After
rounding up the gang (which is a minor miracle in itself!), we hiked
back
to our vehicles for lunches, then headed for the
creek.
Finally, time to get wet and cool off! Out with the sieves,
from
collander baskets to "real" geology sorters, to home made wood-sided
screens. At least a dozen ptychodus teeth turned
up - Claire may be the "winner" on these, she had found 6 at last
count. Every screen we searched
had several shark teeth, and other fossils were also
found, including a large fish vertebra, gastropod steinkerns
(internal molds), worm tubes, and one very nice arrowhead. We
left relatively early (hey, some of us would have stayed til dark if we
could have!), and many of us stopped by a famous BBQ joint to continue
the fun and fossil discussion.
--Edited by Vicki Lais
(photos courtesy Bob Stewart,
Steve Corvin and Vicki Lais)
James Lamb gives a refresher talk on rules about collecting at museum sites,
BPS ethics, and landowner restrictions.
Typical Greene
County, Alabama chalk gully.
James Lamb explaining gully collection techniques.
Even
the younger members had fun.
Flipper
bone of a Tylosaurus found by James Lamb.
Many
"pieces" are scattered throughtout the gully, and according to James Lamb, they are all fossils.
Small
piece of turtle shell found by Bob.
Some
typical fossils found in chalk gullies - one finds hundreds of worm
tubes, and only a few shark teeth.
Shark
teeth are "normal" to find in gullies, but Sylvie found one whose
size is truly spectacular for these gullies!
Large
ammonite section found by Vicki.
Mosasaur
vertebra found by James Lamb (right beside Vicki's foot, darn it!)
Fish
vertebra.
Nice
mosasaur tooth.
Another
piece of ammonite.
Small
mosasaur vertebra found by Leisa as we were leaving the gullies
"Everybody just stepped right over it or passed it by without noticing".
After
lunch we headed to the creek to screen for teeth and whatever else we
might find.
One
of the many ptychodus teeth found in the creek.
Typical
finds after washing the sand/mud from the gravel - notice the shark
teeth and the piece of bone.
Another
load of "pay dirt" - fish vertebra, shark teeth, ptychodus
tooth.
Closer
shot of the fish vertebra.
Nice
internal mold of a gastropod.
A
laid back group, keeping cool, having fun. There were various
groupings of people all along the creek - some went upstream, some went
downstream. James Lamb is collecting material to be used in an
upcoming exhibit at McWane Science Center.
How
many shark teeth can you see in this picture?
Sample
of teeth found by Bob.
Wesley
found a very nice point.
Headed
home after a wonderfully pleasant day of collecting!
Once again, the group ended the day with a fine opportunity
to hang out
together at The Swamp, a kinda - sorta local eatery (only 20 minutes
away, huh, Greg?) where we stayed way too long,
but enjoyed the time spent with fellow fossil hounds.
(Pictures
courtesy Jan Novak and Vicki Lais.)
Searching
for shells, teeth and horned coral in the clay
banks.
Note how high the water is behind us.
Shells in matrix. They are very fragile and crumble easily,
so
are difficult to collect whole.
Ok,
this isn't very productive, on to the next site!
At
our second site, the water was high so a safety rope was necessary.
The
site is cretaceous. Each layer has a unique set of
fossils.
Searching
for echinoids and shark teeth.
Greg explaining proper excavation techniques.
Ron found an unusual heart-shaped item which turned out to be a disk
from a dear vertebra. It is very light-weight and recent, not
a fossil.
Fragments
found here are still being identified. Look just
above
the yellow handle to see the first "rocks", then straight to the
left. There are some more fragments in the upper right
quadrant. Some are probably turtle.
Greg
has exposed more fragments, probably turtle.
James
had an opportunity to practice making a protective plaster jacket.
Tracks
of a recent visitor, a large alligator . . .
Paige,
get out of the water, you look just like gator bait!
Ron's
other interest is gold panning, and he gave some of us a demo,
using gold bearing material he found in Georgia.
Greg,
turn around! They told me to quit taking pictures of
people's rear ends!
What a group of tired, sweaty people. So where do
we go to cool
off and relax a while?
The
Swamp, of course! Our favorite restaurant on the Alabama
River.