Collecting Marine Fossils, Clinchfield, Georgia

March, 2009
by Ray Hill

What a wonderful fossil collecting trip this was! Two of my rock collecting buddies, Ramona Beshear from McDonough, GA and Dave Williams from Conyers, GA, and myself, were invited to visit an operating limestone quarry near the small town of Clinchfiled, GA in Houston County, about forty miles below Macon. It took just a hair over two hours to reach to location from where I live in Ellenwood, GA. All three of us started out with light jackets but had shed them by the time we reached our destination.

We arrived at the quarry office at 10:45 in the morning and after completing the quarry safety lesson and signing in we were escorted into a section of the quarry where they were not working with their huge equipment that day. Mr. Calvin Duncan the Quarry Manager personally escorted us into the quarry. I was flabbergasted at the size of the open pit that they had made mining the limestone. From the quarry office to the part of the quarry where we were taken was every bit of a mile. And, when we arrived at the section of the quarry where we would be collecting, it looked to be at least a mile to the other end of the pit. That’s a large hole they’ve made here!

We were allowed to drive right up to huge piles of limestone that had been broken up and placed in huge piles. Now this is what I call easy collecting! Man! We stopped the vehicle and took a few steps to the large piles of Eocene age limestone and started picking up scollop shells, scollop shell casts, sand dollars, gastropods, bryozoans, turritellas, and a variety of corals. Within a couple of hours all three of us had flats of great looking marine fossil specimens. Mr. Duncan commented when we left the quarry and drove by the quarry office to sign out that we had picked up about as much material as he had seen come out of the quarry.

Fossil Brachiopod in limestone matrix. Trace Fossil - Internal fossil cast.

One thing I found fascinating about visiting this limestone quarry was that, standing down in the quarry, looking at the walls in the distance it was very evident that at one time the ocean had been where this site now is, and had deposited a layer of about 30 feet of material that made up the limestone… then, on top of that 30-feet of fossil marine sediment, there was a layer of dark gray clay like material called “fuller’s earth”, a layer about ten to fifteen feet thick and then on top of that was another 20 to 30 foot thick layer of the white limestone. This showed that the ocean had covered the area here more than once. I didn’t know that. Looking at the walls of the quarry you could see where the ocean had been, then left, then came back for a long period of time.

The Clinchfield Limestone here is in what is called the Fort Valley Plateau, just a little below the “Fall Line” which runs nearly in a straight live from Columbus, thru Macon, and over to Augusta.

The fossils found at this location are Eocene age, Tivola Formation. Clinchfield Limestone. The CEMEX CORP. quarry is located on State Hwy 341 about three miles southeast of Perry, GA.

I asked Mr. Duncan, the Quarry Manager, if they permitted groups to visit there for the purpose of collecting. He said yes, they often have university and other school groups visit there. Mr. Duncan said they will allow others, such as Mineral Societies and other small groups to visit as long as they call ahead and schedule a day and time.

ONE THING I MUST EMPHASIZE HERE: This is an active, operating quarry.. There are huge trucks and various digging equipment running around all over the place. At times there are explosives being set off in the quarry. There are huge holes with stagnate water. There are walls where rocks and material tumble from quite often. There are areas where it would be easy for a person to slide down a huge pile and be partially or completely covered with rock. And, because of the hazards that are inherent when visiting a place like this, the CEMEX CORPORATION has very strict safety rules and procedures. Mr. Duncan meets with all visitors that wish to enter the quarry and reviews the safety rules. You will be asked to sign a sheet stating that you have reviewed, understand, and agree to follow these safety rules.

A couple of the SAFETY RULES are:

1. Stay in the area where you are told you can collect. Do not leave this area. There will be areas of the quarry where no work is going on in a particular area. Stay in that area.
2. EVERYONE that visits the quarry MUST wear a hardhat and safety glasses at all times when in the quarry. Don’t take them off when there. You will need to bring your own hardhat and safety glasses.
3. Wear hard toe shoes, preferably steel toe. If you don’t have a pair of steel toe shoes, wear a pair of lather boots or leather shoes. No sneakers or flip-flops.

Folks, this is a great fossil collecting site. If your group would like to visit this site contact Mr. Calvin Duncan, Quarry Manager, CEMEX, Cement Division. At: 478-988-2356. Tell him Ray sent you!

Ray Hill
Great South Gems & Minerals, Inc.
www.greatsouth.net
888-933-GEMS

Note: Only rock clubs have permission to print this article but must give credit to the author, Ray Hill, and Great South Gems & Minerals, Inc. For everyone else, please email us for permission.

Great South Gems & Minerals, Inc. www.greatsouth.net 38 Bond Drive Ellenwood, Georgia 30294 USA 1-888-933-GEMS (4367) FAX: 770-389-8095