34-28 MYA Eagle Creek Formation ~ Fossilized Leaves ~ Lot of 2 Blocks

Description

Please visit my store for additional fossilized leaves, petrified wood and other material.
These are blocks of fossilized leaves from the Eagle Creek Formation, Oregon, preserved in a very fine, silty volcanic ash and mud, dated to approximately 38 - 24 million years ago.  The detail of preservation in these leaves is amazing, with minute cell structure visible in the carbon fossil, along with veining being visible in the hard imprint fossil.
While some people prefer isolated, whole-leaf specimens, these pieces tell a story. This is what they
probably
tell us:
1)  The volcanic eruption that caused the mud flow occurred during the summer or fall season, as evidenced by the fully formed leaves;
2)  The volcanic eruption occurred some distance away because the leaves were preserved whole instead of shredded or torn, as they would be if closer to a blast zone;
3)  The climate at the time was similar to the current climate in this area, as the leaves
appear
to be similar to maple, alder and possibly sweet gum but without more of the leaves exposed, definitive identification is unlikely;
4)  The leaves were probably preserved in a slow eddy in the stream, as evidenced by the layering seen in the pieces and by the fact that a couple of the leaf fossils are actually preserved in a curve, which would mean that the mud was extremely slow-moving and viscous. Given that the pieces were found by a
well-defined
current stream channel, the idea of them being deposited in a lake bed was eliminated;
5)  The smooth, almost straight sides seen on both pieces would have probably rested against rocks in the stream.
Both are beautiful pieces that would be a great addition to any collection.
Total weight is approximately 4 lbs.