Visitor
Late Cretaceous
November 2, 2005 - Cretaceous Fossils, Sumter Co, AL
BPS members went down to the Tombigbee in search of specimens from the marl limestone sequences in the Arcola Limestone Member (Late Cretaceous Campanian 83-74 mya). Steve and Bobby furnished the boats. BPS members climbed aboard and we headed off down the river. This is one of our favorite spots so anticipation was high. Once arrived, we headed off in different directions, some going down to the far end of the beach in hopes of finding a large ammonite like the one found last trip.
The water was very low on this trip, exposing areas we had never collected. Another mosasaur bone, probably from our “pet” Mosasaur, “Bigbee” was unearthed, much to our pleasure. Numerous pieces of carboniferous wood were found, also worm tubes, gastropods and a very nice portion of a turtle, which was jacketed for prep work back home. Several shark teeth, straight cephalopod segments, and some fish teeth were also found.
We had very pleasant weather, and, after a full day of collecting, some wanted to settle in for some food and conversation while another part of the group decided to head down the river to a marcasite collecting area . Some very nice crystalline calcite specimens were found, in addition to the large quantity of marcasite. Much to our delight, it turns out that we had a marcasite specialist amongst us who gave us an impromptu lecture on marcasite characteristics. This inspired discussion of the possibility of forming a coprolite committee. Any volunteers? Anybody want to explain to the general public exactly what coprolite IS? Or was.
As it was getting too dark to see, it was decided that food and conversation seemed like a pretty good idea at this point, so we caught up with the others and finished off the day in great style.
Great trip, great weather, great group, great food.
--Edited by Vicki Lais
(Photos courtesy Anca Croitoru, Lea Novack, and Vicki Lais)
Reconnaissance session covering the geology of the area and sample specimens.
This is an excellent specimen of a fish jaw that Greg found on a previous trip.
Gastropods and straight cephalopods found on prior trips.
Lining up the boats.
On the way again. . . .
Rocky bluffs composed of Arcola Limestone. Very fossiliferous.
More views of the river.
Large piece of shell and exogira.
Miscellaneous shells and straight cephalopods.
Numerous shell pieces in the limestone.
Anca beginning her search.
Loni found a nice turtle specimen, and asked that Greg and Leisa excavate the bones.
Excavation has begun. . . .
A closer look at the turtle parts.
Part of the turtle.
Turtle after preparation. Click image for a different view.
Anca is closely examining the limestone. She found a fish tooth in this area.
Another site further down the river where we collected marcasite.
Michael with some nice marcasite specimens. We discovered he is a marcasite specialist, and some of us discussed the need for a Coprolite Committee.
Claire also found a fantastic specimen of calcite, about the size of a fist.
View of the river.
We ended the day with more good conversation at a restaurant near the collecting site. Another "way out in the boonies" place with no advertising; if you don't know where it is, you probably won't even find it by accident.
October 1, 2005 - Cretaceous and Tertiary Fossils, Butler Co, AL
Some Hardy Souls headed down to Butler County, Alabama with an overnight campout in mind. Great weather, hot, dry, made getting to the site a breeze. The Hardy Souls set up camp and settled into our tents, anticipating a great day of hunting. We fell asleep serenaded by the sweet sounds of coyotes howling. Around midnight, more strange noises began and we finally identified it as the pitter patter then deluge of a midnight rain, as Vicki frantically climbed out to put things under shelter. Claire slept peacefully through the whole thing. We stayed nice and dry but the chalk road didn't. This brought some reshuffling of cars and drivers to meet the rest of the gang up at the filling station.
It was an international gang this time, with 5 members from the Czech Republic, 3 exchange students from Sweden, one long-term member from Armenia and a couple all the way from exotic LA (Lower Alabama), along with the local members. We have had several debates as to whether we need to change our name to Birmingham International Paleontological Society, or Birmingham Paleontological Society, Internationale!
It was so gorgeous when we all got down there that people were sitting out in beach chairs and enjoying what could have easily passed for the Gulf coast's white, sandy beaches. Some folks got into the swim - literally - as one of those privileges of living in a tropical climate on Oct 1 in Alabama. A variety of fossils were found, including nautiloids, tiny gastropods, shark teeth and coquina stone filled with various shells including turritella. We also found a good amount of pottery shards, some other artifacts and a deer skull (recent, but included to show what the teeth look like). Several comments were made regarding the beach, on the order of "it didn't really matter whether we found fossils or not, this was a great place to hang out"!
The deer skull has a backstory. While wandering off for a solitary hike up the creek, Vicki managed to get herself thoroughly lost. In the dark. Forgot that trail-laying stuff from Girl Scouts, right Vicki? Well, it turned out well in the end, when Vicki took off and finally found the road, as well as gaining some nifty scratches. Things improved the next morning after Claire and Lea got out the weedeaters and cut a beautiful path down to the creek. Kudos, Kids! And Vicki is going to do a refresher course if she can find her old Girl Scout Handbook.
After a very full day, most of the group repaired to the campsite for a wine-tasting, while others continued the hunt. (It's not dark yet, right?) After forcing themselves to get up and moving again, most of the group headed back to home and reality. Claire, Lea, Paige, and Vicki camped another night, and enjoyed the peace of the creek for another day.
--Edited by Vicki Lais
(Photos courtesy Lea Martin, Jan Novak, and Vicki Lais)
Leisa thoughtfully provided our 3 Swedish exchange students with everything they needed to enjoy the day's trip.
Due to rain the previous night, we left the cars at the entrance and loaded all our gear in Greg's truck.
Scouting the parking area, which was newly bulldozed.
Some of the group on the long hike down.
Along the final stretch to the creek, members stop to check the limestone outcrops for nautiloids and gastropods.
Finally, the path to the creek, which is just over that ridge. There was no path here the day before, which is how Vicki got lost. A huge thanks to Lea and Claire for cutting all the underbrush for us!
Sun and sand - on with the sunscreen!
Sylvie and Michael screening for shark teeth.
The layers of years of flooding are clearly shown in this high bank.
Loni's granddaughter has found a treasure, but they are new bones, not fossil.
The Novacks starting a long trip way up the creek.
Two of our newest members from Mobile, Becky and Keith. Keith is holding a nice shark tooth that was found in the shell filled bank shown below.
Lea examining one of her finds.
Screening for shark teeth.
Leisa has found a nice bone artifact, and some cochina stone.
Closer view of the cochina. This stone is filled with fossil shells, including turritella, and is widely found in Florida, where it is cut into blocks and used as a building material.
Beautiful weather, temperature in the 90's (in October????), and we certainly took advantage of it!
Paige keeping cool while screening for shark teeth.
South Alabama is a beautiful place, and our fossil hobby gives us wonderful opportunities to see such treasures as this fern bank.
South Alabama is also known for the Spanish Moss hanging from many of the trees. It was used as packing material many years ago.
Many times fossil worm trails (trace fossils) are found in sandstone and shale material. Here is the modern day equivalent.
James has found a vertebra, but it is recent.
Many sandstones and shales show wave patterns, captured here in modern day sand.
Nice deer skull found in the creek. Claire is now the proud owner.
"What kind of teeth are these?" is a frequent question. This should aid in identifying deer teeth.
This area was covered with larger rocky material, and yielded many pottery shards, but few fossils.
We weren't alone on the creek, these may be tracks of the coyotes we heard "singing" during the night.
Vicki's collection.
Paige collected quite a few shark teeth.
Hanging out at the campsite, late afternoon. We also collected small gastropod specimens in this area.
Discussing our finds for the day; hanging out and enjoying each others company.
April 23, 2005 - Cretaceous Fossils, Sumter Co, AL
Another wonderful day on the river! Weather forecast called for a cold front to come in, but we were far enough south to enjoy very nice weather. The river had risen 10-15 feet since the scouting crew checked it out the previous week, and much of our collecting area was under water. The collection area is in the marl limestone sequences in the Arcola Limestone Member (Late Cretaceous Campanian 83-74 mya). We were hoping to find more of "our" mosasaur, whom we have named "Bigbee", and we actually did find one piece, another vertebra, in situ. Much of the collecting area had been scoured by the water and wave action. A few other pieces of mosasaur bone were found, including one vertebra, but not in the same area as the ones from the last trip, so there is no way to be certain they are from the same animal. Numerous steinkerns (internal molds) of gastropods (snails), bryzoan (look like a bunch of worm tubes stuck together), brachiopod, pelecypod, straight cephalopods, and ammonites were found, also some carbonized fossil wood.
Steve was spotted tooling around in the boat, looking as if he planned to go way down to a place that was difficult to walk to, so Vicki stuck out her thumb and she and Paige hitched a ride. A very exciting time getting into that boat from a cliff face! Claire decided not to try the boat trick, but decided to risk walking along the steep bluff. We got there about the same time, and of course were looking for "great treasures". Vicki spotted something that looked "odd" pretty quickly, and it turned out to be part of a large ammonite embedded in a huge boulder that everyone had walked past. We all started hunting around that area, but didn't find the other half. Further down, Steve stuck his hammer up under a rock before putting his hand there to check for fossils. Good thing he did, because a cottonmouth attacked the hammer! After moving away from the snake, we heard Claire squeal. She had found another large ammonite near where the first one was found, and it was almost complete. Steve just shook his head, and declared he would never pick up hitch-hikers again!
A small group took off on a scouting expedition after the trip was officially over. They found a nice shelf area with numerous fossils which were very fragile and easily breakable. So, we'll just enjoy the pictures! Found a number of very nice ammonites, a few shells, and pieces of fossil wood.
A big THANK YOU goes to Captain Gilbert and Captain Steve for the use of their boats!
(pictures courtesy Lea Martin, Claire Smith, and Vicki Lais.)
Hanging out waiting for everyone to arrive.
Paige, Leisa, Gilbert, Carl & Vicki popping out the small gastropods and straight cephalopods.
Claire is just getting started.
Mosasaur vertebra found by Vicki, quite a distance from the others that were found on the last trip.
Leisa excavating around a fragile fossil.
And the nice gastropod she collected.
The chalky shoreline. (Paige isn't tired, just getting a closer look!)
Steve's attention has just been diverted as someone stopped to talk . . .
Close-up of some of Steve's finds, mostly gastropods. There is also a nice mosasaur bone in that box.
Tiny nautiloid found by Steve.
Several Exogira were found.
Some of Lea's finds.
Some of Paige's finds.
Gilbert has found another one (what, I don't know!)
Nice gastropod and the impression it left in the chalk, found by either Lea or Paige.
Nice partial ammonite in place. It really blends in with the boulder quite well. Several people passed by without spotting it, leaving it for Vicki to find!
Same ammonite after excavation. This is the bottom that was protected from weathering.
Paige holding an ammonite found by Claire.
Carl showing off his favorite finds.
Captain Steve and Captain Gilbert. Thanks, guys!
Gilbert found some fossil carbonized wood and a mass of what is either worm tubes or bryozoans.
Another nice gastropod and image it left in the chalk.
Shells embedded in the chalk.
Carl & Leisa, tuckered out after a long day.
Steve's finds, all cleaned up and protective coating applied.
Nice Ammonite found by Claire (after cleaning)
Another view of the ammonite.
A limestone shelf filled with fossils found in the late evening. Nice to look at, but the fossils were too fragile to collect. Below is our "picture collection".
Nice ammonite.
A limb of carbonized wood.
Another nice ammonite.
June 26, 2004 - Late Cretaceous Fossils, Montgomery Co, AL
FINALLY, WE NEEDED THAT COMPLETE CHANGE OF CLOTHES
(An Account of Unprecedented Creek Crossings)
(An Account of Unprecedented Creek Crossings)
BPS members visited a late Cretaceous site in Montgomery County, Alabama, where we collected primarily echinoids, gastropods, and a few shark teeth. This trip was a real adventure!
A week of daily summer rains and pictures from Friday's site reconnaissance were not enough to daunt those needing a field trip fix. By mid-day Saturday the water had receded enough to give hope to those who had been standing on one bank of the creek and staring longingly at the other bank. There was a spark of hope.
At lunch it was decided that after a trip to a second site that enough time should have passed and the creek could possibly have receded enough to be crossable.
Steve waded the creek with one end of a 60 ft rope in hand. Once tied off on both sides the rope was a sufficient balance for a slow and steady crossing. There were crossers who faced downstream, crossers who faced upstream and those who sidestepped their way across. All present decided to journey to the other side. And by my count - taking the rope and escorting 6 people X two = 22 crossings for Steve.
Flood level water the day before washed out good material for collecting, and yes, we finally needed that change of dry clothes.
--Edited by Vicki Lais
- - "TALES FROM THE PAST" BY JAMES LAMB - -
(Photos by Nancy Kenfield and Vicki Lais)
May 22, 2004 - Cretaceous Fossils, Sumter Co, AL
Another boat trip, this time in Sumter county, at a river site with huge chalk bluffs. (The lake level at the Demopolis Lock was 74.28 feet above sea level). The fossils we collected are from the marl limestone sequences in the Arcola Limestone Member (Late Cretaceous Campanian 83-74 mya). Last year, Dr. Charlie Smith, who has done many years of research on this site, came with the group and provided a wonderful lecture and handouts to the group. This year we found a number of straight cephalopod segments, gastropods up to 6cm in diameter, fish dermal spine, and ammonite pieces. But the real prize of the trip was several mosasaur vertebra found in three separate "piles" in a 15 foot area along the riverbank. Vicki found the first fossil vertebra, which was standing on end, and had only the top exposed. After convincing Greg to come look, there were decisions to be made. Do we leave it here in place and take the chance of the river rising and washing it away? We noticed this area had been under a heavy layer of pea gravel the last time we were here, and the pea gravel had disappeared. Do we trench it and extract the bone, or use a plaster jacket over the whole thing? The decision was to take the bone out, not take the chance on having it wash down the river, and protect it with a plaster jacket. However, after excavating around the bone, it was discovered a small but sturdy piece of the chalk could be extracted, making the plaster jacket unnecessary.
As Bobby came over to see what all the fuss was about, he saw "odd shapes" sticking out of the chalk about 15 feet before he got to where Greg was working, and after looking closely, realized it was several more vertebra. Steve came over to assist in excavating this new pile of bones. The other part of the group had gone to another nearby beach, and were basking in the sun (and I suspect they went swimming based on Nancy's drenched appearance!). They decided to ride back over after all the hard work had been done, and see what we had found. Then Jan asked if we had looked under that tree trunk beside us. Well, no. So the trunk was moved, and low and behold, there were about 5 more vertebra under it, which were also excavated. So this was truly a group find, and everyone got to work on the excavations, initial cleaning, and proper packing.
Bill, with the assistance of Leisa, did a great job on the site survey and drawings. Greg, who worked many years with the paleontologists at Red Mountain Museum, supervised the excavation and has been preparing the fossil bones for display. Thanks to all for the fine work and photos! (NOTE: any professional paleontologist who desires to study these fossils, please send your request via email.)
Afterwards, a number of members went to another river site in Sumter county to collect marcasite.
Bill Cunningham also contributed to this report.
(Photos courtesy of Nancy Kenfield, Bill Cunningham, Vicki Lais, and Greg Mestler.)
WOW !
(Click images for larger view.)
Lets get going!
Hey, guys, pose for me!
In large photo above, this is the leftmost vertebra, immediately after excavation. 
Top view of vertebra.
Bottom view. 
One of the many gastropods found. 
What did you find?
Vertebral column extends 7 meters from near Coke can to several feet beyond the excavators.
Yes, we get dirty.
The excavation site had a small drainage problem...
Samples of typical finds - ammonite, straight cephalopod, gastropod, turritella, limpet, oyster.
Steve with his latest treasures.
Bobby washing mud off the vertebra.
Group of eight vertebra.
Three vertebra in situ (about 15cm apart)
A vertebra in matrix (caudal concave discoid about 5cm)
Ammonite impression (about 30cm)
Local wildlife.
Water hyacinths are pretty, but is an invasive species that destroys our rivers and lakes, and it is prohibited to sell it in the state of Alabama. Thick infestations can make boating or swimming impossible.
Several members traveled to another Sumter County location to collect marcasite.
White chalk cliffs in Sumter County, AL.
September 28, 2002 - Montgomery Co, AL
We visited two late Cretaceous sites in Montgomery County, Alabama, where we collected primarily shark teeth and echinoids. A surprise awaited - one site we have visited for years used to have a huge sand pile shaped like a mushroom that was filled with shark teeth. The mushroom is no more, and all that is left is a sandpile. Last we heard, the sand was being used in the zoo. You don't want to know any more than that!
(Photos courtesy Brian Ward.)