A trip
to Blount County
gave BPS a
chance to visit "crinoid stem central!"
While out on
a service call, Greg had the good fortune to meet a lady who had just
seen him on TV the night before, talking about the Homewood Library
fossil exhibit. She and her next door neighbor turned out to
be
real fossil enthusiasts. BPS members were invited to meet at
her
home to see samples of crinoids and trilobites we would be collecting,
and go to the first site, which was nearby. Another
attraction
was the butterfly
population. Her garden is full of Monarch-friendly
plants. Monarch chrysalis were everywhere, and we watched two
recently emerged butterflies drying and stretching their new wings
before taking flight. Breathtaking! What
a wonderful
opportunity to
see these gorgeous creatures and to find so many
excellent fossils.
After the butterfly viewing, we then convoyed to a quarry of
Mississippian age Fort Payne chert where we had
permission to hunt the whole day! Doesn't get much better
than
this, and the weather was absolutely perfect! Along with more
large crinoid stems, several kinds of coral, brachiopods and a few
trilobite pieces were found. Quite
a few of us
found beautiful geodes and concluded that this is just about as
exciting as the fossils. They certainly are gorgeous
souvenirs.
Later in the afternoon, a few of us sneaked off to one of
Greg's
barbecue spots and chowed down on some excellent vittles while our more
dedicated crew-members devoted themselves to the task at
hand. Well, you can't have
everything.
Sometimes a blackberry cobbler just has your name on it.
--Edited by Vicki Lais
(pictures
courtesy Bill Fowler
and Vicki Lais)
Our
first stop of the day, where we found Monarch chrysalis on numerous
surfaces, including plants and house siding. This chrysalis
has
turned clear, and you can see the butterfly inside. There
were
several newly emerged Monarch butterflies slowly pumping their wings,
waiting for them to harden (that's what everyone's staring at
on
the porch.)
We
had a great turnout and beautiful weather; here we pose for a group
picture before setting off on our day's adventure.
The
first fossil stop, a gravel road paved with chert from the
Mississippian age. Almost all the rocks have crinoid stems or
impressions in them.
Examining
recent finds.
Samples
of fossils found today.
On
to the next stop at a nearby quarry which was large, hilly and had
multiple collecting areas. Everyone scattered in different
directions to collect, so it was difficult to get closeups of people
and their finds during the day.
Crinoid
stems in matrix.
Crinoid
stems.
Crinoid
stems. Click picture for closer view.
Horned coral found by Bill.
Clockwise, from upper left - unknown (possible stromatolite),
possible
burrow, part of a trilobite and shell, bryozoan.
Small trilobite found by Bill, magnified.
Large
trilobite found by Bill. This is what we came for, he
must
have found their secret hiding place!
Coral.
Part of a trilobite.
Crinoid encrusted rock.