August 16, 2008 - Cretaceous - Dallas and Perry Counties, Alabama
Day 1 Friday Day 2 Saturday Day 3 Sunday
A weekend trip to the Cretaceous chalk gullies of Dallas County Alabama and a creek in Perry county turned up numerous fossils. Ancient creatures, including shark, turtle, mosasaur, ptychodus, fish, clam, and ammonite were found during the three day weekend trip.
DAY 2 - SATURDAY
Finally, after a night of gentle rain, around 7am Saturday morning the rain quit, and James Lamb set off to find another site that the large group could access without damage to themselves or the fossils. After tracking down landowners for at least an hour, we were granted permission to collect in a creek in Perry county. And what a nice creek! Along with the adventure of exploring a creek we had never visited, climbing over strainers and up and down steep bluffs, everyone found numerous shark teeth, ptychodus teeth, gastropods, and even a small piece of belemnite with the iridescent sheen still visible.
After leaving the creek, we went back to camp, and once we arrived, we noticed the cows were quite interested in camp and the strange large metal boxes sitting all around their pasture. One was carefully examining a particular red car! After resting and filling our bellies, we decided to check out a gully near camp, to see if it was dry enough to collect. Fortunately it was, and a number of nice specimens were found, including whole shells, mosasaur vertebra, turtle shell, fish vertebra, and worm tubes.
That night at camp Claire took numerous pictures of spider webs, and we listened to everyone's tall tales and tales of past field trips.
(photos courtesy Claire Smith and Vicki Lais)
The gang met on Saturday morning for a day of fossil collecting.
The "put-in" at the first creek, where Greg decided to hang out while we searched for a productive site.
As everyone has gone on ahead, Martha is last in line, and carefully climbs across the strainer.
Now we're told to cross over to another part of the creek with better collecting. Your choice - up the steep bluff, or back through the strainer and hike down a different trail.
Ta-da! Everyone made it safely through the strainer.
Once arriving at the new creek location, we had to climb down an even steeper bank.
Don
Screening for shark teeth in the creek.
Screening for shark teeth.
Screening the gravel in the creek bottom for shark and other teeth.
Scapanorhynchus shark teeth found by screening gravel from the creek.
Screening for shark teeth.
Shark teeth - Cretolamna in upper left, Scapanorhynchus in lower left, ptychodus tooth in middle, turritella gastropod, and belemnite found in the creek.
After a couple of hours back at camp eating, resting, and drying off, we headed out for a late afternoon collecting trip in a nearby gully.
Echinoid or crab fragment, fish vertebra, Hamulus worm tube.
Mosasaur tail vertebra.
Clidastes mosasaur vertebra.
Clidastes mosasaur vertebra.
Several shark vertebra.
Fossil Paranomia shell.
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