Coral Reef in the Sky EarthCache
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An interesting rock formation that I discovered during a hike turns out to be the remains of a fossilized coral reef.
This earth cache site will show you some interesting Paleozoic fossils at an interesting place.
Fossils (from Latin fossus, literally "having been dug up") are the preserved remains or traces of animals, plants, and other organisms from the remote past. The totality of fossils, both discovered and undiscovered, and their placement in fossiliferous (fossil-containing) rock formations and sedimentary layers (strata) is known as the fossil record. The study of fossils across geological time, how they were formed, and the evolutionary relationships between taxa (phylogeny) are some of the most important functions of the science of paleontology. Such a preserved specimen is called a "fossil" if it is older than some minimum age, most often the arbitrary date of 10,000 years ago.
Hence, fossils range in age from the youngest at the start of the Holocene Epoch to the oldest from the Archaean Eon several billion years old. The observations that certain fossils were associated with certain rock strata led early geologists to recognize a geological timescale in the 19th century. The development of radiometric dating techniques in the early 20th century allowed geologists to determine the numerical or "absolute" age of the various strata and thereby the included fossils.
Fossils vary in size from microscopic, such as single bacterial cells only one micrometer in diameter, to gigantic, such as dinosaurs and trees many meters long and weighing many tons. A fossil normally preserves only a portion of the deceased organism, usually that portion that was partially mineralized during life, such as the bones and teeth of vertebrates, or the chitinous or calcareous exoskeletons of invertebrates
Fossilization is rare, because most living things tend to decompose relatively quickly after death. For an organism to be fossilized, the remains normally need to be covered by sediment as soon as possible. There are exceptions, such as if an organism becomes frozen.
The question is what kind of fossils are these?
These appear to be Euphyllia, a type of large polyped stony coral. These corals still live today in the Indo-Pacific region of the oceans. Euphyllia sp. have calcareous bases with fleshy polyps at the tops. The fossils appear to be the calcareous bases only. There must have been a large colony of them here stretching along the ridge for hundreds of feet.
Requirements for this earth cache:
1. Take a picture of yourself at the site and post on this page within 24 hours of logging the cache or your post will be deleted.
Email me the answers for the following questions.
2. How big are each of the individual coral skeletons?
3. How did the coral reef get this high up?
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