Kömp's Fossils and Minerals

Is Your Amber Real? How To Identify Faux Amber From Real Amber      Before we can talk about identifying  real and fake amber,  we have to  know what amber is in the first place. Amber is fossilized tree resin, which became a fossil after millions of years. Amber can come in  different colors and shades, and some even have some inclusions.  My piece of amber with insect inclusions Inclusions in amber are usually referred to as different animals and insects inside the piece. If you look at the attached photo, you can make out some dark spots. Those dark spots are different small insects such as mosquitos and spiders that were  trapped in the amber, and stayed preserved inside. People have found pieces of amber with animals ranging from snakes to frogs. Those pieces are extremely expensive. If you were to spend a ton on a piece of amber with an animal inclusion, you'd want it to be real, right? Identifying Real Amber From Faux Amber      So, you bought a piece of amber, and don't

  Mystery Mineral           Years ago, my family and I went to a local fossil and mineral store.  I frequent this store every month and buy a couple minerals and fossils each time, as they have new items every time I go.  This store has many different attractions.  One of which was a "Gold Dig", where you panned for small pieces of Pyrite, and another which was a "mine your own minerals" activity where you sift through sand/gravel to find different minerals such as Quartz, Calcite, Fluorites, Agates, and an assortment of different tumbled stones.  I've held onto these minerals for a couple years, and a few months back I decided to look at the mineral dust that collected at the bottom of the plastic bucket under a microscope.       One peculiar mineral I discovered at the bottom was this.   Sorry for the low quality, this photo was taken on my phone through my microscope.  Since I  took the photo, I have a better digital microscope. I tried to find another myster

The Tiktaalik      The Tiktaalik was a late Devonian era fish that had lungs, a neck that could move, a tetrapod type ribcage, along with fins, scales, and gills. Since the Tiktaalik has components from both land and water animals, this would make it a transitional fossil. People think that the Tiktaalik probably crawled in the sand and muck of shallow freshwater habitats such as swamps, ponds, and lakes. But, people also think that they used their leg-like fins to crawl on land.  The name 'Tiktaalik roseae' comes from a benefactor of the research that helped find Tiktaalik fossils in a part Northern Canada back in 2004. The Tiktaalik finds were made up of some nearly complete fossilized skeletons, and a couple dozen partial skeletons. A partial Tiktaalik skeleton     Tiktaalik's were usually about 3 to 10 feet in length, and were probably a predator in their habitats, most likely eating fish and small arthropods. The Tiktaaliks were most likely related to another species c

  The Pachytheca A Pachytheca from Gileppe, Belgium Diameter - 2 mm Pachytheca is hypothesized to be a genus of possible early land plants. Pachytheca lived from the Silurian to the middle Devonian era. The specimens that have been discovered have measured from 1 mm to 6mm in diameter, and have a special internal structure. Pachytheca are spherical and have two different areas. The inner area called the medulla consists of tightly packed brittle tubes. The outer area, dubbed the "bark", consists of radially arranged stronger tubes.  The internal structure of a Pachytheca The Pachytheca was named by a man called J. D. Hooker in 1853. When first discovered, they were thought to be seed-like objects or a part of a fishes jaw. In 1889, J. D. took the spheres for colonies of algae, and are now classified as a Nematophyte, which is a group of puzzling organisms. Nematophytes are a group of land organisms that include plants and algae. They are only known in the fossil record as exi

The Orthoceras     The Orthoceras were a very abundant nautiloid cephalopod who lived about 400 million years ago. Orthoceras fossils can be found worldwide, but most commonly in Sweden and the Baltic States. The name "Orthoceras" means "Straight Horn", which is referring to the cephalopod's long shell. The shell is all that is preserved of the ancient cephalopod.  Orthoceras Anatomy A pack of Orthoceras      Orthoceras were a soft body cephalopod who sported a large open-ended shell. The line, or tube along the back of Orthoceras is the siphuncle. The siphuncle acted as a tube that ran to a siphon, which helped propel the Orthoceras through the water. These cephalopods also had an ancient swim bladder called a septa. Septa were round air chambers that helped an Orthoceras to ascend and descend in the water. Some Orthoceras could reach up to 14 feet! The largest known pair of Orthoceras fossils      All living relatives of the Orthoceras (Nautiloids, octopi, cut