Past Field Trips

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Sandersville
September 20, 2014

by Toby Stewart

It was a beautiful sunny day September 20, when Cobb County Gem and Mineral Society Inc., hosted the September trip to Sandersville, GA. Dr. John Anderson, CCGMS Field Trip Team Member, Paleontologist and Dean at Virginia Western in Roanoke, Virginia led the trip. John has conducted extensive research and published his findings on fossils in the Sandersville Limestone so he was the perfect person to answer all the questions that the fossil hunters had as they found pieces of bone, shark coprolite or other fossil remains in their sifting frame. Geologists Bill Waggener and Dion Stewart added their help and expertise to the field trip.

A beautiful day and low waters made for great collecting!
Sand dollars newly extrated. Notice the green on the upper right and center sand dollar, that was the indication that the sand dollar was in the bank.

We collected fossils in a creek that has, over time weathered the limestone countryside into a karst topography with sinkholes and natural bridges. The fossils we collected were found in the Sandersville Limestone and Upper Eocene Jacksonian marine unit which formed between 26 to 28 million years ago when ancient seas covered this area of Georgia. Fossil hunters sifted the sand and gravels of the creek finding skate teeth, shark teeth, shark coprolite, manatee and reptile bones as well as invertebrates including echnoids, oysters and gastropods

There were many fossilized sand dollars hiding in the limestone banks of the creek. Our geology team helped participants to recognize the small discrete signs of sand dollars showing a small edge in the bank. They then demonstrated how to carefully remove the sand dollars with chisels and hammers without chipping or breaking the sand dollar. They also gave suggestions on how to clean the sand dollars after the trip.

Sand dollars after a quick cleaning.
Shirley and Lawrence found an impressive variety of fossils!

All of the participants found a wide variety of fossils during the trip. The best finds of the day were an especially large shark tooth and a whale found by two happy fossil hunters! Members from seven different DMC clubs were able to attend the trip which was limited to 38 participants due to private land restrictions. A great assortment of snacks, and small plastic containers to put fossils of shark and skate teeth in were provided by Ginger and Paul Lessard.

Thanks to John, Dion, Bill, Ginger and Paul for helping to make our DMC both a lot of fun and a big success!

 
CCGMS Members Janie, Ginger and Bob sift through the gravels and show each other their finds.
Al Klatt's large shark tooth almost matches the size of the Megalodon shark tooth on his T-shirt.
Al shows a big shark tooth compared to his biggest shark tooth find of the day!

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These reports chronicle the details of the fun and adventure of seeking and finding your own rocks, minerals or fossils. Frequently, these trips are repeated. This makes this page a good reference site for future trips. Collecting location specifics won't be included in the report as they generally require special permission to collect. It's important that we protect the privacy of our site owners to avoid unwanted rockhounds searching on their property.

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