Teeth Questions

[Ryan Y]

Here's an example.
I was curious if anyone had any experience in determining the difference between the color of these teeth? I figured it was just the age.

Any other ideas?
I also found this fossil earlier in 2010 and figured it was part of a fish.

 

[AeroMike]

The color is from what is in the ground at the time of fossilization. I know of a spot that produces red/orange teeth and about a 1/4 mile away the teeth are jet black.

That bone of a last bone of the fish, back by the tail. There is a name for it but my simple mind cannot think of it at the moment.

 

[james croft]

The darker teeeth came from sharks that did not floss.

 

[Ryan Y]

Thanks, I thought it might have been a fish tail.

The teeth, they were all found in the same location. I knew the sediment in which they fossilized had something to do with it.

 

[Lee Taylor]

I have always heard the same as Mike. The color is created by the color of the materials in the soil that leach into the tooth over long periods of time.

Love that tooth on the far right by the way.

I have teeth and frags that look EXACTLY (from a color perspective) like the ones in your photo. Both the gray AND the brown

I found them in SC. I don't get that.

ps: Mike, I found us a new virgin land site today. Freshly turned soil. Will take a closer look tomorrow and see what the soil looks like up close. Also found a path to the mapped site I sent you. The one that I said was inaccessible. Planning to check that one out tomorrow also. Will let you know

I took another photo of this dumb old fossilized scallop I found last summer. Ryan you should be on the look out for ledges and limestone beds offshore NC. My suspicion is the same ledges are offshore both states. They are three long parallel ledges.

 

[Ryan Y]

Thanks Lee. Yea, tons of ledges. Its hard to go three miles without crossing one. I usually dont get to invoved looking at the ledge itself. Im either shooting or looking out away from them in the debris fields. I know of some ledges really close in though that Ill start out with for the time being.

what was the name of the formation that you referenced in another post?

 

[SurferRyan]

I've read in many places that the color of the tooth is most definitely determined by the soil that the teeth have been laying in for millions of years.

It's crazy though that you can find 3 red teeth all within 2ft of eachother, and then 4ft away, the teeth are all tan or grey. It's hard to believe that there is such a difference in sand from such small distances. Has anyone else noticed this as well?

I dive off Wilmington, NC for megs about ten 3-tank trips per year, depending on the weather. If I find 50 teeth in a dive, usually they are of all different colors, all from the same ledge system.

-Ryan

 

[Lee Taylor]

what was the name of the formation that you referenced in another post?

It is called the Chandler Bridge Formation. It is pretty significant in the fossil world. You will not have a hard time finding it on the internet. The map in the link gives the impression that it goes offshore in NC. It of course has what they call overburden. The overburden is what we need to get through to get to the fossils. I estimate the overburden in Charleston to be 5 to 30 feet depending on location.

You will hear a lot about the Yorktown Formation in NC. Worth looking into if you like fossiling.

Just ran across an Edisto River SC fossil site. Click on "Holly Ridge, South Carolina, US" for specific location.

I went to visit a virgin Charleston SC fossil land site today. Just went to have a casual look. Picked up a baby Angustiden tooth within minutes after arriving. It was laying totally exposed. Not buried in any way. Site looks VERY promising. Only stayed 15 minutes. Will definitely spend some time at this site.

 

[AeroMike]

Nice Lee, I love it when you stroll up on a site and it produces right away. I had a creek I visited last year produce a nice butter yellow angy about 2" within the first minute and then nothing decent for the next hour.

 

[Lee Taylor]

Mike... here is something you may be interested in. I want to run the Edisto River when warm weather gets here. Not sure how the trip will pan out at the moment. I am starting to target a particular area.

I have a 140hp Yamaha jetski. Thinking about towing something like an inflatable or jon boat behind the ski. The inflatable (or jon) can be used for whatever (people, tools, scuba gear)

Years ago I floated down a portion of the Edisto river. Some of the people in our party were not of the "fossil" mentality and had no interest in stopping or hunting fossils. SO, the trip was a bust in that regard. I did visually note some hard "marl" in some areas. I found the Edisto to be a VERY user friendly river. It had a warm light-brown sandy bottom. I know this because we frequently got off our floats and stood in the middle of the river (no debris on the bottom. 4-5 feet deep in the area where we were) People that had back woods country homes along the river were in the river swimming and playing that day.