The Shale Game EarthCache
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The rock out cropping before you is the Conemaugh Group. At this location three different shale layers can be seen.
The red color layer at the top contains Iron that rusts when exposed to air, giving this layer the red color. The more organic-rich shale is black in color, the lighter shades of these contain limestone. This tells us that there was water here over 286-320 million years ago. The darker shade of black shale tells us that it was deep water. Here in this deep water there was life,and this life was recorded in the shale in three ways.
Imprisonment fossil; life or evidence of life is trapped in a oxygen deprived environment preventing decay. All or most of original material present.
Replacement fossil; When life or evidence of life is replaced molecular level. The microstructural features of the leavings are replaced by the strata around it. The structure is preserved despite total loss of original material.
Impression fossil; life or evidence of life is encased in strata then decays leaveing a void. This is called a mold. If the void is refilled with other strata it is called a cast.
Here is your chance Dear Cacher to be a paleontologist. Your payment for your research is a smiley!
What you need to do is to do 4 things.
1) Go to posted coords and pick through the pieces of shale on the edge of the asphalt parking lot till you find a fossil. There is no need to climb the hill side! Just keep looking you will find them.
2) Identify how life was preserved Impression,Replacement,or Imprisonment in the fossil you found.
3) Take a measurement of the fossil you found, and describe the type of life the fossil was.
4) E-mail your answers!
Pictures would be nice, but not necessary.
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Treasures
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