A trip to a quarry in the Mississippian age, Fort Payne chert was on the schedule for BPS' field trip in September. It was a beautiful day with a good turnout. THe quarry had been dug out since out last visit so we were able to look around the freshly-exposed areas. Sylvie and Michael made a heroic effort to find a trilobite in some of the material that resembled Frog Mtn. formation, but to no avail. We wandered freely over the huge quarry area, finding crinoid stems, brachiopods, corals and a number of nice geodes. The chert is lightweight and filled with cavities, leaving behind molds of long-ago crinoids.
Lunch break at the Top Hat Barbecue gave us a chance to cool off a little, since the heat was pretty intense. However, the troops headed back to the quarry after lunch for a full afternoon of collecting.
--Photos courtesy Vicki Lais
Crinoid.
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