Traces of activity unrelated to living organisms

Numerous traces of activity unrelated to the activity of living organisms are also found as fossils: impacts of raindrops, traces of water lapping on the shoreline, drying cracks in soil, etc. They attest to salinity, bathymetry, temperature, proximity to the coast and even climate.

• Traces of raindrops,
• Drying cracks in soil
• Traces of water lapping on the shoreline

This is not a fossil!

Certain natural structures resemble fossils but are in fact minerals, traces of mineralisation, nodules, etc. For example, the tree-like appearance of dendrites is reminiscent of vegetation but in fact these are inorganic structures produced by crystals of manganese oxides. The same is true of agates which resemble mosses.

• Manganese oxides
• Agate