permineralized wood

November 2, 2019 - Cretaceous, Chilton, Al

How many attendees does it take to make a great field trip? Today, the answer was four! Maybe it was the cold weather or maybe it was schedule conflicts but, for the folks who came to Chilton County for the field trip, it was very pleasant!

The water in the creek was a little high and was a LOT COLD but that didn’t stop the BPS members who wanted to look for petrified and permineralized wood specimens. The summer drought has kept several sites from the usual surface material turnover so the larger specimens of petrified wood were not evident. Smaller samples were plentiful and the colors and visible petrified wood grain that were seen were beautiful, as usual. Two spectacular Native American artifacts were found as well.

Some interesting local fauna was seen: a busy beaver (seemingly unconcerned by our presence), a pair of racing kingfishers, following the creek and chattering loudly, and a small flock of guinea fowl by the fishing lake. There were tiny minnows in the creek – wonder how they feel about the temperature change?? In spite of the cooler temps, their location is one of the best. We were fortunate to share their space for the day!!

March 30, 2019 - Cretaceous, Chilton County, Alabama

On a very pretty March 30, 2019, a great group of BPS members and guests met at a predetermined spot in Chilton County before a much-needed field trip. On a scouting outing several weeks before, the scouting party ran in to a very chatty and generous landowner. During a pleasant conversation, permission was granted for the group to access his lovely, winding, gravelly creek. On the day of the field trip, the temperature had gone up and the water level had gone down, making creek access not only possible but nearly enjoyable.

The wide gravel bars were covered with small pieces of beautiful permineralized wood. On some, the colors were spectacular but without much detail while others had nice, identifiable wood grain still visible. The majority of pieces were under two or three inches but some very large pieces were found by members wading in deeper parts of the creek. At some point, (not while we were there), a 12-foot permineralized log and a smaller (5’) log was recovered. Goals!!

It’s usually found that time on the water really builds an appetite and this was no exception. A little after mid-day, a lunch break was called and the group set off to the nearby small town where there was a tasty Mexican restaurant. Lunch and conversation were great, as was the trip and day!

Chilton

Cretaceous

permineralized wood

06_jun2_vl_1014-treeVickiLeisa

Wow, looks like we may have to come back to get this one, it won't fit in the canoe . . . .

06_jun2_vl_1010-tree

Forget that, look at the size of that permineralized tree trunk!

06_jun2_vl_1022-tree

Tree trunk breaking into pieces on the bank. Numerous pieces like this were scattered everywhere.

July 30, 2006 - Elmore Co, AL

Yesterday's exhibit setup was fun, but indoors. Several people wanted to go on a field trip in spite of the hot weather and the fact they had an opportunity to get their "fossil fix" for the month yesterday. The small group that was able to come on such short notice split into two so that more areas could be scouted. One group in a canoe had lots of good luck with some great finds (seems Vicki had been to this site years ago, and remembered a stash of permineralized wood hidden in a very inaccessible location), while the other group drove off to try and locate additional access points, without success. Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained. To complete the day properly, some of us went home the long way, via the Wetumpka astrobleme. Another great day in Alabama!

(all photos on this page courtesy Vicki Lais)
large permineralized tree
Large tree on the shore.

large permineralized tree

view of the shoreline and fossil rocks

Leisa checking out clay bank for fossils
Leisa checking out the clay embankment.

shoreline where we hunted for fossils
Parts of the shore were very slick clay/chalk material, and was quite colorful in places.

purple clay shore

searching for fossil wood
Leisa and Jan searching the opposite shoreline.

searching for fossil wood

Most of the shoreline was quite rocky. Many of these pieces are broken up pieces of permineralized wood, but either lacking detail, or too heavy to lug back up the hill to the cars.

searching for fossil wood
Leisa looking through the 1000's of rocks for that special specimen.

schist with garnet
Leisa found some schist, with tiny garnets embedded it it.

nice piece of fossil wood with crystals

site of astrobleme
David and Becky check out the astrobleme site.

site of astrobleme
Layers that were heaved into the "wrong" sequence when the meteor hit.

site of astrobleme

Elmore

Alabama

permineralized wood

June 25, 2005 - Cretaceous Fossils, Chilton Co, AL

This month, BPS members and guests returned to a creek in Chilton county that hasn't been visited by the group in about 6 years. The weather was perfect, and the creek was ideal for cooling off. We obtained permission to enter the creek at a new location, and everyone found numerous specimens of Cretaceous age petrified/ permineralized wood, from the Gordo Formation. Permineralized wood forms in this environment because of the presence of dissolved silica within the groundwater, which gradually replaces the cells in the wood. A few of the specimens collected showed signs of having small crystals on them at one time in the past, but the crystals were almost worn completely off by the tumbling action of the water and rocks.

(Pictures courtesy Lea Martin and Vicki Lais.)

Hanging out at the meeting location, waiting for everyone to arrive.

Just hanging out. Claire was busy distributing BPS T-shirts that had been purchased for our fund-raiser.

checking the map for fossils
Vicki and Loni are stretching out the aerial map of the creek, preparing to give an overview of the geology of the area and show the collecting sites to the group.

Our initial view of the creek, checking out the gravel bars.

hunting fossil wood by creek

Rick brought a hoe to tease the rocks, which worked very well.

hunting fossil wood by creek

Walking along a large sand and gravel embankment. Roger was visiting relatives in Alabama and decided to join us, and found some nice pieces of wood. Hope your vacation was memorable!

Gravel bars were quite wide in some locations.

hunting fossil wood by creek
Nancy searching off the beaten path.

hunting fossil wood by creek
Claire showing off one of her first finds.

showing off permineralized wood
A closer look

Paige with some of her finds.

Claire fishing for a nice piece of wood, you can see the dark image under the water.

The water looks deep, but in most places you will barely get your knees wet crossing to the other bank.

hunting fossil wood by creek
Rick lives in Chilton county, and obtained permission from the local landowners for BPS members to collect in several spots on the creek. A big thank you to Rick from all of us!

Loni is back after an absence of almost 15 years - Welcome Back, Loni!

This is a view through the water, which is about 1 foot deep at this point. Bottom of sand and gravel looks remarkably like pudding-stone. Some of the better petrified wood specimens were found in the water.

hunting fossil wood by creek
Rychard and Vicki, setting up for a photo op.

permineralized wood
This is what we see as we walk along the bank of the creek. Notice how the piece of petrified wood blends in with the pebbles. Also, in many cases, the pebbles are actually very worn pieces of wood, so worn that one would never be able to convince a novice that it really was wood! When one taps pieces of the wood together, it sounds like tapping drinking glasses together.

permineralized wood
Another piece of petrified wood hidden among the gravel. Some of us also collected the multi colored pebbles.

An outcrop of mottled red and pale red-purple clay, an indicator of the Gordo Formation. There are small outcrops in some areas, and other areas are all red-purple clay, with no sand and gravel bars at all. Some parts of the creek bed are also covered in this material, so it is important to be able to see the bottom as one is wading in the creek, as the clay is extremely slick, and you need to walk on the gravel or sand instead.

hunting fossil wood by creek
And here goes Paige fishing in the water. . . .

Another nice specimen "caught" by Paige.

hunting fossil wood by creek
And now it's Rychard's turn. . .

Rychard found some large pieces of wood that were badly weathered.

A small feeder creek draining into the main creek.

More pieces of wood. This creek location is known for wood, and wood was the only fossil found on this trip.

End of the day, plumb tuckered out. Claire with the nice sized section of wood she found midstream (see picture above) And yes, we get hot, wet, dirty, and sweaty on these trips, and have a wonderful time doing it!

July 31, 2004 - Monroe Co, AL

This month BPS members headed to Monroe County in South Alabama, where we collected in the Lisbon Formation and Gosport Sand. Steve and Gilbert took their boats, so we spent the day scouting several miles along the riverbanks. Due to rain earlier in the week, the water level had risen 6-8 feet since the scouting trip, so the ledges were mostly underwater, and our collecting was restricted to the upper reaches. Numerous gastropods, turritella and trace fossils that appear to be burrows of some kind were found, also a few shark teeth, echinoids, and even a piece of permineralized wood were found. Some of the bivalves were complete and hardened. Many of the turritella and other shells found in the Gosport Sand were so fragile that it took careful digging to keep the shells from dissolving as they were touched. When broken open, a number of the "burrows" had shells inside them. Wildlife was also spotted, including an alligator and alligator tracks, numerous herons, and Steve spotted the largest water moccasin he had ever seen in his many years in the outdoors, startled him so much he threw his fossils in the river beating a path back to the boat! Sorry 'bout that, Steve!

Members participating in this long trip were Greg, Jan, Steve, Leisa, Gilbert, Carolyn, Vicki, Nancy and Miss Daisy.

(Photos courtesy Nancy Kenfield, Steve Corvin, and Vicki Lais)

Along the shoreline.