cordaites
November 27, 2020 - Pennsylvanian, Jefferson County, Al
Submitted by Ann Strozier on Fri, 11/27/2020 - 8:49pmOn Friday, November 27, 2020, seven BPS members and guests went to a working strip mine in Jefferson County to collect fossils from the Pottsville formation of the Pennsylvanian period. The fossils collected today originated in a warm, steamy, oxygen-rich environment and many grew to towering heights. Some of the fossils found are pith casts, formed when sediments filled the hollow center of a stem and later hardened/mineralized into rock. Other fossils are imprints and show beautiful details of fern-like foliage.
August 25, 2007 - Pennsylvanian Fossils, Tuscaloosa Co, AL
Submitted by Nancy Kenfield Lea on Sun, 09/16/2007 - 4:06pmA trip to a non-working mine site to explore spoil piles for invertebrate fossils was on the menu for BPS's August field trip. The mining company, headquartered in Tuscaloosa county generously offered us the opportunity to explore at this site. A long, hot day on a moonscape was nevertheless a great trip, yielding some beautiful specimens.
We met with the mining engineer who gave us a quick overview of the mining operations, then let us go onto the piles to do our hunting. We hunted until the heat got to us and it was time to seek air-conditioning.
April 30, 2000 - Pennsylvanian Fossils, Walker Co, AL
Submitted by Ron Buta on Sun, 04/30/2000 - 11:00pmUniversity of Alabama
Tuscaloosa, Alabama
The New River Mine is a surface mine which was spotted by Jim Lacefield in early February this year, and shortly thereafter Jim and I scouted the site out. As expected, the site included plant fossils, but one difference compared to other sites that Jim noticed was an abundance of fossils of Artisia, the pith of the gymnospermous tree known as Cordaites. The only other sites where I have seen Artisia fossils are the Kimberly surface mine (see
