NATURALIST'S 



NOTEBOOK 



"Pick up everything, because it gives you a much better idea of the 

 fauna and life that is out there," Timmerman advises. "If you just look 

 for sharks' teeth, you may be disappointed." The group will examine 

 the entire ecology of the fossil record. Great diversity represents a rich, 

 healthy ecosystem — and the Castle Hayne Quarry has some of the rich- 

 est Eocene, bryozoan fauna in North America. 



Timmerman also stresses how fragile these fossils are. "If the rock 

 can be picked up and you find a beautiful nautilus in it, consider yourself 

 lucky and leave it intact." 



The chambered nautilus — a mollusk that uses its chambered shell 

 as a sophisticated buoyancy system — and other larger fossils easily break 

 apart, thus making them rare and sought after. Also, boulders are not to be 

 overlooked, as rare fossils could be imbedded in them. 



For the Love of Fossils 



To go through the trouble, there must be something compelling about 

 fossils that draws people to hunt for hours — often returning empty-handed. 



Some place fossils in the same category as art; indefinable. And Tim- 

 merman, who admires the structure and overall appearance of the fossils, 

 enjoys comparing them to the modem shell. 



To Susan Snyder, historian for the trip, fossil hunting is akin to Easter 

 egg hunting. 



"It's fascinating finding something that no one else has seen even 

 though it's been there for millions of years," says Snyder. "I've collected 

 things since second grade. I collect sand from around the world. Some 

 people collect baseball cards; I collect fossils and shells." 



The Hunt 



As the bus unloads, Judy Larrick, trip leader, suggests a rest before 

 the hike through the rugged terrain. But the unanimous yell is "no." A 

 tough crowd, armed with flat head screwdrivers and canvas tool belts, the 

 educators prepare to scale the treacherous mountains of fossil and sedi- 

 ment for the find of a lifetime. 



The group trudges up a wide dirt road to the first fossil site, waving 

 to the driver of a giant bulldozer, the wheel taller than the average person. 



Reaching a searchable destination, the hum of distant activities 

 mingled with the buzzing of insects imbues the landscape with something 

 of disaster and beauty combined. Mud and rock have been bulldozed and 

 tossed aside for the excavation of deeper bedrock. Huge ravines are cut 

 into the earth for the sake of gravel mining. The effect is awesome. 



Water fills the pits, creating a scenic pond surrounded by previously 

 nonexistent coastal mountains and valleys. Great walls of layered dirt 

 serve as a life-sized, color-coded, geologic time scale. 



Timmerman needs only to point toward the variations in color of the 

 rock and sediment to explain the history of the fossils. The youngest and 

 uppermost layer is brown clay that dates back to the Ice Age. The second 

 layer — what the educators will be picking through — is Eocene epoch 

 limestone. 



The third and last layer is Cretaceous sediment, with the bedrock 

 below the focus of the quarry miners. The fossil hunters have planned the 



TOP TO BOTTOM: • Quarry workers expose a layer of Cretaceous Age rock. 

 • John Timmerman provides guidance to Mary Beth Wilson, Andrew Wilson 

 and Jim Palmer. • Meryl Kafka seeks insight into the origins of her find from 

 Judy Larrick. 



entire trip around the Eocene spoil, a quarry term for material that the min- 

 ers discarded as waste. 



The Find 



"Shark's tooth!" hollers Andrew Wilson, NMEA conference treasurer, 

 and the group rushes to the find, taking visual notes in hopes of spotting a 



28 WINTER 2004 



