sewer system. Finally, the residue is rinsed into a small aluminum tin and topped up with distilled water once or twice to remove any lingering ions and then its placed in an oven at low temperature to dry out. In the end you are left with a few grams of powder or grit for every sample of limestone.
paintbrush under a microscope. In my thesis work several kilograms of limestone have produced (so far!) perhaps three dozen conodonts, each smaller than the head of a pin. In a later issue of this newsletter I’ll share my SEM (scanning electron microscope) experience working with my conodonts from Yass.
Step 2: Separation It would take an army of Lilliputians countless hours to separate the conodonts in the residue from the sand and other mineral grains – fortunately, there is a shortcut that exploits differential density (technically, specific gravity). The SG of conodonts typically falls between 2.9 and 3.2. A solution of sodium polytungstate is prepared that has a SG of 2.75. A quartz crystal (with a SG less than 2.75) dropped into this solution floats – but the conodonts sink. The residue from Step 1 is gently stirred into a beaker of this solution; the sand, etc, floats to the top while the conodonts and other “heavier” bits sink. The top layer is poured into one filter (with filter paper) and rinsed with distilled water; the bottom layer is poured into another. Both sets of filter papers are dried; the lighter residue is examined for a variety of microfossils (sponge spicules, ostracods, etc) while the heavier residue will contain the conodonts. Sodium polytungstate is very expensive, so the used solution is filtered again with very fine filter paper to remove any suspended mud particles, etc, and then decanted into bowls under heat lamps to evaporate the excess water to return the solution to the desired concentration, ready for reuse. The conodonts are picked out from the final heavy residue by hand using a damp, very fine The Fossil Club NSW
Photo: filtering the fossils out of the sodium polytungstate solution
WHAT ARE CONODONTS? Text by James Strong, editor Scientists spent more than century vigorously debating this very question! Conodonts are teeth-like microfossils known from the Late
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Cambrian to the Late Triassic (twice as long as the dinosaurs), peaking in diversity in the Ordovician. Through the years they have been assigned to marine creatures as varied as annelid worms, chaetognaths (arrow worms), arthropods, molluscs, fish - and even plants! Nowadays they are assigned to our own Phylum Chordata as primitive, jawless craniate vertebrates distantly related to hagfish. It was the discovery of an articulated 'conodont animal' in the Carboniferous rocks of Scotland and in the Ordovician of South Africa that firmed up this assignment. In life they looked vaguely like tiny freeswimming eels, typically one to a few centimetres in size (but a giant species reached 40 cm). They lived in all the oceans, from arctic to tropical seas and from near-shore to deepocean, and likely filled a number of niches. They were extraordinarily successful and in places their remains are very numerous; more than 1500 species have been described. Conodonts – the fossil elements, not the whole animals – are usually less than 1 mm, but the largest reach 3 mm. They are composed of apatite (calcium phosphate, similar to the bones and tooth enamel of higher vertebrates) – and these dental elements were the only hard parts the conodont animal possessed. The elements vary from simple cone shapes (coniform) to bars (ramiform) to plates (pectiniform). In life, several of these elements with different shapes were arrayed in a bilaterally symmetrical (and often very complex) muscular feeding apparatus in the head region of the animal that is very unlike the jaws of any living animal. Because a single conodont animal possessed several different conodont elements of different shapes, and because these elements are very rarely found in their life arrangements and associations, each conodont element is given its own species name. A rough analogy: Imagine that human teeth were preserved in the fossil record – but without a skull and scattered (not in The Fossil Club NSW
their usual association in the jaw). Palaeontologists would give each distinct tooth shape (bicuspid, molar, etc) its own species name. Now imagine that there were hundreds of human species, each with several different tooth shapes! This is the state of affairs with conodonts. Form species is the term given to species designations for a part of an animal or plant when the whole is unknown (or until it is known). These fossils are intriguing in their own right – but also quite useful. Their diversity and rapid evolution (and well-known species durations or horizons) make them very handy markers in (bio)stratigraphy for marking the boundaries of different geological time periods. My own work with conodonts from Yass will (in principle) allow me to lock down the precise interval in the Silurian my samples come from. Conodonts are also very useful in reconstructing oceanography and climate. And most famously, conodonts have played a vital role in oil exploration: their colour (CAI – Color Alteration Index) is an indication of the thermal history of their host sedimentary rock – and by extension, the suitability of that rock for hydrocarbon exploration.
Photo: conodonts on the head of a pin
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WORD SEARCH
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11 The Fossil Club Of New South Wales Inc. Membership Renewal 2012-2013
(Please use the New Membership Application form if you are going to change any of your detail) The Treasurer, 9 Florence Ave. Denistone N.S.W. 2114 - Phone: 0433891318, Email: treasurerfossilclub@yahoo.com.au
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Name
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MEMBERSHIP $30 or $25 for electronic magazine FAMILIES $40 or $35 for electronic magazine PLUS COMPULSORY personal injury insurance for every member and child - $3.50 per person per year EXTRA postage if you live in NZ/Pacific - AUD$20.00, USA - AUD$30.00 TOTAL
$ $ $ $ $
Method of Payment: EFT deposit Payable to: The Fossil Club of NSW BSB: 032 086 Account No.: 380 185 Branch: Westpac Lindfield EFT – to the above BSB and Account No. with our Reference: Mship and your initial & surname (e.g. Mship J Smith). Tick the EFT deposit box then scan the Application Form and email it or print and mail the form to the Treasurer above. If you require a receipt, please provide a stamped, self-addressed envelope with your application.
I hereby renew my membership for The Fossil Club of New South Wales Inc. In the event of my admission as a member, I agree to be bound by the Rules of the Club and its Code of Ethics as registered under the Associations Incorporation Act, 1984 as amended.
SIGNATURE ...............................................................................................
The Fossil Club of New South Wales Inc.
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ACTIVITIES BULLETIN April 2013 th
May 19 (Sunday)
CLUB GENERAL MEETING and SOCIAL DAY
10.30 am - 2.30pm Illawarra Lapidary Club rooms- 51 Meadow St. Tarrawanna, North Wollongong This will be another interesting day. Guest speaker- Robert Beattie: Talbragar fossils, including insects. Robert is a science teacher and has been involved with the Talbragar site for many years through the Australian Museum, Sydney. He has travelled to China, etc. many times identifying insect fossils. Following Robert’s talk, there will be the usual BBQ and socialising. Also, show and tell, fossil identification, and raffle of fossils from the Club’s stash. Please advise the Secretary (secretaryfossilclub@yahoo.com.au or 0402 879 266) if you require meat at a small charge, and bring a plate of salad and/or dessert to share. th
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May 18 - 19
9am-5pm (Saturday) 9am-3pm (Sunday) th
May 26 (Sunday)
9AM – 2PM
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June 1 – 2
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* 23 ANNUAL LISMORE GEMFEST Lismore Showground Hand-crafted jewellery, gemstones, minerals, healing crystals, fossils and meteorites. “Something of interest for all ages”. Adults $5, children $1. * ILLAWARRA LAPIDARY CLUB OPEN DAY 51 Meadow Street, Tarrawanna, North Wollongong Tables selling jewellery, minerals and fossils Cancer Council Biggest Morning Tea. Sausage sandwiches available for lunch. * CANBERRA LAPIDARY CLUB WINTER GEMCRAFT & MINERAL SHOW Parkes Room, Exhibition Park in Canberra See www.canberralapidary.org.au for details
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June 8 -10 (Queen’s Birthday)
Field Trip – NYMBOIDA and TAMWORTH Dicroidium flora fossils, corals and Lepidodendron plant fossils. Contact David or Diana Hindmarsh (dhindy@bigpond,net.au or 02 4234 1468 or 0414 383 076) at least one week before departure to advise participation and receive directions. Check email and/or phone before departure to check trip has not been cancelled due to weather or site conditions.
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June 15 - 16 July 21
* HAWKESBURY VALLEY LAPIDARY CLUB GEM AND MINERAL SHOW Windsor Function Centre
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HOW TO IDENTIFY FOSSILS COURSE Parramatta-Holroyd Lapidary Club rooms, 73 Fullagar Road, Wentworthville This course will be conducted by Emanuel Vidal from the Gem & Lapidary Council and is free. Bring pen and paper to take notes and/or USB stick to copy some of the web sites mentioned. Please advise the Secretary (secretaryfossilclub@yahoo.com.au or 0402 879 266) at least one week in advance, of your intention to attend.
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October 5 -7 (Labour Day)
Field Trip – GUNNEDAH and ABERDEEN, etc. Diprotodon bones, Trilobites, shells, crinoids, etc.
To be advised Expedition – CENTRAL WEST NSW Age of Fishes Museum, Canowindra; Cottons Hill Quarry, Forbes (Trilobites); possibly Fossil Hill and two other closed quarries (fish). This expedition has been postponed pending finalisation of details. *This is not a Fossil Club activity. Information only for members who may wish to attend. Annual fees were due by 30 June 2012 for the 2012-2013 year. Financial members only are eligible to attend the above activities, except for non-Fossil Club activities. Membership Application/Renewal form is available at the website www.fossilclubnsw.org.au Personal Accident insurance is compulsory for all members attending field trips, except those over 80. The annual cost is $3.50 per member and must be paid before registering for the first field trip. If you are a member of another lapidary, gem or mineral club and pay insurance to that club, you will already be covered. Fossil Club of New South Wales Inc.
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