Specimen 68593 – myFOSSIL

Dominik Niehaus posted a new specimen. 3 years, 4 months ago

3 years, 4 months ago

3 years, 4 months ago

Dominik Niehaus has contributed specimen mFeM 68593 to myFOSSIL!
- Sam Ocon replied 3 years, 4 months ago
  
  Hi @Dominik-Niehaus! Could you upload a closer photo of the texture on the fossil? That would be useful in double checking the ID! Also, I’m going to tag in myFOSSIL’s resident paleobotanist, @mackenzie-smith.
- Dominik Niehaus replied 3 years, 4 months ago
  
  @samantha-ocon I’ve done my best, hope it helps
- Sam Ocon replied 3 years, 4 months ago
  
  That’s perfect, @Dominik-Niehaus! Thank you! I’m interested to see what MacKenzie says.
- MacKenzie Smith replied 3 years, 4 months ago
  
  Hi @dominik-niehaus and @samantha-ocon. This is Sigillaria, a club moss tree (scale tree). Nice specimen.
- MacKenzie Smith replied 3 years, 4 months ago
  
  @dominik-niehaus and @samantha-ocon. Nevermind! It looks like you already have the ID.
- Sam Ocon replied 3 years, 4 months ago
  
  Hi @Dominik-Niehaus, can you update the stratigraphic info? Looking at macrostrat, it doesn’t seem to have a formation/unit name near Essen. Googling shows the Essen Formation as being Carboniferous. Do you have any more info? If not, I can help you look for more info.
- Dominik Niehaus replied 3 years, 4 months ago
  
  @samantha-ocon given that it was collected in an active coal mine, I doubt it can be placed any more precisely than that – I can’t even ask my grandfather if he happens to know how deep they were digging at the time, he passed away years ago
- Sam Ocon replied 3 years, 4 months ago
  
  That’s okay, @dominik-niehaus. I’ll go ahead and see what I can find; after some preliminary googling, it seems that there was a large coal mine around Essen called the Zollverein.
- Dominik Niehaus replied 3 years, 4 months ago
  
  That’s correct, though I think he was in one of the shafts adjacent to it. That whole area is basically hollowed out, I’ve heard somewhere that it’s a real issue because the ground keeps settling as the old mine shafts collapse, damaging buildings and such. Zollverein was the largest, though, and has been turned into a cultural heritage site since.

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