gastropod

January 22, 2011 - Devonian Fossils - St. Clair County, AL

BPS members headed to St. Clair County this month to search for Devonian fossils. With the past week having numerous days below freezing, we were hoping the predicted 48 degrees would be bearable. It actually turned out to be a very pleasant sunny day. After a too-long hiatus from fossil trips, we had members showing up from Huntsville, Birmingham, Mobile, Anniston, Montgomery, and Georgia to spend the day outside digging in the dirt. Quite literally! We had been asked to collect soil samples for Jun Ebersole so the first order of business was to collect baggies of dirt. Each person had a card with a number and their name on it and positioned themselves from top to bottom on the hillside. Their chosen spot was where they collected their soil sample.

After the soil samples were collected and stored away safely, we started searching for fossils. Though we haven't been to this site in several years, it was not weathered as much as we'd like. In fact, it's getting grown over, and eventually will be "reclaimed" by mother nature. Weathering out of the red dirt were numerous bits of corals and sponges, with only a few whole specimens. Fossils were much more difficult to find on this trip, and most of what we found on the surface were worn and broken. In one area, a few impressions of archimedes and crinoids in Ft. Payne chert were found. Some of rocks in the area are light yellow sandstone or siltstone, and split rather easily. Inside are mostly brachiopods and trilobites. Normally we find only the trilobite cephalon (head) at this location, but this time we also found several pygidiums (tail). On a large limestone boulder high on the mountain, and very difficult to reach, is the impression of a gastropod and "something else".

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June 13-14, 2009 - Cretaceous and Tertiary Fossils, Butler Co, AL

This month the group traveled to Butler County, Alabama, to a sandy creek which runs through early Tertiary and late Cretaceous material. The weather was overcast on Saturday, making collecting very pleasant. A number of members camped out for the weekend. Sunday the sun was out, and it made us grateful for the cloud cover on Saturday!

The sandy beaches and gravel areas yielded up shark teeth, ray teeth, some nautiloid sections, and recent mammal material which was sometimes as fasinating as the fossils.

We had quite a few young people on the trip who enjoyed both the fossil collecting and swimming, splashing and running in the shallow creek. There is an area of soft clay, and some enterprising young men fashioned bowls from it.

More about the artifacts found on the trip.

--Photos courtesy Claire Smith and Vicki Lais.

The whole group, except for one young lady who didn't want her picture taken.

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Several small turritella.

Sitting in the creek is sometimes the most effective and cool way.

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Some tiny gastropods found on the flat limestone "bald", and an unkown black item with serated edges.

Noah has found a large piece of soft, grey clay and fashioned himself a bowl.

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This nice gastropod was found at this site several years ago, and was brought to the trip to display.

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A handful of mostly shark teeth.

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Fossil oysters

Checking out the latest finds.

Screening for fossils in the shallow creek.

We found several areas where tadpoles had taken over shallow pools of water.

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Coquina, a very hard "stone" composed of compressed shells, used in many parts of Florida as building stone.

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He's holding a very large piece of coquina found in a pile of boulders.

Shell from a recent turtle.

Making ones way up the creek took a very long time. First you have to play in the water, feel the sand between your toes. Then you have to stop at every gravel bar and see what's there. It takes most people hours to get less than 1/4 mile.

Hanging out on the large sandy beach. This is like a crossroads, everyone passes this way, or returns here to rest.

Nancy neck deep in a swimming hole.

Martha screening for shark teeth

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This nice gastropod was found at this site several years ago, and was brought to the trip to display.

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Some tiny gastropods found on the flat limestone "bald", and an unkown black item with serated edges.

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A collection of teeth, including shark and enchodus, along with an internal mold of a gastropod.

November 1-2, 2008 - Cretaceous and Tertiary Fossils - Butler County

If you wanted a day/weekend out in the woods, you couldn't have custom-ordered more perfect weather or a more perfect spot to enjoy the outdoors. A small group of BPS’ers set out for Butler County to a site owned by a member’s relatives. They kindly let us in there at least once a year and a big THANK YOU goes out to them from BPS. We use the word “intrepid” a lot to describe our membership, but, what else can you say when you see people wading up to “there” in icy-cold water on a Fall day? Lots of tiny shark-teeth were found, along with a very tiny ray tooth, numerous pieces of cochina stone, a variety of shells, including gastropods and bivalves, and a few very weathered nautiloids. Also of interest for many of us are the native American artifacts we always find at this location. Several pottery sherds were found, some with excellent examples of incised designs.

Then it was time to chill out…literally, as the day wore down the temperature started dropping. But what a better time than a nippy Fall evening for a bonfire and cooking out? The overnighters got tents and vans set for the night and turned in.

With the arrival of morning, the smell of breakfast and the sounds of fellow-campers stirring got all but the most determined late-sleepers up and going. Most stayed for the day. Nancy decided that a flat tire, a broken water-bottle, bee sting, and an uneasy tummy perhaps meant a message from the camping gods to head back to civilization.

Those who stayed for the day hiked along the dirt roads near the creek, and later rode in Big Blue to a different location on the property where a canal had been dug in the distant past, and rocky debris had been tossed to the side, creating a mound of rocks. Many of the rocks were filled with fossil shells.

A great weekend under the stars, hiking in a beautiful clear creek, and spending time out in the clean Fall air! Who could ask for anything more?

Photos courtesy Claire Smith and Vicki Lais

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More of Leisa's finds.

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Melanie found a nice gastropod in the same area where the tiny shark teeth were found.

Gastropod

August 16, 2008 - Cretaceous - Dallas and Perry Counties, Alabama

Day 1 Friday Day 2 Saturday Day 3 Sunday

A weekend trip to the Cretaceous chalk gullies of Dallas County Alabama and a creek in Perry county turned up numerous fossils. Ancient creatures, including shark, turtle, mosasaur, ptychodus, fish, clam, and ammonite were found during the three day weekend trip.

DAY 2 - SATURDAY

Finally, after a night of gentle rain, around 7am Saturday morning the rain quit, and James Lamb set off to find another site that the large group could access without damage to themselves or the fossils. After tracking down landowners for at least an hour, we were granted permission to collect in a creek in Perry county. And what a nice creek! Along with the adventure of exploring a creek we had never visited, climbing over strainers and up and down steep bluffs, everyone found numerous shark teeth, ptychodus teeth, gastropods, and even a small piece of belemnite with the iridescent sheen still visible.

After leaving the creek, we went back to camp, and once we arrived, we noticed the cows were quite interested in camp and the strange large metal boxes sitting all around their pasture. One was carefully examining a particular red car! After resting and filling our bellies, we decided to check out a gully near camp, to see if it was dry enough to collect. Fortunately it was, and a number of nice specimens were found, including whole shells, mosasaur vertebra, turtle shell, fish vertebra, and worm tubes.

That night at camp Claire took numerous pictures of spider webs, and we listened to everyone's tall tales and tales of past field trips.

(photos courtesy Claire Smith and Vicki Lais)

The gang met on Saturday morning for a day of fossil collecting.

The "put-in" at the first creek, where Greg decided to hang out while we searched for a productive site.

As everyone has gone on ahead, Martha is last in line, and carefully climbs across the strainer.

Ta-da! Everyone made it safely through the strainer.

Now we're told to cross over to another part of the creek with better collecting. Your choice - up the steep bluff, or back through the strainer and hike down a different trail.

Once arriving at the new creek location, we had to climb down an even steeper bank.

Don

Screening for shark teeth.

Screening for shark teeth in the creek.

Screening for shark teeth.

Screening the gravel in the creek bottom for shark and other teeth.

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Scapanorhynchus shark teeth found by screening gravel from the creek.

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Shark teeth - Cretolamna in upper left, Scapanorhynchus in lower left, ptychodus tooth in middle, turritella gastropod, and belemnite found in the creek.