All articles tagged with #mcgraths flat
Researchers at McGraths Flat in New South Wales found exquisitely preserved soft-bodied fossils embedded in ferricrete—an iron cement from the Miocene—reconstructing a rainforest ecosystem and overturning the idea that fine details only survive in limestone or fine sediments; the study also provides a practical checklist for locating similar fossil deposits in ferricrete and basalt regions.
An 11–16 million-year-old ferricrete deposit at McGraths Flat in New South Wales preserves exceptionally detailed terrestrial fossils in goethite, challenging the notion that such exceptional preservation only occurs in shale or sandstone and offering a new pathway to locate iron-based fossil beds.
Fossilized caddisflies from the McGraths Flat site in New South Wales, dating back 11 to 16 million years, have remarkably well-preserved compound eyes with a corneal nanocoating that could inspire new products such as anti-reflective and hydrophobic coatings. The fossils also reveal insights into the ancient insects' soft tissue preservation and the unstable paleoenvironment at that time.