blastoid

March 2, 2019 - Mississippian, Morgan County

On Saturday, March 2, 2019, numerous BPS members and guests traveled through the pouring rain to a fairly close limestone quarry to look for fossils. The rain stopped by the time we reached the rendezvous location but the temperature began to rapidly drop. That did not deter any of the fossil enthusiasts nor did it deter our hosts, thankfully!

After a brief lecture in safety and collection from the quarry host, we headed out. The way to the collection site was slick and muddy but no one got stuck. We parked in the mud, gathered our tools and headed to the spoil piles to find fossils. And, as usual, we were not disappointed. This site has plentiful Mississippian fossils – crinoids, blastoids, bryozoans, brachiopods, and horn corals. Not so plentiful but also present were several genera of shark teeth. We all had our strategies planned for finding the elusive shark teeth; some even proved successful. The quarry chaperones again found nice two Petalodus teeth and maybe more than one BPS member found shark teeth also. And, as an addendum to last year’s trip report, the large, museum-quality slab was collected and moved to the educational building for sharing – well done!!

At about 2:00, we called a halt to the collecting in order to give the indulgent quarry chaperones the rest of their Saturday. A handful of collectors reconvened at the nearby (still colorful) Mexican restaurant for refueling and good conversation before the trip home. This site is so very fun and lucrative for collecting. I know I’ll look forward to the next visit!

Alabama

Paleozoic/Mississippian

February 2, 2019 - Mississippian, Franklin County, Al.

Saturday, Feb. 2, 2019 was an absolutely PERFECT day for a field trip! There were 14 BPS members and guests who got together to spend a much-needed day in the great outdoors looking for fossils. The general area was a lakeshore in Franklin County (lower Bangor limestone formation) and our leaders selected 3 sites from which to collect. The first site, a public boat launch, was fairly void of fossils (except for a nice shark tooth in limestone matrix) but we had heard that the area had been over-collected recently so it was not unexpected. Even with slim fossil findings, the beautiful very spring-like weather had everyone enjoying the hunt.

It was decided to relocate to the site we collected last year so we all packed up and headed over. Thanks to expert navigation by Bob, we made it to the next site quickly and without a hitch – good job, Bob!! And this site proved to be as productive as it was last year. The shore consists of fossil slabs and loose fossils that had washed out of the matrix. Copious crinoid components, bryozoan components, horn corals, bivalves, brachiopods, and blastoids were all found while at this site. A non-fossil but interesting find was a pharyngeal dental plate from a freshwater drum fish. It was very pleasant to sit in the warm sun, with the fresh breeze, sifting and searching the washed-out fossils along the shoreline.

Some called it a great day after this but the remainder of the group ventured on to a road cut several miles away. Still in the Mississippian strata, we found a few blastoids, a brachiopods and even a couple of trilobites or, rather, the infamous “trilo-butts”. One specimen was very nice, being in pristine shape as if newly exposed. By this time, the sun was beginning to set so the remainder of the group wrapped up the hunt and bid the fossil hunt good day. There’s a great Mexican restaurant on Hwy 157 that is convenient to the interstate so the last of the Mohicans stopped there for good food and conversation before heading the rest of the way home. What a great day!

March 31, 2018 - Mississippian Fossils, Morgan Co, Al

On March 31, thirteen BPS members and guests had the pleasure of visiting a working limestone quarry in Morgan County. The weather was superb, the attendees were enthusiastic and the fossils were everywhere! The fossils found were primarily Mississippian (Paleozoiz era). Many crinoid stems and whole crinoids were found as well as blastoids, bryzoans, brachiopods and corals. There were many nice examples of these fossils and even a "museum quality" slab of whole crinoids that was just too heavy to carry out. Maybe someone will remember to bring the helicopter next time!

The quarry employees who accompanied us were very helpful and even managed to maintain a positive attitude while giving up a part of their Saturday to be with those of us who love to look for fossils. One of the employees was lucky enough to find an elusive shark tooth, as did one of the BPS members. Though we could have stayed much longer, the group ended their searching at 2:00 (as promised) to give the employees the rest of their Saturday afternoon. After the quarry, the group headed to a nearby Mexican restaurant for good food and conversation. It was another very enjoyable field trip on a nearly perfect day!

Morgan

Paleozoic/Mississippian

February 24, 2018 - Mississippian Fossils, Franklin Co, Alabama

For the February field trip, six stalwart fossil hunters ignored the gloomy forecast and journeyed through a storm front to a lovely Franklin County lake site. As it turned out, the weather was perfectly suited to fossil hunting with partly sunny skies, comfortable temperatures and a fresh breeze - no rain the entire day! Accompanied by the sound of waves lapping the shoreline, the amiable group had no trouble finding many different Mississippian fossils: Crinoid stems and several whole crinoids with calyx and arms, bryzoans (Archimedes), blastoids, horn corals, bivalves, unresistable (sizable!) hash slabs and even coral heads at a second site. For a day with a marginal forecast, a good time was had by all.

May 18, 2015 - Mississippian Fossils, Morgan Co, AL

A beautiful Monday morning, with lots of clouds keeping heat to a bearable level. We went to a new area this trip, where several crinoid heads and pieces, blastoids, archimedes, horned and other corals were found. Just after moving to a new collecting location, the bottom dropped out, and though we were quite ok with collecting in the rain, the quarry managers said the roads would get slick, so we had to make an early exit. The group enjoyed lunch at a very interesting Mexican restaurant.

March 3-4, 2012 Colbert, Franklin Co., AL

What a wonderful two day trip we had in March. The weather was sunny; light jacket weather, just right for being outside. Saturday we were at a quarry in Colbert County, and Sunday we were at a lake in Franklin County. The spoil pods were massive and extremely steep making them difficult to navigate. But being the adventureous spirits that we are, we conquered the spires and were greatly rewarded for our efforts. Among the spoils we found, Crinoids, blastoids, burrows, a few very tiny shark teeth, fenestra, hound coral, calcite crystals, stigmaria and whole rocks covered with brachiapods.

March 5, 2011 - Mississippian Fossils, Franklin Co, AL

Okay, how many of you let a 90% chance of rain stop you from coming on the field trip?

Six of us showed up to hunt fossils in spite of the predictions of 90% rain over the entire south. The weather report was correct this time! It didn't rain on the way there, lulling us into believing it would hold off most of the day.

With such a small group we decided to go to a location where we have not been in several years. This location has a very poor road with large potholes, not much room to park, and a short hike to get to the lake.

On the way to the first site, we got quite a scare. The sky lit up like a fireball, and there was an extremely loud explosion, like dynamite. Later as we headed to another site, we saw a huge oak tree that must have been 3-4 ft in diameter, literally blown to pieces, and they had recently removed the large limbs from the road. It looked like someone had blown it up. It was about a mile from where we had heard the explosion.

After minor sprinkles and even periods of no rain at all, the minute we got to site one, the rain started. We tried to wait it out to no avail. The rain was as determined as we were. However, everyone was in a good mood and ready to collect fossils, so we donned our rain suits, ponchos, and rubber boots, grabbed our umbrellas, and walked down to the lake in the rain. This location has a lot more mud than what we are accustomed to. The intent was to avoid one of the more muddy roadside cuts, but we managed to get just as muddy here as we would have at the other location. We found a number of rocks with weathered out fossils showing extremely clear detail, and the first rock Ann picked up contained a trilobite.

At site two we found numerous horned corals, the bryozoan Archimedes and its filter feeding structures (fenestrae), crinoid stems, a trilobite, blastoids, and tiny shells, and of course the ever present rocks covered with fossils.

After that we decided to proceed to another site along the lake where large corals have been found in the past. We also found a complete crinoid head and legs, which was the find of the day. Around five o'clock as the rain had still not let up and a chill wind started blowing, we decided it was time to head home. Most of us decided to stop at a local steak house for dinner where we dried out, warmed up, and filled our bellies.

February 27, 2010 - Mississippian Fossils, Colbert and Franklin Co, AL

There must have been a lot of people concerned about the weather report, which predicted snow and ice in North Alabama. Only 5 of us showed up, but what a wonderful day it turned out to be. It stayed cold in Birmingham, but the weather at the collecting sites warmed up to the 50's, and Don remarked we better tell the field trip planner thanks for picking such a great day! The smaller number of people meant we could stay at each location longer, and it really paid off. We found numerous crinoid stems, several varieties of blastoids, part of a straight cephalopod, brachiopods of all sizes, trilobites, and lots of horned coral.

A local took our photo at the end of the day: Carolyn, Don, Bill, and Vicki. Joey had to leave early.

April 11, 2009 - Mississippian Fossils, Morgan Co, AL, Part 2

Part 1 - Trip Report
Part 2 - Trip Photos (this page)

This Mississippian limestone quarry yielded a variety of fossils, including crinoids, blastoids, a very ancient shark tooth by the name Petalodus, archimedes, bryozoans, brachiopods, Rugosa and other corals, and even part of a trilobite.

(Photos courtesy Ron Beerman, Becky Guthrie, and Vicki Lais)

quarry

blastoid

Some fossils are very hard to spot. There is a blastoid lying in this gravel wash.

brachiopod

shark tooth, Petalodus

Petalodus shark tooth

Limestone slab

crinoid

Slab of limestone totally filled with crinoid stems.

Calcite crystal

Everyone enjoying the cake brought by Lea.

coral

Large horned coral on a huge boulder.

stem parts

crinoid, blastoid

Part of a crinoid head, a couple of blastoids, and some crinoid stems.

James Lamb spent close to two hours carefully chipping out a Petalodus shark tooth found by Becky.

coral

Beautiful bryozoan fan

crinoid

Jessica with her slab containing a large crinoid.

blastoid

crinoid

Whole crinoid embedded in limestone rock.

April 11, 2009 - Mississippian Fossils, Morgan Co, AL

On 11 April, BPS visited a quarry in Morgan county. After signing in and filling out all the release forms we were escorted to the dig site. The quarry contains limestone, and the fossils found were primarily from the Mississippian Period of the Paleozoic Era.

The Mississipian Period is known as the "Age of Crinoids". This period spanned approximately 360-320 million years. It was named for the exposed rocks in the Mississippian River valley near St. Louis by geologist Alexander Winchell in 1870. The quarry visited was mining limestone. Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the mineral calcite (calcium carbonate: CaCO3). Shells and other marine byproducts settle on the ocean floor and are compressed for millions of years as layer by layer of the calcite are depostited. Limestone also contains variable amounts of silica, chert, sand, silt and other impurities. It can be crystalline, clastic (composed of fragments of other rocks), granular or massive depending on the method of formation.

We had an excellent turn out. It turned a bit cold, but that didn’t dampen the spirits of the members.

After being briefed by the quarry escorts, who remained with us, we began to spread out and search for treasures. Most of the material found was in limestone rock, and some was very difficult to extract without heavy chisels and hammers.

Several Blastoids (Pentremites pyriformise and Pentremites godoni) were found by most on top of the ground in small washes. Blastoids originated in the Ordovician period and reached their greatest diversity in the Mississippian period. The picture below shows the main body or theca of the blastoids. It was protected by a series of interlocking plates made from calcium carbonate. This was attached to a stalk, which in turn was anchored to the sea floor by a holdfast. Similar to the Crinoid.

Most of the blastoids were found on the surface in small washes. Here Ron is praying to the fossil gods to show him a blastoid as everyone else had found them and he had not.

There were many occurrences of Bryozoans at the site. Several nice finds were made. Below is a picture of an Archimedes, and Fenestella Bryozoan. Fenestella bryozoa colonies, are lace-like in construction, and the individual bryozoan animals lived in microscopic tubes or pores on the lace branches. The fenestrate bryozoan colony called Archimedes lived attached to a screw-shaped support structure. Most often only the support structure is found. Bryozoans have existed for hundreds of millions of years (since the early Ordovician) and are common fossils in marine deposits.   Thousands of Byrozoans species exist today all over the world.

Becky found an unusual item. James Lamb ( Paleontologist at McWane Science Center in Birmingham, Alabama) was called over to help identify it. The find turned out to be a nice Petalodus (Petalodontidae (Petalodontiformes) sharks tooth. It took over an hour and a half to extract it from the limestone it was embedded in. Becky donated the specimen to the McWane Center museum.

Here's a closer look at the Petalodus tooth. Petalodus sharks were estimated to reach a length of about 2 meters. Their basic diet consisted of sponges and other invertebrates.

A few Brachiopods were also found. Brachiopods are two valved animals, similar to the bivalves today.

Most Brachiopods were attached to the bottom by means of a fleshy stalk and were not free swimming like many of the bivalves today. The Brachiopod in this picture (spiriferina transversa) was 4 cm across.

Not just fossils were found. Here's one of many calcite crystal clusters that were also found. Incidently these crystals are simply the crystalline form of limestone (CaCo3).

Many Crinoid and Blastoid stem parts were found on the surface of the collecting area.

Several specimens of horn coral were also found. Horn corals are from the extinct order of corals called Rugosa. Rugosa means wrinkled. The outside of these corals have a wrinkled appearance. Horn Coral grows in a long cone shape like a bull’s horn. The fossil is the skeleton of the coral animal or polyp. The animal lived at the top of the cone. They had many tentacles sticking out to gather food. The tentacles gave the horn coral a flower like appearance.

Several outcroppings of other coral were also found. The species of coral has not yet been identified.

Leisa found a small trilobite. The species is not known at this time. Tiribites are found in many other counties in Alabama. In the geologic time scale, they came to dominate the seas around 540 million years ago and became extinct around 245 million years ago.

Here Martha shows her prize of a limestone slab containing numerous fossils.

Here's a closeup of the limestone slab containing a collection of many different fossils including crinoiod, blastoid, stem parts, archimedes and various other bryozoans.