Thursday, July 11, 2013

Large fossil oyster from Florida

About five years ago I spent some time in the Deltona-Daytona Beach area of Florida for a project. At one site I noticed that they were using sand filled with fossils as fill and parking lot stabilizer. Apparently this is very common in Florida but my fossil meter was going nuts and I grabbed this large oyster from one of the  piles.

Right valve (this would have faced the water more)


Left valve (this would have faced the sediment more)

Anterior showing how the two halves connected. The left valve is on the bottom.

Ventral profile

Here I flipped the fossil upside down so now the left valve is on top. Look at all the shell layers!


Another cool thing about the fossil is that the shell halves are filled with a sand/shell mixture. The fact that the shell is articulated indicates a rapid burial. I wish I could have saved more of the shells but piles like the one I found this in are ephemeral at any work site and it was gone when I went back just a few days later.

I don't know what formation this came from as it was just a sand pile at a work site. I'd say the shell is from the Pliocene or Pleistocene epoch based on what little I know of Florida geology. Any ideas or suggestions are welcomed.

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