first time in many
years it was
warm and the sun was shining at Weiss Lake in NE Alabama instead of
snowing or sleeting, resulting in a turn-out of 17+ members.
Our first stop was at a new site exposing nodules from the
shale of the
Conasauga Fm, Dresbachian stage, late Cambrian approx. 515 million
years old. Here we found over 20 "Brooksella" which are
believed
to be the internal mold of a "primitive jellyfish". The most
that
anyone can remember finding on any trip were 3, so everyone got at
least one specimen.
The second stop was an old BPS stand-by trilobite site from
the middle
Cambrian Conasauga Fm. Albertan stage 530 million years
old. Here everyone found a number and variety of trilobites
both
on nodules and by splitting the shale exposed on the beach.
Cephalon (heads), pygidium (tails), and in a few cases whole specimens
of the following were found: Coosella, Coosia superba,
Kingstonia, Densonella, Holcacephalus, and Norwoodella.
We made an interesting trip to a third stop which turned out
to be
unproductive. But it did include being lead into the site by
some
locals on horseback, and one of our younger members got a ride on one
of the horses.
Then we moved on to our fourth and final site that Steve C.
found on a
scouting trip near Cedar Bluff. This site was still in the
shales
of the Cambrian (but not sure what stage) and deserves a closer look
when time allows because even though not many trilobites were found,
the pieces that were found seemed to be large ones, possibly of
Tricrepicephalus.
--Edited by Vicki Lais
Below
are
some great photos
Greg took
with his new digital microscope. Other photos courtesy Vicki
Lais.
BPS members searching for Brooksella at a site that hasn't been visited
in many years.
Showing
off their finds.
A
new site. Found a large trilobite here, but was getting late, and
only did a short site survey.
One never knows what
opportunities might
arise. Young Steve got the ride
of his life from one of the locals who guided us to a site.
Nice find! 