How Did These Seashell Fossils Get Here?

It's not uncommon to find the fossil imprints of seashells in the rocks lining streambeds here in upstate New York. Today we're looking deeper into this natural phenomenon and in the process discovered the huge importance fossils like these played in the creation of geology as a distinct scientific field.

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Sources / Further Reading

Music:

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

[Fullchristainname]

My dad is a geologist and growing up, he’d always emphasize how easy fossils were to find out in the wild (esp in places like gravel beds and driveways) and would encourage us to have collections of them. Good times.

[Looscannon]

There is a place in Northern Utah's Logan Canyon that has millions of fossils like the ones in this video. I am not kidding, literally every rock you pick up has fossils of shells/mussels/anemones and other under sea life. I once took a girl there on a date to look for some of the coolest ones to keep. To this day she still says that it was her all time favorite date. One of the fossil rocks we found has been sitting on display in our home for close to 7 years now. I like to joke that it was that specific date where she decided to say yes when I eventually asked her to marry me.

So yeah, I like these little fossils lol.

[Pertusetian]

Growing up along an Appalachian creek, you cannot help but find tons of these fossils. My grandpa told me this area was once underwater "A long time ago". To a child I cou;dn't reconcile those time scales, so I thought maybe 1000yrs.
Those hills are old, older than trees, older than the evolution of bones. Wonders never cease.
Excellent video. Your accents made me smile big time.

[mysteriousDSF]

You're not even a yt content creator right now but a fully fledged scientist and researcher. Your channel is totally special and fascinating. Even if the topic something I never knew I had interest for, your presentation piques my curiosity. I love every one of your videos.

[L_Train]

You can find rocks like that in Oklahoma, evidence that a huge portion of the modern USA used to be under the ocean.
The rocks are jam packed with remnants of ancient shells, trilobytes, crinoids and other plants and animals.
There could be dozens on a single rock. It gives an impression of just how abundant sea life was in that area and in general so long ago.

i really like how you find value in “old” books anyone of us could have in our parents house. books like those were where i’d go for answers or for my research in elementary school, pre-internet era. thanks for reminding me that, yes, everything is online, but we still have those amazing repositories there, unopened in years on the bookshelf!

[Dalynx]

I love how you can see the happiness in his face when speaking about It being the origins of geology as a science, keep It Up man

[randomotter]

Props to Atlas Pro for going out and finding his video in a stream. Also, plesiosaur tracks made in the seabed can be found in the Swiss alps. Pretty cool

[markiyanturyk]

My dad was a builder 10 years ago and when I was a kid he made a sand pit for me from the sand they dug out when building. When I was a kid I was obsessed with dinosaurs so I used to dig in the sand as a paleontologist and later I discovered that the rocks in that sand where full of these shells. I am now 16 and that was a part of why I got into biology. I am actually from Ukraine so this stuff is all around the world.

[damyenhockman]

I'd like to point out that since the Scottish Highlands and Atlas Mountains were part of the same range and hold the same fossils, the whole ordeal to figure this stuff out could have started hundreds of years earlier. The Roman Empire, for example, included the Atlas Mountains and part of the British isles. We were really that close.

[kimcringeson]

My first son was born last Friday, I named him Atlas Pro in honor of you and now we’re watching this video together at home 🥰🥰🥰

[semaj_]

I grew up in Kentucky right on the doorstep of the Appalachians. I found a ton of these sort of rocks and fossils as a kid and loved searching for the rocks and examining them, looking at all the little shells and other sorts of fossils embedded in there. Thanks for another great video!

[beamteammom]

I read an article awhile back that claimed that what is the Appalachian mountains now actually were the valleys between the much larger mountains that eroded away. Which explains why some of the mountains are made of sand instead of limestone. I’d love a video either explaining it or debunking it if it’s not true. Loved the video!

[RyuuNoSenshi]

definitely not 'just' a pangaea focussed video like I originally thought, but so much better! I especially loved the on-location footage at the stream and seeing you just pick up fossil rocks off the ground. It invokes a feeling of 'wow, what's stopping me from going out in nature where I live and find cool things like that?'' Makes the whole topic feel much more intimate and personal (not sure if those are the right words) than lets say videos about astronomy - though those are obviously awe-inspiring, loved and fascinating in their own way -
Those little reminders that you don't *have* to travel to some of the most famous (and often distant) distant geological features in order to learn about the earth's history and instead can find cool things in your own 'backyard' that then inspire a deep dive into geology... I don't know, it's comforting in a way?

Ramblings aside, congratulations on another amazing video! Beautifully shot and narrated as always and very informative! Can't wait for part two!
(And hopefully you'll be able to do even more on-location stuff in the future if the video's topic calls for it )

[HowDareYou_IamAGoose]

When I was a kid I found a big rock full of fossils. Shells, trilobites, unknown little critters, you name it. It was a very heavy rock (imagine a more or less 1ft diameter geode but with a flat bottom and more oval than round) with several shades of grey and browns. I loved that rock and I learned so much with it in the many years I had it. The flat part was kinda flaky and I could remove bits of it easily to show new fossils under. The top rounder part was hard af and there was bigger shells on it. When I got 18 we moved out and I think I left my rock there. It's been over 10 years and I am still sad about my missing rock. Wish I took it with me still to this day. I even contemplated the idea of going back and ask the (not so new now) owners of the house for my rock.

[alexfarnworth]

I was once climbing volcanoes with my dad in Lanzarote and at the top we found a seashell just in the dust behind a rock. It was either a bird that dropped it or it'd been there for a very long time but I thought that was cool :)

[xINVISIGOTHx]

16:48 omg my school used to have a full bookshelf full of that set of books and I loved them! I should buy them somewhere so I can read them again

[GmodPlusWoW]

Right as I turn 30, I'm spending my morning watching Caelan talk about sea-fossils in the mountains.

Life is good, and I haven't even had my coffee yet.

[Exoneos]

Start with seashell > explain how geology came to be > explain how all of that is related to Darwin too. I love this. The connecting the dote discussion is what I love the most. There is something satisfying in it ♥

[altanativeftw]

Can you keep doing more biogeography videos? Macaronesia, Gargano Island, the biogeography of the Permian, and abyssal gigantism would all be good subjects to cover.