Fossils

Long wave UV

Trochacteon Acteonella: Russbach, Salzburg, Austria.

Cross section. Trochacteon Acteonella is a snail from the Early Cretaceous. The

species is now extinct. During fossilization, the animal has decomposed in its own

shell and has been replaced by calcite. The organic residues have been enclosed in

the mineral content. They are the source of a bright white fluorescence and a greenish

phosphorescence

Toucasia carinata: Lagnes, Luberon, Provence, France.

129.4-125 Ma, Barrémien (Lower-Cretaceous).

The inside of the shell is padded with nicely crystallized calcite. This fluoresces white under

all UV wavelengths. The material of the shell itself is completely replaced by silica. This

fluoresces relatively strong yellow, as many quartz forms of fossil origin do.

Agatized coral:

Withlacoochee river bed, Florida, USA.

Hollow coral "pipes" are converted to quartz,

var. agate. The pictures show the two halves

of a sawn-in-halve coral branch.

Click on the picture for zooming and

fluorescence.

The pictures show the specimen under resp.

normal light, fluorescence under long wave

UV, fluorescence under short and medium

wave UV.

The white fluorescence is caused by organic

matter, the green one by a little uranyl, which

always loves quartz varieties to nest in.

Belemnites: South Limburg, Belgium.

Belemnites are part of the inner skeleton of extinct 10-armed squid species. More

specifically the "rostrum". This silicified fossil fluoresces orange in long wave UV, like

much fossil quartz does.

Fossilized seabed (aragonite): Millau, Aveyron, Midi-Pyrénées, France

This polished slab is a cross-section of a piece of seabed from millions of years ago. The

remnants of small sea creatures sink to the bottom and are deposited into a pattern that

strongly reminds of the annual rings of trees. The calcium carbonate in these residues is

converted to aragonite. Such pieces contain a lot of information about climate and seasons,

but possibly also volcanic dust from during this deposition.

Ammonite: Mindanao, Philippines

Ammonites are an extinct subclass of squids (Cephalopoda). They were marine

animals that were present in large numbers worldwide in the late Paleozoic and

throughout the Mesozoic. They are found as fossils.

The specimen shown is perhaps the worst possible example of how to prepare such a

fossil. The whole shell has been removed so that only the mineral content and the

partitions of the shell remain. The red and orange fluorescence probably come from

manganese that behaves as an activator in calcite. It is quite logical to find manganese

because the ocean floor around the Philippines is dotted with manganese nodules.

Long wave UV

Short wave UV

Photo & Collection: Doug Bank Click on the photos to zoom

Agatized Coral: Tampa Bay area, Florida, U.S.A.

A real fossil coral of 38-25 million years old. The orange fluorescence is not easy to

explain. Sometimes porphyrine is found in such corals and shells, as biological pigment

and remnants of the metabolism of the disappeared organisms. It absorbs UV and blue

light around 410 nm and then fluoresces orange. It is a possibility but by no means

certain. The green and light blue emissions may come from a little uranyl that came

with the silica gel that filled the hollow coral stalks. Another explanation could be that a

little green fluorescent protein (GFP) has survived the test of time. This protein

absorbs UV and ensures that the coral does not burn through too much UV radiation.

Rood koraal, fluorescentie in korte golf UV.

Rood koraal, Alaska, fosforescentie na belichten met korte golf UV.

Levend koraal fluorescerend in UV in het Maui Ocean Center, Maui, Hawaii, USA

Click on the photos too zoom

Photos and collection: Doug Bank,
Photo Ocean Center Maui: Axel Emmermann

Red Coral: Aleutian Islands, Alaska, United States of America

Technically speaking, this is not a fossil. The corals are still growing around the

Aleutian Islands, an archipelago that belongs to Alaska. The green emission is caused

by green fluorescent protein (GFP). This protein absorbs UV and is as such a natural

protection against an overdose of ultraviolet radiation that would be lethal for the coral.

Living corals mostly fluoresce strong green when exposed to UV or blue light. Coral

animals does not make these proteins themselves. This is done by algae

(Zooxanthellae) that live in the tissue of the coral animals. This symbiosis allows the

coral to receive a lot of light to grow without burning. The last of the four photos shows a

living coral display under UV-light at the Maui Ocean Center, Wailuku, Maui, Hawaii,