exogyra
August 19-20, 2006 - Cretaceous Fossils, Lowndes Co, AL
Once again BPS was out in the boonies with the ATV’s! Greg even brought his own ride this trip. Go, Greg! Gorgeous weather, good turn-out. Sandy Ebersole, a new BPS member from the Geological Survey of Alabama, was interested in examining the formation to determine if it is part of the same Ripley Formation she is studying at Coon Creek in Tennessee. Sandy and Jun Ebersole both gave us a short overview of the formations and geology of the area before we started collecting, which left us with an excellent perspective on where we were going.
We explored several small creeks in the area for the first time, where we found a number of crabs and other items, including clams, in nodules. Sandy found an outcrop in the first creek where she gathered numerous samples for her research.
The main creek yielded great samples for all: more crabs and clams, and unknown items in concretions. Sandy located another interesting outcropping and took more samples of microfossils. Michelle found some nice ammonite pieces, including one piece showing beautiful suture marks.
Since the Ebersole's needed to leave that night, our hosts set up an impromptu trip to a gully for the evening. Sandy and Jun wanted to see if this was part of the Ripley Formation (current thought is - probably not). Jun got a quick lesson on ATV driving and we hit the gully where we found teeth and bits of shells.
The next morning before the mist had burned off, we went to a different gully that had not been explored for several years, but did not yield many finds. After returning to camp, and meeting new arrivals, two groups were formed. One group went back to the creek where the crabs had been found, and another group consisting of Vicki, Michelle and Becky took off on a scouting adventure to explore yet another “new” creek. This turned out to be a great spot with some decent finds of brachiopods, clams, gastropods, exogyra, shark vertebrae, and possible pieces of bone.
Later in the day, diehards Becky and Vicki explored the main creek again, using a different access point and went a little ways up the stream until the creek got too difficult to navigate.
After two days of excellent collecting, all went their way home and look forward to the next field trip.
Edited by Vicki Lais
(Photos courtesy Vicki Lais)
On the way again! Riding to the site is almost as much fun as the collecting itself!
Sandy and Jun provide handouts and short lectures on the geology of the area.
General area where several crab nodules were found.
This outcrop has numerous small bits of shell and other material embedded in it. Sandy took lots of samples for her research.
Richard found a very nice crab.
Leisa decides to sift the fine sand in her search for smaller fossils.
Collecting samples for research.
A dried up creek we explored in the area.
We explored the main creek a good long while.
Nice view of the creek, which is almost dry in some areas due to the lingering drought. Notice the Spanish moss hanging from some of the trees.
Aaron found a nice, large crab.
Closer view of Aaron's large crab nodule.
Richard is digging out a very nice crab.
Another outcrop that Sandy found interesting. Many soil samples were taking from this location.
Greg is assisting in collecting the soil samples.
Becky found this nice crab nodule.
Michelle found part of an ammonite.
More ammonite found by Michelle.
Taking a rest after a long, hot day on the creek.
Jun and Sandy probably had more fun than the rest of us getting to the next collecting location - this was Jun's first opportunity to drive an ATV!
After a bit of a rest, we decided to explore a gully late in the afternoon.
This is how the gully looks when you get closer to the ground - a lot of shell bits and pieces. Can you find the shark tooth in this picture? It takes a while to get one's eye attuned to the coloring and patterns.
Early Sunday morning, we headed to a gully that had not been surveyed in several years. No items of interest were found here, mostly bits of shells and broken nodules, and a lot of caliche.
Closer view of the ground and a nodule.
After the gully trip, one group headed back to the main creek for crabs, and the Three Musketeers, Becky, Vicki, and Michelle, headed off for an adventure to find and scout a new creek.
Becky amongst the fishing poles.
Finally, we made it to the creek, which was littered with shells, primarily exogyra.
Exogyra.
More exogyra pieces. The slightly circular pieces with the dimple in the middle are the other half of the exogyra, though we did not find any articulated specimens.
Exogyra and a couple of gastropods found by Vicki.
Nice bivalve found by Becky.
Michelle and Becky looking for fossils.
Small vertebra found by Vicki.
Bone, but unfortunately, it appears to be recent.
Last creek to be explored.
This rock filled with shells was found at this creek, but not much else, so all headed home.
October 23, 2004 - Cretaceous Fossils, Tuscaloosa and Hale Co, AL
October saw the troops headed to Hale county, AL to a favorite creek. After meeting at a rest area, we headed South to Tuscaloosa where we made a stop at the Museum of Natural History on the University campus. Great fossil collections as well as a fun exhibit of bugs and bats caught everybody's interest. We were delighted to see that the Mosasaur is still on display. Stopping at the museum gave us a chance to get a visual fix on what we might find during the day, so it was a nice start for the day.
The creek was higher than expected when we got there, and it became clear that wading (sometimes in some over-the-knees water) would be on the menu. Part of our group chose to sift from a bank while standing in knee deep to thigh deep water while the other part of our group headed downstream. The downstream group discovered that mother nature's engineers had built a very nice dam, thus explaining the high water level. Below the dam sifting was very easy.
This creek runs through the Mooreville Chalk, producing mostly shells, bones, shark and mosasaur teeth. Numerous shark-teeth were found, also several ptychodus teeth, LOTS of fossil clam shells and exogyra, a few fish vertebra, bivalve steinkerns, and several gastropod steinkerns.
Almost everyone had a sieve of some kind. Only one of us managed to get completely dunked but claimed it was a refreshing experience! See, kids, we aren't kidding about bringing a change of clothing! You NEVER KNOW!
Some brave souls tested out MRE's at lunch. Interesting. Our fighting folk have our deepest sympathies! Actually they weren't that bad.
A long day was capped off by chowing down at a great local barbecue place! All in all, a fun and productive trip!
--Edited by Vicki Lais
(Photos courtesy Vicki Lais)
First stop was the Museum of Natural History in Tuscaloosa. Thousands of fossils, but none we could collect! We were pleased to find the large mosasaur specimen was still being exhibited.
Steve, Lea, and Glyn screening the gravel.
One of Nancy's screening efforts. Several large exogyra.
One of Steve's hauls, note the shells and partial ammonite.
Shark and ptychodus teeth found by Steve.
Jan, Claire, & Leisa.
View up the creek.
At the end of a beautiful day, we had several show-and-tell displays.
Greg's display.
Lea's finds, note the mosasaur jawbone in lower right corner.
Paige's display. She wanted to find enough shark teeth to share with her classmates, and she certainly accomplished her goal!
35 shark teeth found!
Vicki's finds.
November 22, 2003 - Dallas Co, AL
This month BPS did several stops in Dallas County. None of the sites were prolific, but each site was easily accessible. At our first stop, a mosasaur bone had been discovered on the scouting trip, so Steve and Greg spent most of their time excavating the bones on top that were weathering. Three bones were collected, though it appears there is more in the bank. The bank was covered, and will be checked on our next trip down. At stop #2, several members found shark teeth, not many, but more than I've sometimes collected in an entire days collecting at other gully locations. Stop 3 produced numerous exogira, and stop 4 was just a short stop at the end of the day, to see if there were crabs in a new creek location. And indeed there were.
Those toe touches will wear you out. . . But those shark teeth sure are worth it!
Steve and Greg excavating the mosasaur bones.
June 09, 2001 - Lowndes Co, AL
On June 9-10, BPS members spent the weekend in Loundes County, Alabama, where they found Cretaceous fossils. Numerous fossilized crabs and shark teeth were collected on this field trip. The crab nodules and exogyra below are from a resident near the site, who helped us gain permission to collect on the property. 
A number of members had already left for home by the time we reached the final stop of the weekend. Most of the remaining members decided to hike down the creek, and took off at a rapid pace. Many miles away the rumble of thunder could be heard, though it didn't rain at the collecting site. Vicki and Martha searched near the entrance to the creek, until they noticed the water was rising too high to clearly see the bottom. They decided to wait nearby for the return of he others. They waited. And waited. As they sat and talked, they speculated on the treasure trove of crabs that the long gone group must have found. Then finally they decided to walk back to the creek to see if anyone had returned. Wow! What a difference a couple of hours had made! The distant storms had created a muddy, rapidly moving flash flood.
These members were just happy to be back to their cars. Instead of a nice leasurely walk back up the creek, they had to bushwhack through the bushes and brambles due to the quickly moving floodwaters. Once back, Kathy asked if we had seen her bucket. No, what bucket? The one she left on the edge of the creek, containing her car keys. Oops - no, they're probably in the Gulf of Mexico by now. But all turned out well, as she rode back to Birmingham to get her husband's help retrieving her car.
Kathy, Claire, Sarah, Jeff, & ______.