Visitor
Paleozoic
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.
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".
April 3, 2010 - Pennsylvanian Fossils, Shelby Co. AL
On a chilly rainy day a few BPS members braved the weather to view a spectacular waterfall in Shelby County. After the waterfall hike another stop was made to find some wonderful plant material.
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.
January 16-17, 2010 - Cambrian Fossils, Cherokee Co, AL
This weekend trip to northeast Alabama was delayed due to several weeks of below freezing weather. When the day arrived, a high percent of rain was predicted. However, being the troopers we are, and seeing that it has been so long since we've been on a field trip, 21 of us showed up anyhow! Amazingly, the weather cooperated. A light drizzle first thing in the morning that cleared up by mid-day, and the temperature rose to 50. We were excited, and Bob had brought his boat so we could go to our favorite site on the lake. We got to our first collecting location, and began scrounging through the pebbles. Nothing. More looking. Still nothing. This is the first time in many years that we have had such poor collecting at this site, and since we missed coming for the past 2 years, we thought more would have been washed in. Not. So, off we went to a different site that the group hasn't been to. A few of us scouted it 3 years ago and found a few small trilobites. Pickings were slim at this site too. Yes, there was plenty of Conasauga shale, but it was low in trilobites. Ok. Let's go to the main lake site. We showed up there fully intending to put the boat in first. However, the weeks of below freezing weather had frozen the lake! Never had we seen it like this. Several members spent some time skipping rocks on the frozen lake, to see where the ice ended. It didn't. Every rock thrown sat on top of the frozen lake. So we resigned ourselves to collecting near the boat ramp, and saving the other site for another trip.
Eight members stayed in a cabin overnight, playing games, watching tv, and generally having a good time. The next morning, the lake had thawed, but we decided not to go out without the bulk of the group being there. After about an hour of collecting along the lakeshore, we headed home.
Several nice trilobite pieces were found, but the collecting was sparse at all the locations where we stopped. Whether this area played out due to our once a year collecting, or the site is frequently collected by locals and other people who found out about it is unknown, but it looks as if this site may be on the back burner for a while.
Photos courtesy Claire Smith, Ted Nicolle, and Vicki Lais
