A fossil refers to any remains or traces of past life that are preserved in the rock. It could be remains of plants or animals. Fossil leaves are commonly found on different types of rocks. These fossils can go as far back as the Triassic Age just like the series of fossil plants collected at Denmark Hill, Ipswich in Queensland. Fossils leaves are formed when dead plants get buried by sediments like mud, sand, or volcanic ash. Often, it gets detached cleanly from stems along a special layer of weak cells, then twigs, and, less commonly, cones of conifers and fruits and seeds of flowering plants. Over time, the leaves or pieces of leaves get buried by more sediments and eventually gets 'lithified' or hardened into a rock. Erosions and mining can cause the rocks to break and reveal the fossils buried in it. Fossilisation frequently takes place at sites in the lowlands where deposits of clay, silt, sand are found. This is usually due to weathering and erosion of rocks. Fossil leaves can provide information about ancient Australia's way of living. It contributes to Victorian biodiversity records and its botanical collections. It also contributes information on the geographical profile of Victoria as fossilisation usually occur at estuaries and deltas of rivers, river flood plains, ponds and lakes. This specimen is part of a larger collection of geological and mineral specimens collected from around Australia (and some parts of the world) and donated to the Burke Museum between 1868-1880. A large percentage of these specimens were collected in Victoria as part of the Geological Survey of Victoria that begun in 1852 (in response to the Gold Rush) to study and map the geology of Victoria. Collecting geological specimens was an important part of mapping and understanding the scientific makeup of the earth. Many of these specimens were sent to research and collecting organisations across Australia, including the Burke Museum, to educate and encourage further study.Piece of light brown rock with fossilised leaves in shades of golden yellow and brown.Existing label: Fossil Leaves / Locality unknown / might be worth checking if this is Glossopteris, a Permian age plant. / C. William 16/4/21 geological specimen, geology, geology collection, burke museum, beechworth, fossil leaves, fossilization, 1868 geological survey of victoria, lithified, rocks, fossilised leaf, rock, fossils, leaves

8347.1 - Small, almost ovoid piece of mudstone showing partial fossil leaves.

8421.1 - Rectangular wedge-shaped piece of mudstone showing numerous fossil leaves

8341.1 - Large grey mudstone, one face showing several parallel fossil leaves.

8344.1 - Large piece of grey mudstone showing fossil leaves, some large, of at least 3 species.

8339.1 - Large, though thin almost rectangular mudstone containing numerous small fragments of carbonised plant matter (one large piece in particular) and some fossil leaves.

This particular specimen is found in Wolgan Valley, New South Wales. It could be linked to the abandoned oil shale mining sites in Wolgan Valley such as Newnes. Newnes was an industrial complex operational in the early 20th century is now partly surrounded by Wollemi National Park. It produced motor spirit, kerosene, and gas oil. Newnes's Torbanite oil shale rock contained around 350 litres of oil shale per tonne. The Torbanite was mined by the Commonwealth Oil Corporation Ltd. Oil shale is a sedimentary rock and also a form of fossil fuel. It is often formed millions of years ago and usually contain fossilised remains of plants and/or animals. Oil shale is rich in kerogen that releases hydrocarbon when heated. These hydrocarbon can be used as an alternative petroleum or natural gas. The oil-shale rock was converted into oil by "destructive distillation"; the rock being heated until it broke down to form an oily vapour and an ash residue. Oil bearing shale is one of Australia's national assets. There are many oil companies established in Australia. It reflects Australia's rich natural resources as well as connection to the Australia's engineering and oil industry. The booming oil shale extraction businesses can be traced as far back as 1920s. This specimen is part of a larger collection of geological and mineral specimens collected from around Australia (and some parts of the world) and donated to the Burke Museum between 1868-1880. A large percentage of these specimens were collected in Victoria as part of the Geological Survey of Victoria that begun in 1852 (in response to the Gold Rush) to study and map the geology of Victoria. Collecting geological specimens was an important part of mapping and understanding the scientific makeup of the earth. Many of these specimens were sent to research and collecting organisations across Australia, including the Burke Museum, to educate and encourage further study.Piece of dark gray oil bearing shale with shades of light brown and fossilised leavesExisting label: OIL BEARING SHALE with / FOSSILISED LEAVES / Locality: Wongan Valley, NSW / Donor: Miss M. Cambell geological specimen, geology, geology collection, burke museum, beechworth, oil shale, shale, fossil fuels, alfred selwyn, wolgen valley, 1868 geological survey of victoria, rocks, sedimentary rocks, newnes, torbanite, commonwealth oil corporation ltd

8357.1 - Large piece of mudstone broken perpendicular to longest axis into two almost-exact-sized pieces; break bifurcates leaf fossils apparent on both largest faces.

8353.1 - Irregular- tending-oval mudstone showing partial leaf and small woody/leafy fossil fragments.

8352.1 - Irregularly-shaped mudstone with some waved faces, displaying partial leaf fossils, prominently a nearly-totally carbonised taeniopteris leaf on one face.

8338.1 - Flat thin grey mudstone containing numerous leaves and woody fossil material.

8324.1 - Overall angular mudstone with one face showing two small but well-formed leaf fossils

8320.1 - Roughly prismatic pieces of mudstones, clearly showing on one face numerous plant leaf fossils.

This booklet contains an article on the plant fossil deposits in Eastern Victoria. It has been written by Dr John Douglas in 1963. He published extensively on a range of geological and natural history themes. His major works included co-editing the Geological Society of Victoria’s Geology of Victoria and his PH.D. thesis for the University of Melbourne contained in two Geological Survey Memoirs on the Mesozoic floras of Victoria. He was also responsible for the Geology and Sport and Recreation chapters in the State Government’s Atlas of Victoria and wrote the booklet, What Fossil Plant is That? He was a Supervising Geologist with the Department of Minerals and Energy in Victoria for many years and lectured extensively at Botany and Geology conferences in Australia and overseas. This book is of some interest as it was written by a former resident of Warrnambool, Dr John Douglas (1997 to his death in 2007). He was an active member of the Warrnambool Field Naturalists’ Group and edited for this group the book, The Nature of Warrnambool. This is a small booklet of 16 pages reprinted from the Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria, Vol. 77, Part 1. It has a grey cover with the logo of the Royal Society of Victoria on the front cover. It has printed material on plant fossil deposits in eastern Victoria and several sketches and black and white plates of plant fossil photographs and cross-sections. The pages were stapled but the staples have been removed. There is some rust where the staples were removed. Front cover: ‘Royal Society of Victoria, New Bennettitalean Leaves from the Mesozoic of Eastern Australia by J. G. Douglas, reprinted from Proc. Roy. Soc. Victoria, Vol 77, Part 1, Issued separately, 13 December, 1963.’ micro- paleontology in eastern victoria, dr john douglas, warrnambool