Kömp's Fossils and Minerals

  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 pho...

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 ...

  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...

What Are Enhydros? An Agate Enhydro From Brazil      Enhydros are minerals with liquid water trapped inside of them. Enhydros are most commonly made of agate or quartz. Usually, quartz "enhydros" are actually called "Fluid Inclusions". Seeing as though that is what they are, that is what we should call them. Geodes with water inside are enhydros.  An easy way to picture an enhydro is by imagining a geode with water trapped inside the mineral instead of air. Enhydros are very common, with many on the market, ranging from 15 dollars to more than 1500 dollars.  How Are Enhydros Formed?      Enhydros are minerals that form around small or large bodies of water. Whilst forming, the mineral's walls build up around the water and end up encasing it in the mineral, whether it be agate, quartz, or any other mineral. Often times in quartz fluid inclusions, you can spot a tiny air bubble. Quartz fluid inclusions with moving bubbles are often more valuable, wh...

                                                                                  What Was The Tully Monster? An artist's render of what a Tully Monster could've looked like      The "Tullimonstrum gregarium", better known as the Tully Monster, was an ancient Pennsylvanian era creature that had a long proboscis and handlebar-esque eye stalks. This mouth had two pincers at the end and the actual mouth part where the food would travel down. The Tully Monster is thought to be related to the common day Lamprey. Both the Tully Monster and the Lamprey have similar "gills", which are little holes in the side of their bodies. Lampreys with their "hole gills".                   ...

What Were Knightas? The Knightia was an Eocene era fish from what is now the Green River Formation in Wyoming, USA. Knightias are most closely related to the common day Herring has an abundance of fossils. Large amounts of these fossils can be found in just a square yard of the fossiliferous rock they were fossilized in, which is known as Limestone.  An artist's reconstruction of what a Knightia may have looked like Predators and Prey Knightias were very important in the food chain, usually being eaten by different animals such as birds, snakes, and other large fish. Knightias usually ate arthropods, which were like small crustaceans, algae, and sometimes baby fish if they could fit one in their mouth.  A Knightia with a smaller fish in its mouth Anatomy Knightias belong to the same family as sardines and herrings. They had rows of dorsal and ventral scutes that ran from the back of the head to the medial fins. Knightias had heavy scales and small teeth. T...