FMF - Friends of Minerals Forum, discussion and message board

[Craig Hagstrom]

[Craig Hagstrom]

I had to up my photography game a bit. Got a new camera that can do better macro shots, and a lighted turntable to shoot small objects. This is a 3D model built from the blue silicone cast shown in my June 3 14:44 post above. This is about 13mm on its longest dimension.

The most interesting aspect is that the seed apparently had an individual sheath, in addition to the larger cap-shaped figure shown still embedded in the glass. This is analogous to the hull of a Spanish peanut enclosing two nuts, where the nuts then have individual reddish husks.

There is a jagged seam running vertically through this image, just left of object center. On first viewing, it might seem that part of the inner sheath is missing over about half of the nut. But the half seed shown was entirely enclosed in the cap figure, and the whole was buried in sand before the liquefaction event, so it’s reasonable to say the entire inner sheath must have also been present. I suggest this shows that some portions of the sheath were flat against the seed, and parts had separated from the seed and were flat against the outer cap.

This interpretation is supported by the transition at the top of what we might label a neck, about object center. From there up, the left sheath is raised and the right sheath is depressed. From there down, the left sheath is depressed and the right is raised. So I suggest this is a crack in the sheath, and the left and right sides were skewed centered about mid-image, where the separation between them disappears entirely. When the liquefaction event happened, some fluid ran between the sheath and the nut, and some flowed more between the sheath and the cap.

I submit that this specimen is a fossil plant part. I'm ready to hear alternate explanations.

I claim no special gift for this stuff. Everything I'm showing here can be duplicated by anyone who cares to go looking for it.