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Hunting In Alabama?


Little_Foot

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Hey all, so my sister in law is getting married next year (summer maybe?) so we'll be in Alabama and hoping to get some fossil hunting in. We will probably be in either Tuscaloosa, Sunflower, or Chatom, but we're up for traveling around a bit. Does anyone know of any decent spots in AL? (that you're willing to share of course. :P ) Thanks!

Бо́гу моли́сь, а добра́-ума́ держи́сь.

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Hey I copy and pasted this from the fossil dictionary. Hope this helps,

Dalmanites14

Southern Alabama near the town of Andalusia, below Point-A Dam on the Conecuh river. Several species of sharks' teeth, several types of fish teeth, even sea snake vertebrae. The site is Eocene.

Near Weiss Lake (formerly the Coosa River before they dammed it and covered up what were apparently very nice outcroppings of Conasauga shale that Walcott collected at) are outcroppings into some neat stuff that spans from the Ordovician right on through to the Devonian. Look for large roadcuts along I-59 in the mountainous. Some nice trace fossils (burrows, trails, tracks, etc.) can be found there, as well as a mish-mash of Paleozoic invertebrates (brachs, bryozoans, crinoid bits, rugose corals, and an occasional piece of a trilobite).

Near Montevalo, a road cut into a shale outcropping, contains numerous well-preserved graptolites on a shale ranging in color from light cream to black. It is accessed from State Road 25, west of I-65. Heading toward Montevalo on 25, at some point on the left will be a road cut that looks at first like it is composed entirely of red clay. Jutting out from the clay will be outcroppings of brownish colored shale, blackish colored shale, and many shades in between. The best hunting seems to be in the brownish colored shale which tends to form squarish blocks.

Near Huntsville, roadcuts going up the east side and near the top of Monte Sano Mountain on Hwy 431 (Governor's Drive) have fossiliferous limestone from the Mississippian. Some are practically made of crinoid segments, with brachiopods, blastoids, and other invertebrates common in the matrix.

Russell County, road cuts on each side of Route 165, 2.3 miles south of the city of Holy Trinity. Mollusks are found from the Blufftown Formation. The Bluffton is also exposed on Route 4, approx.1 mile east of US Route 4 below Coolspring Baptist Church east of Pittsview, on Route 13, 2.5 miles SE of intersection with Route 29, and on Route 39, 0.3 miles south of intersection with Route 165.

Russell County, Route 51, 11.1 miles north of Hurtsboro. Large numbers of Ostrea cretacea are found from the Eutaw Formation.

Russell County, on the road cut on NE side of the intersection between US 431 and Route 165, occasional shark teeth are found within the Eutaw Formation.

Bullock County, road cuts on US 82 from the western city limits of Union Springs to west of intersection with Route 7. Exogyra erraticostata, oysters, mollusk casts, and shark teeth are found in the Cusseta Sand.

Barbour County, in roadcuts along both sides of Route 97, 3.8 to 4.0 miles north of intersection with US 431, NW of Eufaula, oysters, ray, and sawfish teeth are found in the Ripley Formation.

Lowndes County, roadcuts along Route 263 from 0.4 to 3.3 miles south of intersection with Route 21 expose the Ripley Formation. Exogyra costata, Flemingostrea subspatulata, casts of mollusks, oysters, and rare echinoids and ammonites are found.

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Wow, that seems like some really good info on sites in AL. Does anyone ever capture this sort of info to save here on TFF? I know there are "links" out there on the web for collecting sites, but when you get details like this from another collector, seems like good info that ought to be captured. If nothing else, I know I copy and paste stuff like this into Word documents and save it for myself.

Daryl S.

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Little Foot,

You should be aware that that list of sites is out of date in a major way. In particular, roadcuts in soft unconsolidated rock get overgrown very quickly down here, in just a few years they may be all but indistinguishable. I'll append my comments to each of the sites below, but I would really recommend that you just put the word out once you have actual dates when you will be around, and I'm sure if it's possible to do so some Forum members will be happy to meet up with you and show you around. There are some good sites around, but no-one will post them here as they would be collected to death within weeks.

Now about the sites on the list:

Southern Alabama near the town of Andalusia, below Point-A Dam on the Conecuh river. Several species of sharks' teeth, several types of fish teeth, even sea snake vertebrae. The site is Eocene. This is the Point A dam site that has been discussed several times in various forums. It is a viable possibility.

Near Weiss Lake (formerly the Coosa River before they dammed it and covered up what were apparently very nice outcroppings of Conasauga shale that Walcott collected at) are outcroppings into some neat stuff that spans from the Ordovician right on through to the Devonian. Look for large roadcuts along I-59 in the mountainous. Some nice trace fossils (burrows, trails, tracks, etc.) can be found there, as well as a mish-mash of Paleozoic invertebrates (brachs, bryozoans, crinoid bits, rugose corals, and an occasional piece of a trilobite). The productive Cambrian parts are under now water most of the year, some can be accessed during a couple of weeks/months in the winter when the lake level is lowered. Probably not viable for a summer trip.

Near Montevalo, a road cut into a shale outcropping, contains numerous well-preserved graptolites on a shale ranging in color from light cream to black. It is accessed from State Road 25, west of I-65. Heading toward Montevalo on 25, at some point on the left will be a road cut that looks at first like it is composed entirely of red clay. Jutting out from the clay will be outcroppings of brownish colored shale, blackish colored shale, and many shades in between. The best hunting seems to be in the brownish colored shale which tends to form squarish blocks. The outcrop is still there, but is very overgrown so you need to know exactly where to look. In the summer the Kudzu covers it to a thickness of a foot or more. Basically, you would be probing through Kudzu to pull out small blocks of shale to split, all for some not-fantastically-preserved graptolites.

Near Huntsville, roadcuts going up the east side and near the top of Monte Sano Mountain on Hwy 431 (Governor's Drive) have fossiliferous limestone from the Mississippian. Some are practically made of crinoid segments, with brachiopods, blastoids, and other invertebrates common in the matrix. I recall a post from Northern Alabama Hunter (Del) to the effect that this site is heavily over-collected. Also, some of the best parts have apparently been paved over for access to private developments.

Russell County, road cuts on each side of Route 165, 2.3 miles south of the city of Holy Trinity. Mollusks are found from the Blufftown Formation. The Bluffton is also exposed on Route 4, approx.1 mile east of US Route 4 below Coolspring Baptist Church east of Pittsview, on Route 13, 2.5 miles SE of intersection with Route 29, and on Route 39, 0.3 miles south of intersection with Route 165. All I have found there were oysters, i.e. Exogyra ponderosa, some Flemingostra, and lots of Anomia. No calcitic fossils, no shark teeth. Not very exciting.

Russell County, Route 51, 11.1 miles north of Hurtsboro. Large numbers of Ostrea cretacea are found from the Eutaw Formation. Yep, lots of Ostra cretacea, possibly the world's most boring oyster. I didn't find anything else there.

Russell County, on the road cut on NE side of the intersection between US 431 and Route 165, occasional shark teeth are found within the Eutaw Formation. I didn't find any shark teeth, but I only stopped for about an hour.

Bullock County, road cuts on US 82 from the western city limits of Union Springs to west of intersection with Route 7. Exogyra erraticostata, oysters, mollusk casts, and shark teeth are found in the Cusseta Sand. I have not been to this site.

Barbour County, in roadcuts along both sides of Route 97, 3.8 to 4.0 miles north of intersection with US 431, NW of Eufaula, oysters, ray, and sawfish teeth are found in the Ripley Formation. I have not been to this site.

Lowndes County, roadcuts along Route 263 from 0.4 to 3.3 miles south of intersection with Route 21 expose the Ripley Formation. Exogyra costata, Flemingostrea subspatulata, casts of mollusks, oysters, and rare echinoids and ammonites are found. Heavily collected in the past, now also overgrown. Hard to find even an Exogyra, which formerly were abundant.

Don

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:) Nice list of sites there,but I would wait till winter to hunt there.Not trying to make jokes here, but Alabama [DUE TO TORNADO'S ] would be on the back burner for now.I feel sad for everyone there. :(

Bear-dog.

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