turtle

On Saturday, July 27, 2019, a much-anticipated field trip took place.  A good sized group of BPS members and guests met at a pre-determined spot in Sumter County and then caravanned to a lovely Cretaceous chalk gully site that has not been surveyed for several years.  Because of a tightly-strung barb wire fence, James made a lovely pair of steps (stiles) for getting the group up and over.  There was reference made to accessing the gullies “in STYLE”.  Funny but not quite time to give up your day job. 

Once in the gullies, searchers immediately found mosasaur and shark teeth, turtle bones, fish bones, clam and crab pieces, shrimp burrows, Hamulus tubes, shark, fish and mosasaur vertebra, and more.  One member found complete turtle skull which James collected for reconstruction.  In another area, James found several pieces of mosasaur bone, jaw and teeth fragments as they were being revealed through the chalk erosion.  There were many interesting fossils (and some non-fossils) found while attendees were searching the gullies.  The heat was a factor, as it usually is in chalk gullies in the summer, but everyone took breaks and kept hydrated so everyone stayed safe and had fun.  Again, I am deeply appreciative of the owners who allowed us access to their property.  I hope I speak for everyone  when I say it was a great day. 

I want to start this trip report with a huge thank you to Tim for escorting the group on the first half of the trip and for patiently answering all of the questions.  We couldn’t have done it without you!!! 

A baker’s dozen of BPS members and guests, all eager for a field trip, met  in Dallas county to collect in chalk gullies.  It was suggested that we go to a gully that hasn’t been surveyed in over a year so we were all very eager to get to it.  Tim mentioned a few collecting techniques as well as some collecting etiquette, showed an aerial photo of the area to be collected and, after a short hike, we were in the gullies!  Almost immediately, Tim found a mosasaur vertebra and a jaw fragment – a very positive sign!  As groups do, we spread out to explore and mark interesting finds.  There were copious shrimp burrows and strangely hard to resist pyritized organic material (sparkly fish poops), barnacles, some enchodus and shark teeth, a large fragment of a rudist clam, a section of lignite, a previously flagged and recovered fish jaw, and a group of turtle vertebra.  It was, of course, blazing hot so, even though the exploration was exciting, no one complained when the lunch break was called.  We went to a shady place to pause, refresh, and recharge biological batteries.

For the second site, we went to another privately owned, very productive creek  where James joined us.   The recent rains had scoured some areas and deposited about 2 vertical feet of sand onto what used to be lovely gravel bars.  While some of us tried sifting material in old familiar spots, James scouted upstream and alerted the group that there was a gravel bar that would support all of our attention and exploration.  So, after a short hike, we all settled on to the new spot where we were delighted to find large and small, mostly well preserved, shark teeth, gastropod casts, ptychodus teeth, bone bits, a pectoral spine, baculite and ammonite segments and many other fossil and non-fossil finds.

The weather, which is always a gamble this time of year, cooperated all day.  It was hot in the gullies but there was a breeze and the bright sun really helps with fossil spotting.  Clouds started moving in at noon and thunder was heard in the distance (rained on us as we drove to second site) but it never rained on us in the creek and we never had to leave the creek because of lightning.   Based on the smiles and shared finds at the end of the day, I think a great time was had by all!     

After a morning spent collecting in the HOT gullies, we cooled off at lunch in a torrential downpour.  Luckily the weather cleared up in time for collecting in a nearby creek, which was delayed a bit while we had to find the access road under all the kudzu!  Yes, it's taking over Alabama!

BPS members defied the extreme heat and went to south Alabama to assist in collecting fossils and close down the dig site until the weather cools off some.  A number of mosasaur bones were found, and a mosasaur jaw still containing a tooth.  Other fossils found included shark teeth, shark vertebra, various varieties of fish, turtle bone, and enchodus jaw and teeth.  The thermometer read 110 degrees, so after lunch under a covered pavilion, we headed to a nearby creek to cool down.  The creek yielded numerous shark teeth, brachiopods, and a few cephalopod pieces.