Pennsylvanian

December 16, 2000 - Pennsylvanian Fossils, Walker Co, AL

by Ron Buta, Department of Physics and Astronomy

University of Alabama
Tuscaloosa, Alabama

The Union Chapel Mine is now known to be one of the best Lower Pennsylvanian track sites in North America. During December, the mine was in the process of reclamation, and the BPS returned one more time as a group to search for trackways among turned-over spoil piles in one of the most productive areas of the site. About 15 BPS members and several newcomers attended the field trip on a pleasant mid-December day.

Figure 1: Trackway of a likely arthropod. Each print is a small spot.

When we arrived at the site, only one small area was not reclaimed. This particular area was one which had yielded many good tracks in the past and so we were all delighted to see that the mine workers had moved some of the old rock piles around, allowing us to see if any new material had been exposed. In spite of this, we all had difficulty finding any new high quality tracks. Nevertheless, there were still tracks to be found. I found the interesting specimen shown in Figure 1. It appears to be the trackway of an arthropod, where each track is a small roundish spot. In the significant collection of track photos which the BPS "track meets" have provided, I had not seen another set like this one. I also found the tracks shown in Figures 2 and 3.

Figure 2: Trackway of another likely arthropod, notable for its asymmetry and strong trail-dragging mark

Figure 3: Two tracks of an Attenosaurus subulensis, a common alligator-like amphibian from the Union Chapel site.

On the reclaimed areas and in the overturned area, one can still find nice plant fossils at this site. Figure 4 shows an especially nice set of ferns from a split rock. Most interesting is how strong the stem of these ferns is.

Figure 4: Strong fern impressions from a split rock.

Figure 5 shows brown ferns of the genus Neuropteris, which was common at this mine.

Figure 5: Beautiful Neuropteris ferns defined by iron compound deposits.

Figure 6 shows a single large seed impression of a seed fern. This is how such seeds are often found.

Figure 6: A seed impression, Trigonocarpus.

However, I found another rock in the overturned area having more than a dozen seed impressions. Several of these are shown in Figure 7.

Figure 7: Part of a slab showing numerous seed impressions

The ferns they are associated with are shown in Figure 8. Jim Lacefield discusses the seeds of seed ferns on page 66 of his new book, "Lost Worlds in Alabama Rocks", and gives a wonderful general discussion of the Coal Age in Alabama and what happened to the seed ferns.

Figure 8: Part of the same slab showing another seed impression among the ferns likely associated with the seeds

The reclamation of the Union Chapel Mine caps off a spectacular year of discovery for the BPS, and the Union Chapel experience marks the beginning of a remarkable cooperation between BPS amateur rock collectors and two professional organizations, the Geological Survey of Alabama and the Alabama Museum of Natural History on this new project. The more than 500 track specimens salvaged by BPS members and guests since January 23, 2000 are currently being researched by professional paleontologists. Hundreds of high quality plant fossils were also salvaged and will eventually be studied. We will no doubt be talking about the experience for years to come.

May 28, 2000 - Pennsylvanian Fossils, Walker Co, AL

This collecting site continues to be popular with the BPS, today’s field trip being the third organized visit in only four months. There were good reasons for returning to the site at this time. First, it is still rich in amphibian tracks and plant fossils, in spite of the many people visiting the site during the past four months. Second, we were informed by the owner of the mine that reclamation of the Union Chapel Mine would begin in late May, and that this may enhance our ability to find new and interesting material that had been previously buried in the rock piles. However, the reclamation effort has been stalled for a variety of reasons, and I have heard that full-scale reclamation might not start until August. Nevertheless, the unmoved piles still yield good specimens, and it is still possible to find good quality tracks lying exposed in spite of the many visits people have made to the mine. Sometimes pieces are missed because of a poor Sun angle or because people are tired when they pass an area and simply don’t notice a track specimen.

I felt like I had a "good day" today for track and plant fossils from this site. The first picture shows a fine set of amphibian tracks with at least four toes. Note how the size of the tracks alternate, as if the hind and forefeet have different sizes.
	Fig. 1 - Small amphibian tracks with at least four toes. The tracks resemble those of the genus Cincosaurus cobbi in Museum Paper No. 9, by Aldrich and Jones (1930). However, the tracks here are much smaller than those illustrated in their article.

The second picture shows tracks of a somewhat different creature, again with at least four toes and possible evidence of a pad.
	Fig. 2 - Another set of small tracks with four toes and evidence for a pad.

The third and fourth pictures show a fine set of tracks whose visibility depends on the Sun angle when dry. I noticed these tracks after splitting a rock. The two halves, giving direct and inverse impressions, were wet and the tracks obvious. However, after the pieces dried in the back of my truck, I could not see the tracks! This set is interesting because it looks like the creature was walking around an obstacle of some some sort.

Fig. 3 - A small set of tracks where the creature apparently walked around an obstacle of unknown nature. This set also resembles Cincosaurus cobbi, but are nuch smaller than the ones illustrated in Aldrich and Jones 1930.


	Fig. 4 - Close up of part of the tracks in the previous picture.

The fifth picture shows a definite trace fossil that is likely connected to a fish. The picture shows two doubled sine waves, and at least one wave has four peaks on the whole rock. The sine waves could be due to fins scraping the bottom, and perhaps two fish made these tracks, each with a pair of fins touching the mud.
	Fig. 5 - Possible trace fossils of fish fins swishing along bottom of shallow water or swampy area.

The sixth picture shows an interesting trunk cast of a small tree. I had a hard hat on this visit, and felt emboldened to go a little closer to the high wall than I had been before. I found this stunning small trunk near but not exactly at the wall. I call this the "Devil’s Tower" specimen because it strongly resembles Devil’s Tower in Wyoming. The black verticle bands represent carbonized plant material, and I suspect the tree was a species of Sigillaria. Since it tapers a little, I also suspect the piece was near the bottom of the trunk.

Fig. 6 - The "Devil’s Tower" specimen, a trunk cast of small lycopod, probably of the genus Sigillaria.

The seventh picture shows a variety of typical bark impressions and a small cast of a Calamites pith I found on this day. The bark impressions are of the genus Lepidophloios, by far the most abundant type at this site. This is in great contrast to the Warrior construction site (see BPS field trip report for March 27, 1999), where hundreds of bark impressions of Lepidodendron have been found, but no definite pieces of Lepidophloios.

Fig. 7 - Various bark impressions of Lepidophloios and a Calamites medullary cast fossil

Other Track Impressions
	Fig. 8 - A medium sized set of a few tracks, likely to be Cincosaurus jonesii (Aldrich and Jones 1930).

The final pictures I show are of a few tracks found on different days but which have not been shown in previous reports.
	Fig. 9 - A small set of tracks with three clear toes, probably of the genus Cincosaurus.

Fig. 10 - Small tracks of unknown creature, from part of a much larger slab with 3 or 4 criss-crossing tracks. Each track is less than a penny in size.

Fig. 11 - This piece shows two different sets of tracks, one larger set going left, and a smaller set going right. The two sets overlap, giving a confusing pattern of overlapping prints.

Fig. 12 - This piece includes tracks of probably one of the same two creatures in Figure 11.

Alabama

Pennsylvanian

trackways

March 19, 2000 - Pennsylvanian Fossils, Walker Co, AL

Department of Physics and Astronomy
University of Alabama
Tuscaloosa, Alabama

It was decided at the March meeting that the BPS should return to this mine once again as an organized field trip. As I have noted in previous reports, this is a site the BPS visited with great success just two months earlier. The site is rich in footprint fossils of Pennsylvanian amphibians and other creatures. Although the previous organized visit, on January 23, occurred on a rather bleak day, it was nothing like the one today. Rain fell hard all day across most of Alabama and never let up even for a few minutes. Because of the weather, only six people turned up for this outing.

Figure 1 Unusual tracks of one or two large creatures that must have been moving in very wet mud.

In spite of the weather, several of us still found nice tracks and other fossils. I show a few that I picked up here. One large set of tracks I found was lying at the bottom of a rock pile that had been thoroughly searched. After the tracks were cleaned of mud, it looks to me like they are amphibian tracks that were laid down in rather wet mud. The impressions are wide as the creatures' whole body probably sloshed in the mud. There are two sets of tracks on the main piece, and details of one are shown in the close-up.

Figure 2 Close-up of part of the previous specimen, showing likely toe prints flanking the broad body scrape.

Figure 3 Small tracks of one or more creatures that could be Bipedes aspodon.

A much smaller set of tracks I found in a different area has small y-shaped prints in a bit of a random pattern. In Museum Paper No. 9 of the Alabama Museum of Natural History (authors Aldrich and Jones), a creature that produced similar tracks is known as Bipedes aspodon. At least two sets of tracks are also present on this piece. Bipedes aspodon is described by Aldrich and Jones as an animal with only two toes. Although Aldrich and Jones clearly considered the creature to be an amphibian, BPS members who found similar tracks felt they are more likely to be tracks of an arthropod.

Figure 4 Single print of Quadropedia prima, a modest-sized amphibian. At this layer, the track shows five clear toes as well as a pad.

I found some other interesting and larger tracks on a large rock on the well-searched rock piles. I suspected tracks might be inside at a deeper level in this rock. The rock had interesting deposits or formations that covered different layers, but it was not clear what these features might be. After removing many layers of the rock, I did indeed find four footprints of a modest-sized creature which, according to Museum Paper No. 9, is an amphibian known as Quadropedia prima. Aldrich and Jones state that the creature is higher in the scale than most of the species they illustrated in their article, because it walked more like later reptiles. They point out the presence of a distinct pad, which we can see in the pictures I show here. The four prints could be detected at several different layers, and at least one of the prints was well-defined at all of the layers. The appearance of the prints seemed different at different layers, suggesting that some of the variety in the prints we have been finding at the site is due in part to the different layers that were exposed.

Figure 5 Two tracks of the same creature, the one at right being the same foot as in the previous picture, but the print looks different because it is at a different level. At this level, only three toes are seen, with a strong pad.

Other Notes on the Union Chapel Site January 23-March 19, 2000

The Union Chapel Mine was visited many times by BPS members and guests between January 23 and March 19. Ashley Allen brought to the February BPS meeting a huge rock with a set of excellent large amphibian prints. Bruce Relihan brought to the March BPS meeting a large stump cast of a likely Lepidodendron. The stump is more than a foot in diameter and tapers around the edges, as if it were near the bottom of the original trunk. Bruce related the heroic effort he put into getting the huge fossil by himself, which involved building a rock ramp to allow him to get it into his truck. Steve Minkin also brought to the last BPS meeting an excellent set of modest-sized tracks found by his wife.

All in all, the Union Chapel site elicited such great interest and finds that Steve Minkin asked Ed Hooks if the BPS could have a temporary display case at the Alabama Museum of Natural History in Tuscaloosa. Ed agreed to this and some of the new Union Chapel pieces may soon be on display for the public to see!

December 18, 1999 - Pennsylvanian Fossils, Walker Co, AL

During this field trip, the BPS had the pleasure of returning to the Cedrum Surface Coal Mine near Jasper in Walker County, Alabama. Although we had visited this mine only a few months ago (see BPS field trip report for July 24, 1999), there was a sense of urgency connected with our latest visit. The Drummond Company, which operates the mine, was going to shut down operations on December 30, which would then be followed by the normal reclamation effort to restore the area. This meant that the large "spoil piles" we explored in July would soon be gone. Thus, it was decided that we should go back one more time before the reclamation effort to look for plant fossils.

Fig. 1 - A group of attendees enjoys lunch among the eerie barren rock piles

As in July, this visit was hosted by a mine engineerwho instructed us in issues of safety in the mine area. We were delighted to have his wife join us this time and bring several parents and students of various ages who are involved in home schooling. They all seemed to enjoy learning about fossils and to be excited about finding and collecting them.

During this visit we had about 30 BPS members and guests in attendance, a larger than average group. There were so many cars that we were asked to carpool a little to miminize the number of cars in the pit.

I must say that I enjoyed this visit much more than the visit in July. The highlight of the visit in July was our tour of the mining operation and our visit to the "dragline." However, it was so hot that day that fossil collecting was difficult and a little unpleasant. Our focus this time was only on fossil collecting, and the day was cool, calm, a little cloudy, and very pleasant for climbing and searching the rock piles. We also collected in a different area from our July visit. One problem we encountered was that it was rather dry, and the movement of trucks combined with dryness caused the rocks to be very dusty, making it a little difficult to notice the fossils. Thus, it was not especially easy to find good fossils.

Fig. 2 - Calamites impression fossil showing not only the characteristic pith features, but also the actual extent of the trunk

Many of the fossils that attendees did find were very good. I can describe a few that I brought home. Being a little slow in heading towards the main rock piles, I stopped at a rock that others had seen but had passed up because of its size. The rock included a foot-long Calamites pith impression that I thought was interesting because it includes about 20 nodes. There is more than just the pith, however. The pith is surrounded by a wider pattern that may give the true dimension of the trunk, since the sediment was obviously impacted by the plant over this wider area. The specimen looked much better after it was cleaned, and I show a picture of it here.

Fig. 3 - Unusual Sphenopteris fern with three-tip leaflets also resembling somewhat the seed fern Rhodea

Bruce Relihan found a large rock on a pile that turned out to have a variety of fossils in it, which he generously shared with me. The main fossils in the rock were Sphenopteris ferns of high quality, but also I was impressed to see excellent specimens of Spenophyllum, a genus of small land plants with wedge-shaped leaves. The shape of Sphenophyllum is a circular pattern with radial pinnules. I show two types of likely Sphenopteris ferns here. The first has very thin pinnules and reminds me of Sphenopteris elegans, shown in a book: "Plant Fossils of West Virgina" by Gillespie et al. (1978). The second is a beautiful, larger fern that looks different but I think is still the same genus.

Fig. 4 - Beautiful Sphenopteris fern of different species from the previous one, but from the same rock

Don McDonald found a rock with what looked like nice specimens of Asterophyllites, one of the forms of the foliage connected with Calamites. The rock was very large and it was difficult to extract intact pieces.

Fig. 5 - Reconstructed portion of a large strap-shaped leaf of Cordaites

This was a common problem because much of the rock at this site is shale, and splitting rocks means some fossils may break or even disintegrate.

This nearly happened to me on the next fossil I found. Near where Don was working, I found the interesting fossil shown here. It broke up when I started to try and extract it, but the pieces could be put together like a puzzle as in the photograph. At first, I thought this was a Calamites impression, but the long striations and the narrowing of the fossil towards its end reveals this to be a giant strap-shaped leaf of Cordaites. Note the lack of any nodes, which rules out the Calamites interpretation completely.

Matthew Valente, who came as a guest with Jim and Faye Lacefield, found a round-leafed fossil fern that I had not seen before. Matthew tentatively identified it as Mariopteris robusta. According to Jim, this is a common species near the south part of the well-known Warrior Basin, but it is not common in Walker County where Cedrum is located.

This field trip was combined with our traditional "Christmas season gathering" and several members brought the fixings for our lunch that were shared by everyone. Thanks to Jim Lacefield and James Lowery for comments and additions to this report, and especially to Steve Minkin and his son for making and bringing the delicious gumbo as our main course!

--Edited by Vicki Lais

Photos by Larry Hensley

Cedrum Surface Mine in Walker Co., Alabama, Dec. 18, 1999 -- BPS Members in the Huge Dragline Bucket

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Pennsylvanian

December 16, 2000 - Pennsylvanian Fossils, Walker Co, AL

May 28, 2000 - Pennsylvanian Fossils, Walker Co, AL

March 19, 2000 - Pennsylvanian Fossils, Walker Co, AL

December 18, 1999 - Pennsylvanian Fossils, Walker Co, AL

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