Hidden in plain sight

Central Alabama’s severe drought has left little for nature enthusiasts to get excited about, but one group has found a silver lining to the cloudless skies: fossil hunters.

As more of the riverbed of the Cahaba River has become visible, even a leisurely stroll can net several specimens of Coal Age fern impressions in the brittle shale that is plentiful all along the river.

One of those fossil enthusiasts making the best of the dry conditions is Cahaba Heights resident Missy Turner.

Turner is a member of the Alabama Paleontology Society, and she said her interest in geology and hobby of collecting fossils has only grown with the more she has learned.

“I didn’t realize this, but all of Alabama is so diverse,” she said, referring to the state’s paleontological and geological records.

“I just find it fascinating,” she said.

Turner’s Cahaba Heights home is filled with different finds from the Pennsylvanian or Carboniferous Age, often referred to as the Coal Age because of the large pure coal deposits found in the shale. They include tiny imprints of ferns to large pieces of Calamites, the extinct ancestors of modern horsetails that have a bamboo-like appearance.

Her Calamite fossils came from a patch of forest off Sicard Hollow Road near the historic Cahaba Pumping Station, and many of her plant fossils came from the Cahaba River area.

However, fossil finds in Vestavia and greater Birmingham finds are not restricted to river banks and untouched forest.

Turner said one of her biggest finds came when she noticed the construction of the 4700 Colonnade apartment complex had dug into a ridge, exposing a lot of shale.

Just driving by, Turner said she decided to stop and just see if anything interesting had been unearthed.

And there was.

“I could stand in one place and it was like, ‘There’s one. There’s one. There’s one,’” she said. “It was just really amazing.”

So, despite ending up covered in mud and dust, she loaded up her car to save as many pieces as she could from the bulldozers.

Turner said she has garnered the majority of her knowledge from books and forums, and particularly recommended “Lost Worlds in Alabama rocks,” by Jim Lacefield.

Lacefield, a retired professor who taught earth science and biology at the University of North Alabama, leads forums and educational talks across the state to inform the public about the state’s little-known prehistoric biological diversity and extreme geological diversity.

“I think it’s a great untold story about how rich all of Alabama, and the Birmingham area in particular, is when it comes to fossils,” Lacefield said.

Lacefield said he wrote his book in order to tell as comprehensive a story about Alabama’s geological history as possible, as well as show how rich and diverse the amount of fossilized life the earth beneath Alabamian’s feet is.

He said he grew up in the Birmingham area, so he devoted much of the book to explain the different types of fossils that can be found in just one Alabama city.

Jun Ebersole, the director of collections at the McWane Science Center in downtown Birmingham, echoed what Lacefield said and explains in his book.

“In Alabama, we have rocks from all three geologic eras laying on the surface — meaning, you do not need to dig to get to them,” Ebersole said.

Ebersole explained that much of northern Alabama is comprised of rock dating back to before the dinosaurs, the Paleozoic Era; the center part of the state or the Black Belt is “dinosaur aged” or the Mesozoic Era and the southern part of the state dates to the time after the dinosaurs, the Cenozoic Era.

While having rock formations from three areas is unique in itself, Ebersole said the Birmingham area is even more complex, with rock ages ranging from 500 million to 310 million years, depending on what part of town you are in. Some areas, including the Red Mountain Expressway cut into the ridge, show the full spectrum of rock ages.

Lacefield explained much of north Birmingham is upwards of 500 million years old and from the Cambrian Period, but that the area near the Cahaba River is younger, closer to 300 million. This means hunters won’t find dinosaur bones in the Birmingham area, but instead they find fossils that are even older.

Because much of Sicard Hollow and the Cahaba River is made up Pennsylvanian or Coal Age rock, what fossil hunters find are the remains of what was once an ancient swamp.

“Alabama has as good of fossils as any place in the world for that particular time period,” Lacefield said.

While places like the McWane Center and the Alabama Paleontology Society have cataloged a lot of the diversity the area’s rocks hold, Lacefield said it is regrettable that more people aren’t aware of what is right underneath their feet.

“Alabama is a state where most people have a very limited idea of how old the Earth is, because of what they’ve been taught in church,” he said, “The whole idea of fossils and having a fossil record is very threatening to some people.”

He said that was another motivating factor for him in writing “Lost Worlds in Alabama Rocks.” He said he hopes more people will come to understand and appreciate the examples of the area’s geological history in the things they see every day, such as the Red Mountain Expressway cut through or the ridges that cut through the over-the-mountain communities.

“Everybody sees those rocks, and some people are able to pass by them without any glimpse of what’s going on there,” he said. “But if you do understand, it makes that little drive so much better.”

Ebersole also encouraged residents to explore the complex history of the area.

“Because Alabama has rocks from so many different time periods, we are one of the best places in the U.S. to find fossils,” he said, and added residents should learn more about the geology of the area if they are interested in learning more about fossils.

Turner said she’s found once you find one fossil, you start to see them everywhere, and you may find yourself spending hours leaving no piece of shale unturned.

“It’s just funny how they’re just all over,” she said.

“Lost Worlds in Alabama Rocks” can be found at almnh.ua.edu/publications, and more information about the fossil collections at the McWane Science Center can be found at mcwane.org/learn.