(LINKS TO PAST FOSSIL FRIDAYS)
Community College (LRCCD)
Geology & Earth Science Instructor: Arthur Reed, P.G.
Happy Fossil Friday!
Friday February 12, 2021
Scaphites
equalis coverhamensis
This
little shell belongs to Scaphites equalis coverhamensis, a Cretaceous ammonite
that was widespread. This sample was
found in Port Awanui, Raukumara Peninsula, New Zealand.
This
specimen is 103.3 - 95.2 million years old and is part of an assemblage of
methane-seep fauna. It is the first record of Cretaceous seep deposits from the
Southern Hemisphere.
While
seep fauna are geographically widespread throughout
the oceans, they are largely restricted to chemical-rich environments created
by methane seeps. They live in symbiosis with bacteria which use seep chemical
compounds as their energy source. The scale bar is 1 cm.
NOTE:
Methane seeps have recently been in the news.
Methane seeps have been a natural part of Earth’s environment at least
since the Mesozoic.
Adapted from GNS Science