W. M. Browning Cretaceous Fossil Park
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(not chosen)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
Located just off of US 45 south of Booneville, Mississippi, the W.
M. Browning Cretaceous Fossil Park is a site set aside for
educational purposes as well as for visitors wanting to learn more
about the area's natural history.
To log this earthcache, you must visit the coordinates above and
do both of the following:
1) Find the large concrete marker at the coordinates and email me
the answers to these two questions:
- What two kinds of teeth does the sign say were found in 1990?
- The greatest concentration of fossils was found below what?
2) Take a picture of you and your GPSr with the nearby creek and
bluff in the background and post it to your log.
***To log a find, you must upload the required picture to
your log within 24 hours, or I reserve the right to delete your log
without warning. If you are not ready to post the picture, please
wait to log the cache until you have the picture. If you do not
have a camera with you when you visit the site, please come back
another day.***
During the Upper Cretaceous period, this part of Mississippi was
covered by the sea. This is evidenced by the numerous fossils which
can be found in the cretaceous rock layers characteristic of this
part of the state. As the sea rose and receded, the fossils of land
animals, marine organisms, and even plants were preserved when
chalky layers of sediment were deposited 65 to 75 million years
ago.
During this period, the area that is now the Black Belt was an
ancient shoreline. The Black Belt region is characterized by it's
unique soil types, which are the result of weathering of what is
sometimes referred to as Selma Chalk, a white- to grey- colored
sedimentary layer that was laid down during the Cretaceous Period.
This chalk layer is readily subject to erosion, and it is not
uncommon to see small eroded areas of light grey soil along
highways in the region. This erosion and weathering has led to the
formation of a variety of soil types that support a variety of
plant species, including several rare endemic species and a number
of plants disjunct from the Great Plains. Prairies are typically
found on alkaline soils within the Black Belt, while acidic soils
support oak-hickory forest (a forest type distinctly different from
the typical mixed pine-oak forests of the Mississippi Coastal
Plain). Over the last two centuries, however, most this rich,
relatively flat land has been cleared for agricultural use,
although a few small pockets of Black Belt prairie remain.
The Black Belt region today is a swath of land that follows this
ancient shoreline; the region runs generally northwest to southeast
from the Tennessee border, through Mississippi, and into Alabama in
a crescent-shaped band roughly 20-25 miles wide. By driving the
stretch of US 45 between Booneville and West Point, or on US 82
between Starkville and Columbus, one can get a good picture of the
Black Belt today.
75 million years ago, however, this site was covered by a shallow
sea. As the chalk deposits found at this spot were being laid down,
countless fossils of marine and land organisms were deposited in
the sediment. During the construction of US 45, many of these
fossils were discovered at this site, and some of the fill material
used in the construction of the highway even contains countless
shark teeth. The Fossil Park was set aside on a site where the
creek crosses under the highway, near where the highest
concentrations of these fossils have been found. These include
oyster and clam shells, petrified wood, teeth from the extinct
shark genera Scapanorhynchus and Squalicorax, as well
as the bones of turtles, fish, and several dinosaur species.
This stretch of Twentymile Creek is also dotted by small to medium
sized round boulders called Concretions. Concretions are formed in
existing layers of young sedimentary strata when minerals solidify
in the spaces between sediment particles to form a tough material
similar to cement. Since concretions are more resistant to
weathering than the strata they are formed in, they are often left
behind by erosion. According to one of the caretakers of this park,
many of the concretions found in Twentymile creek are unique in
that they are believed to have been formed around fossils buried in
the sandy layer, which acted as catalysts similar to the way pearls
are formed. Wether this is actually the case or not, it is true
that the concretions found at this site contain numerous oyster
shells.
The site of the fossil park was excavated extensively by students
and faculty from a local high school in the early 1990's. The site
soon received national attention, attracting countless people who
thoroughly searched the area over the next few years and greatly
reduced the chances of finding exposed fossils at the site today.
However, a number of fossils found at the site are still on
display, and I was told by the city that there are plans to open a
museum in Booneville in the coming weeks or months which will
feature many of the finds. The museum will tentatively be open from
Thursday through Sunday, but anyone wishing to see the collections
now can do so by appointment by contacting the Booneville Chamber
of Commerce.
Additional Hints
(No hints available.)