fossil wood

May 19, 2007 - Cretaceous Fossils, Montgomery Co, AL

Another hot day found the troops begging for a "water field trip" so we could cool off. We had mixed feelings about what we saw when we got there and found that drought conditions had virtually dried up the creek-bed. On the other hand, a good deal more fossils were exposed. This is our favorite spot for collecting echinoids and viewing too-fragile-to-collect ammonites. A few ammonites were retrieved, echinoids, cretaceous wood, worm tubes and a few shark teeth and numerous shells were found, and Becky found a turtle bone. With the exposure of the creek-bed, we could see near-perfect circular holes in the rock where the last bits of the ammonite fossils had washed away over time. In spite of the heat, we all found some nice fossils (or drooled over other people's fossils!), and had a chance to get a good look at the underlying rock formations. Our finds made all participants feel the day was truly worth it, including the largest shark tooth that this group has seen at this site, two very large shark vertebra, an unusual looking pycnodont fish tooth, and what might be a plesiosaur bone. Then off for some dinner at a wonderful BBQ restaurant where all expressed delight with the trip and made our plans for future visits.

--Edited by Vicki Lais

(Pictures courtesy Claire Smith and Vicki Lais)

echinoid

Some nice echinoids.

ship worms

Large area of worm tubes - Bob says they look like shipworms.

shells

Nice shells in matrix. Many times they are found loose, and more easily collected.

echinoid

Echinoids in matrix.

mosasaur vertebra

Nice 1/2 vertebra found by Bill.

Becky and Don searching in all the nooks and crannies.

shark vertebra

Very nice, whole shark vertebra.

Nancy searching in the matrix for fossils

shark tooth, Cretoxyrhina mantelli

Large Cretoxyrhina mantelli (Ginsu shark) tooth

worm tube

Close up of worm tubes.

Pam

Rychard working on a broken ammonite

pycnodont, fish tooth, Anomoeodus

Small pycnodont fish tooth - Genus Anomoeodus.

pycnodont, fish tooth, Anomoeodus

Small pycnodont fish tooth - Genus Anomoeodus.

Ptychodus mortoni

turtle bone

Turtle bone found by Becky.

Spanish moss drooping from magnificant cypress trees - signs of the deep south.

ammonite, Placenticeras syrtale

Placenticeras syrtale ammonite

wood, ship worms

Nice piece of Cretaceous wood containing shipworm fossils.

March 11, 2007 - Cretaceous Fossils, Greene Co, AL

The March field trip was graced with perfect weather for playing in a creek. The morning started out pleasantly cool but was shorts and T-shirt weather by the time we got to the site.

We met at a rest area then caravaned to Greene County where we met our host who guided us to his property. We parked most of our vehicles then piled into several pickups and SUV's for the last 2 miles to the site. The site was a beautiful 80 acre parcel of high land on the Sipsey River which was underlain by late cretaceous sediment. A nice creek ran through the property and emptied into the Sipsey. The owner took us from the parking area to his camp which sits on a bluff high above the river. As we hiked to the collecting site, we observed turkey scratch marks, early blooming wild flowers, listened to woodpeckers and other birds and and then down a razor back ridge to the creek that was to be our collecting area for most of the day... a creek filled with sand and gravel bars and unknown treasures. We soon got our feet wet and split up into wandering singles and groups of hunters, assuming the bent-over position familiar to every fossil hunter. Sharks teeth were being found within moments of stepping in the creek.

Many varieties of sharks teeth were found including Otodus, Squalicorax and Ptychodus. Besides shark teeth the group found Oyster, petrified wood, fish vertebra, a mosasaur vertebra and other items of interest.

We had an "early leavers" group and an "it isn't dark yet" group; both groups stopped to enjoy dinner and continue the fossil discussions, fill their bellies, and wind down before the long drive home.

--Leisa Whitlow, Contributor

--Edited by Vicki Lais

(Photos courtest Jan Novak and Vicki Lais)

people on fossil trip
Most of the gang!

hike to creek to collect fossils
The long hike down the hill to the creek.

another young fossil hunter
Are you sure we're supposed to go here, Aunt Mel?

searching for fossils in creek
The creek was quite low, and shark teeth were immediately found.

fossil shark teeth

proud father of a young fossil hunter
Start 'um early, and they love fossils for life! (Or maybe it's just the rock throwing . . .)

fossil shark tooth in pebbles

searching for fossils in creek

Leisa discussing fossil find
The easy way to hunt fossils . . .

fossil mosasaur vertebra
Mosasaur vertebra.

searching for fossils in creek
A perfect outing for our future paleontologist!

fossil stash pile
What did you find, young lady? A nice collection of shark teeth, ptychodus teeth, petrified wood, coral, and pretty pebbles.

searching for fossils in creek

fossil ptychodus teeth

searching for fossils in creek

fossil oyster shells
Quite a few oyster shells were found.

searching for fossils in creek ]

fossil skute
Appears to be a tiny crocodile scute.

searching for fossils in creek

fossil wormtube
Nicely preserved worm tube.

searching for fossils in creek

fossil shark teeth
More shark teeth.

fossil shark teeth

searching for fossils in creek

fossil from creek
Not sure what this is, any ideas?

fossil from creek
Another unidentified fossil.

fossil fish vertebra
Tiny fish vertebra.
fossils

searching for fossils in creek

tired fossil hunters
Decisions, decisions.. . . Do we want to collect in those gullies over there, or head out for supper? How about both?

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)

review of geologic information
Reconnaissance session covering the geology of the area and sample specimens.

fossil fish jaw
This is an excellent specimen of a fish jaw that Greg found on a previous trip.

fossil gastropods and exogyra
Gastropods and straight cephalopods found on prior trips.

boats ready for fossil trip shuttle
Lining up the boats.

riding to fossil site in boat
On the way again. . . .

enjoying the boat ride

white chalk bluffs at fossil site
Rocky bluffs composed of Arcola Limestone. Very fossiliferous.

hunting fossils in chalk bluffs
More views of the river.

hunting fossils in chalk bluffs

fossil in chalk bluff

fossil exogira
Large piece of shell and exogira.

fossil cephalopod and shells
Miscellaneous shells and straight cephalopods.

fossil shells in limestone
Numerous shell pieces in the limestone.

hunting fossils in chalk outcrops
Anca beginning her search.

collecting fossil turtle in chalk outcrops
Loni found a nice turtle specimen, and asked that Greg and Leisa excavate the bones.

collecting fossil turtle in chalk outcrops
Excavation has begun. . . .

fossil turtle in chalk outcrops
A closer look at the turtle parts.

fossil turtle in chalk outcrops
Part of the turtle.

Turtle after preparation. Click image for a different view.

hunting fossils in chalk outcrop
Anca is closely examining the limestone. She found a fish tooth in this area.

marcasite in chalk outcrop
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.

golden calcite crystals
Claire also found a fantastic specimen of calcite, about the size of a fist.

barge on river
View of the river.

BPS members eating supper
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.

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.)

gathering for the fossil trip
Hanging out waiting for everyone to arrive.

hunting fossils in chalk bluffs
Paige, Leisa, Gilbert, Carl & Vicki popping out the small gastropods and straight cephalopods.

hunting fossils in chalk bluffs
Claire is just getting started.

fossil mosasaur vertebra
Mosasaur vertebra found by Vicki, quite a distance from the others that were found on the last trip.

hunting fossils in chalk bluffs
Leisa excavating around a fragile fossil.

showing off a gastropod
And the nice gastropod she collected.

hunting fossils in chalk bluffs
The chalky shoreline. (Paige isn't tired, just getting a closer look!)

hunting fossils in chalk bluffs
Steve's attention has just been diverted as someone stopped to talk . . .

fossil gastropod
Close-up of some of Steve's finds, mostly gastropods. There is also a nice mosasaur bone in that box.

fossil nautiloid
Tiny nautiloid found by Steve.

fossil exogira
Several Exogira were found.

fossil bivalves and gastropods
Some of Lea's finds.

fossil gastropods and cephalopods
Some of Paige's finds.

Gilbert has found another one (what, I don't know!)

fossil gastropod
Nice gastropod and the impression it left in the chalk, found by either Lea or Paige.

fossil ammonite section
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!

fossil ammonite section
Same ammonite after excavation. This is the bottom that was protected from weathering.

showing off fossil ammonite
Paige holding an ammonite found by Claire.

showing off fossils
Carl showing off his favorite finds.

boat drivers
Captain Steve and Captain Gilbert. Thanks, guys!

fossil wood
Gilbert found some fossil carbonized wood and a mass of what is either worm tubes or bryozoans.

fossil gastropod
Another nice gastropod and image it left in the chalk.

fossil shells in chalk bluff
Shells embedded in the chalk.

hunting fossils in chalk bluffs
Carl & Leisa, tuckered out after a long day.

fossil gastropods
Steve's finds, all cleaned up and protective coating applied.

fossil ammonite
Nice Ammonite found by Claire (after cleaning)

fossil ammonite
Another view of the ammonite.

chalk shelf with fossils in matrix
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".