☆ 2-1/4 Inch - MAZON CREEK ASTEROPHYLLITES longifolius Fern Fossil ☆ RARE ☆331 for Sale

☆ 2-1/4 Inch - MAZON CREEK ASTEROPHYLLITES longifolius Fern Fossil ☆ RARE ☆331 For Sale

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☆ 2-1/4 Inch - MAZON CREEK ASTEROPHYLLITES longifolius Fern Fossil ☆ RARE ☆331:
$13.91

Specimen:ASTEROPHYLLITES Longifolius

Locality: MAZON CREEK, Illinois USA

The Mazon Creek fossils are found in the UpperCarboniferousFrancis Creek Shale;the type locality is theMazon River(or Mazon Creek), a tributary of the Illinois RivernearMorris,Grundy County, Illinois. The 25 to 30 meters of shalewere formedapproximately 309million years ago, during the Pennsylvanianperiod.The fossiliferousconcretionsare usually found within the thickestdeposits of Francis Creek. The concretions occur in localized deposits withinthe silty to sandymudstones, in the lower four meters of the formation.The paleoecosystem is believed to be a largeriver deltasystem,deposited by at least one majorriver systemflowing from thenortheast. The sediments are believed to derive from theAppalachianorogenyevents. The delta had atropicalclimate, a result ofthe area being within 10° northlatitudeof theequatorduringthePennsylvanian.

The remains of plants andanimals were rapidly buried by thesedimentdeposited in the deltaicsystem. Bacterialdecompositionof the remains producedcarbondioxidethat combined with dissolved iron from thegroundwater. Thisprocess formedsideritein the sediments surrounding the remains,forming detailed casts of their structure.Lithificationof thesediments formed protective nodules of ironstone around the now fossilizedremains. This mode of preservation is known asauthigenic mineralisation.

The Mazon Creek flora comprises over 400 species from at least130 genera. However, the true number of species is difficult todetermine.Mazon Creek flora includes:lycopsids, related to modernclub moss, with arborescent forms namedLepidophloios, Sigillaria andLepidodendron, and herbaceous forms calledLycopodites and Cormophyton;spenopsids like Calamitesa tree-likehorsetailrelative, withcommon foliage names ofAnnulariaandAsterophyllites, and avine-like form calledSphenophyllum; Pteridophyta as marattitalean treeferns and Filicales and Zygopteridales understory ferns, with common foliagenames ofPecopteris, Acitheca and Lobatopteris; pteridosperms, also knownas seed ferns, an extinct group of plants that grew both as trees and smallershrubs, with features like pinnated leaves similar to true ferns, butreproduced by seeds instead of spores; they had common foliage namesMariopteris,Alethopteris, Odontopteris, Neuropteris, Laveineopteris and Macroneuropteris;extinct gymnosperm Cordaites, believed to be closely related to and sharingmany features with modernconifers.

This is a wonderful 2 Piece Fossil with both Positive and Negative halves.

Photographed on a 1 INCH Scale board to show relative size - This is the fossil you will receive.

SEE PHOTOS FOR WHAT YOU WILL BE RECEIVING

☆☆See my other Mazon Creek Fossils☆☆

Specimens of fossils that are in my other sales include:

SPHENOPHYLUM, CALAMITES, ANNULARIA, PECOPTERIS,

PTYCHOCARPUS UNITUS, NEUROPTERIS, ALETHOPTERIS, ASTEROPHYLLITE

These 300 Million Year old fossils were self collected in the 1960\'s.

PLEASE SEE MY OTHER sales FOR A WIDE VARIETY OF CRYSTALS, MINERALS & FOSSILS

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