December 3, 2005 - Lawrence, Franklin and Colbert Co, AL

This month, BPS members and guests headed to NW Alabama. When we left Birmingham, the weather was mild, though a little overcast. By the time we met, the wind had picked up and an icy chill was in the air, and there was a heavy cloud cover, so several of us donned warmer clothing. As we left, the drizzle began. Oh, no, it never rains on BPS trips, this can't be! Sure enough, by the time we arrived at the first stop, the rain had stopped, and we were getting patches of sunshine. We toured the "coral field", spotting numerous pieces of rugosa coral, and Lea got a good workout hauling a huge specimen to her car!

Back in the car headed to site #2, and it began raining again. Darn! As the drizzle quits, someone suggests a side trip to the lake, to check the water level, and much to our delight, it was way down, so we added an unexpected new stop, where everyone found a number of crinoid stems, blastoids, archimedes, an unknown trace fossil, and horned coral. One comment was "How many days do we get to spend here?". The weather got warmer, and became very pleasant, even without coats (a real thrill to those of us who remember many collecting trips tolerating the icy cold wind that normally whips around the point most of the winter). In keeping with our international flavor, two guests from Japan (who have only been in the US since July) joined us for their first ever-fossil trip. We may have spoiled them. NO you DON'T find fossils on every spot of ground in Alabama!

Then, when Greg was able to tear us away from the lake, on to the next location, site #3, a popular road cut in Colbert County, where nice blastoids, archimedes, and straight cephalopods were found. Also, an outstanding question was answered. On our August 2005 field trip, an odd, lightweight, heart shaped disk was found in Montgomery County that we couldn't identify. On one of Vicki's side excursions today, she found part of a vertebra column, probably of a deer, and several of the heart-shaped cartilage discs were found in place. Now we know - not a fossil, but very interesting.

The 4th stop had a few specimens, but not enough to linger.

At that point, part of the group went to an additional site, where there were nice fossils, mostly still in matrix. This site contains metallic, cubic mineral specimens that have not yet been positively identified. They look similar to pyrite, but are the wrong shape and color. They are small, about 1/4 inch, cubic, shiny reddish-gold copper colored, and heavy for their size. The square sides aren't exactly straight, since they have a dip in the middle. They could possibly be limonite after pyrite.

After that, the entire group met up again, and headed to an off-the-beaten-path steak house in the middle of nowhere to wind down for the evening and enjoy each other's good company before starting the long trip back home.

(photos courtesy Lea Martin and Vicki Lais)

fossil coral
The first stop produced very large specimens of rugose coral, most too large to carry.

hunting fossils
Leisa, our Pres, and new members Hitoshi and Yakari on their first fossil trip... Welcome to Alabama!

found a fossil coral
Paige just needs her picture taken since she is so photogenic. What a nice specimen of coral she's found!

hunting fossils
Jan and Greg searching for loose corals.

fossil coral
One of the nicest specimens.

fossil coral
Uh.... Paige..... I don't think it will fit in your box......

The Novacks

 

fossil coral
Lea Novak has lugged this large coral to her car.

On to site #2 -

hunting fossils by lake
Most of the rocks on this lakeshore are filled with small fossils. Most plentiful are crinoids, blastoids, archimedes, and horned corals.

hunting fossils by lake
Leisa showing our newest members fossil specimens on the rocks.

hunting fossils by lake
Greg has found a nice slab to show how plentiful fossils are in this area.

hunting fossils by lake
Every rock here is covered with fossils. So why search? Some rocks have weathered more than others, and the fossils are in nice relief. Some have more "perfect" examples, some have more of the "pretty" fossils, or displayed a larger variety.

 hunting fossils by lake

The Novaks

 

hunting fossils by lake

hunting fossils by lake

trace fossil
Melanie has found a nice.... well....umm.... trace fossil??

fossil blastoid
Look carefully in the middle of the photograph to see a blastoid.

fossil blastoid
Closer view of blastoids.

hunting fossils by lake
Hi, Claire!

tiny fossil crinoid
Hard to see, but this boulder is covered with very tiny crinoids, probably a breeding area.

hunting fossils by lake


Stop #3 is a roadcut -

hunting fossils on roadcut
Blastoids, horned coral, and archimedes were found in this area.

hunting fossils on roadcut

hunting fossils on roadcut

fossil cephalopod

A few straight cephalopods were also found.

fossil coral
Some fairly worn specimens of horned coral.

heart shaped vertebra disks
Another mystery solved. A heart shaped item had been found on our Montgomery trip, but no one knew what it was. Several of them were found in place today - in a deer spine. They are the discs between vertebra.

Stop #4 - another wash in a roadcut.

hunting fossils on roadcut

hunting fossils on roadcut
Very little was found at this location, but we had fun looking!

While most of the group headed for the local watering hole, 3 members proceeded on to stop #5:

fossil brachiopods in matrix
A beautiful layer of bivalves is now exposed. Impossible to collect without damaging the specimens, so we collected only photos.

some form of pyrite
Tiny cubes of pyrite?

some form of pyrite
A closer view after cleaning. They are heavy, and may be pyrite. Possibly limonite after pyrite.