July 30, 2006 - Elmore Co, AL

Yesterday's exhibit setup was fun, but indoors. Several people wanted to go on a field trip in spite of the hot weather and the fact they had an opportunity to get their "fossil fix" for the month yesterday. The small group that was able to come on such short notice split into two so that more areas could be scouted. One group in a canoe had lots of good luck with some great finds (seems Vicki had been to this site years ago, and remembered a stash of permineralized wood hidden in a very inaccessible location), while the other group drove off to try and locate additional access points, without success. Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained. To complete the day properly, some of us went home the long way, via the Wetumpka astrobleme. Another great day in Alabama!

(all photos on this page courtesy Vicki Lais)
large permineralized tree
Large tree on the shore.

large permineralized tree

view of the shoreline and fossil rocks



Leisa checking out clay bank for fossils
Leisa checking out the clay embankment.

shoreline where we hunted for fossils
Parts of the shore were very slick clay/chalk material, and was quite colorful in places.

purple clay shore

searching for fossil wood
Leisa and Jan searching the opposite shoreline.

searching for fossil wood

Most of the shoreline was quite rocky. Many of these pieces are broken up pieces of permineralized wood, but either lacking detail, or too heavy to lug back up the hill to the cars.

searching for fossil wood
Leisa looking through the 1000's of rocks for that special specimen.

schist with garnet
Leisa found some schist, with tiny garnets embedded it it.

nice piece of fossil wood with crystals

site of astrobleme
David and Becky check out the astrobleme site.

site of astrobleme
Layers that were heaved into the "wrong" sequence when the meteor hit.

site of astrobleme


site of astrobleme