May 16, 2009 - Cretaceous Fossils, Sumter County, AL
Old hands as well as new joined up early on Saturday morning for a trip to some great Cretaceous gully sites in West Alabama. Dr. John Hall and Dr. Andy Rindsberg, both from the University of West Alabama, led us down chalk roads (more later on the chalk roads!) and through the woods to the bottom of the ancient ocean. The landscape looked like the remains of an ancient clam-bake! Literally MILLIONS of fossilized shells including exogyra, various clams, shark and sawfish teeth, crab claws, oyster shells, echinoid spines, and at least one small shark vertebra. One of our teen-aged guests, Megan, discovered a large Rudist clam. This was only her second trip with BPS and her find was sufficiently rare from this location that Dr. Hall claimed it for the nascent Black Belt Museum in Livingston. Her name will remain with it and she will get a letter of recognition.
Many who drove up from Birmingham were watching the weather, and at least one member called to see if the trip had been cancelled. Cancelled??? Hey, this is BPS, guys! But later in the day rumbling could be heard and the clouds looked angry. The landowner sent word that the rain was about an hour away, so we started moseying back to the cars. Oops, not fast enough, we were drenched by the time we made it back to the field. So. How many people remember James Lamb telling us over and over - GET OUT OF THE GULLIES BEFORE IT STARTS RAINING??? Let's see. . . chalk . . clay . . water . . slick . . stuck in mud. Yeah, right. At least 3 vehicles had to be pushed out, um, slid out, perhaps? Needless to say, we were all pumped up with adrenaline by the time we made it back up the long winding road to the top of the hill! An exciting trip we will be discussing for years to come!
Edited by Vicki Lais
Pictures courtesy Nancy Lea, Larry Herr, Vicki Lais
Leisa found both halves of a large exogyra.
Megan has found a large section of Rudistid clam. This type clam is unusual at this location, and will be taken back to the University of West Alabama for study.
Top and bottom of an exogyra.
Hundreds of shells on the gully floor.
Echinoid (sea urchin) spine.
When we finally got back to the top of the hill, the landowners son helped wash off the thick clods of mud that were practically filling our wheelwells. Here we are waiting in line for our turn with the hose.
Becky searching the bottom and sides of a gully.
View of the group finding shark teeth and echinoid spines.
Mike heading back to the car to unload his fossil finds.
Our first sighting of the gullies. BPS has never visited this set of gullies, and they have rarely been collected, so we are anxious to start searching.
Couple of badly worn shark teeth, fish tooth (enchodus?), echinoid spine and small part of crab leg.
Nancy and her two young charges searching along the edge of the chalk.
Joshua has found an exogyra with both halves. It's easy finding just bottoms, or just tops, but matching pieces are much more difficult.
Joey holding an exogyra with both sides found.
Megan is showing Drs. Rindsberg and Hall where the rudist was found. After careful searching, several more pieces were found.
View towards the far end of the first gully where most of the shark teeth and sawfish teeth were found. Where is everyone? They all scattered to the many gullies in the area, and so most did not get photos taken.
Joey's box of fossils.
Jan finally gets his turn with the hose.
Leisa has found a nice shark tooth and sawfish tooth.
Well, we didn't make it out of the site fast enough. The white chalk is like ice when it gets wet, so slick you can barely stand on it. These guys were slipping and sliding trying to push this car up a slight incline. We put branches and limbs under it to get traction.
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