Page 1 of 17
Middle Georgia Gem & Mineral Society
www.midgagms.org
Educational
Mineral & Fossil
Sample Kits
Guide Sheet
Summer 2010
We wish to thank the following
individuals for helping to make this
project happen:
Dr. David Schwimmer,
Department of Chemistry & Geology
Columbus State University
Columbus, GA
Dr. Burt Carter
Department of Geology & Physics
Georgia Southwestern State University
Americus, Georgia
Dr. Jo-ne Bourassa
Coordinator of School Improvement,
Science
Bibb County Public Schools
Macon, GA
Ms. Tina Perkins
Chair of Science
Central High School
Macon, GA
Middle Georgia Gem & Mineral Society
Our Purpose:
To promote the earth sciences, the lapidary arts,
and the collection, study and display of rocks,
minerals and fossils; to promote the public
awareness of these efforts in educational and
recreational activities.
We are a non-profit organization.
Meetings are held at 7:30 pm on the first Monday
of every month at the Museum of Arts & Sciences
Macon, Georgia.
Guests are Most Welcomed.
No meetings in July & August.
Due to insurance requirements, membership is
required to attend club sponsored digs and
collect similar, or better, samples.
See our website for details
Membership
Adults (18+) 10.00 annually
Juniors (less than 18) 2.50 annually
Ms. Jalanda Goff
6th Grade Science
Bonaire Middle School
Bonaire, GA
Ms. Ruby Ashley
Education Curator
Georgia Southern Museum
Statesboro, GA
Sample A: Fossil, Common Name: Goblin Shark Tooth
Genus & species: Scapanorhynchus texanus.
Stewart County, Georgia
An excavation in the Blufftown Formation near Columbus produced a wealth of vertebrate fossils
(including more than 1,000 goblin shark teeth) from the time of the dinosaurs. These fossils
exceed 75 million years of age. The Cretaceous goblin shark was a shallow water coastal predator.
Modern goblin sharks, while closely related, are deep water predators reaching 11 feet (3.3
meters) and can weigh 350 lbs. (159 kg). They have a long trowel shaped snout overhanging their
mouth; the jaws shoot forward to the end of the snout, allowing the shark to bite out chunks.
Donated by Dr. David Schwimmer at Columbus State University.
Sample B: Fossil, Common Name: Side-necked turtle.
Genus & Species: Bothremys barberi carapace (shell) fragment.
Stewart County, Georgia
This extinct, large, side-necked sea turtle had a carapace exceeding 2 inches thick and also lived
during the time of the dinosaurs. Its modern descendents have evolved into much smaller
freshwater turtles only found in the Southern Hemisphere including South America. Instead of
pulling their long necks backwards into their shell, side-necked turtles fold them along either the
left or right side for protection. Modern species are omnivores. The side necked family emerged
220 million years ago; this specimen lived more than 75 million years ago. The fossil came from
the same excavation which produced abundant shark’s teeth, near Columbus, GA and represents
one of the most common Cretaceous fossils in the Southeastern USA.
Have Questions?
Contact Education Chairperson
Thomas Thurman
Email: tpangangan@aol.com
Page 2 of 17
Middle Georgia Gem & Mineral Society
www.midgagms.org
Donated by Dr. David Schwimmer at Columbus State University.
Sample C: Sedimentary limestone from the Ocmulgee Formation
Hawkinsville, Georgia
The Ocmulgee Formation is moderately widespread in Georgia and has been well researched by
scientists, it is known for both vertebrate fossils (such as fish, sharks & early whales) as well as a
wealth of invertebrate fossils as seen in this sample. It represents one of many seas which covered
South Georgia; this particular sea existed between 34 and 35 million years ago. The Coastline
would have stretched across central Houston County.
Collected for this project by club members; Thomas Thurman & Tina Perkins
Sample D: Sedimentary Clay with fossils, Twiggs Clay
(Small modern plant material may be present from screening process)
Houston County, GA
The Twiggs Clay can be found across Middle Georgia from the vicinity of Roberta to South
Carolina. It represents another distinct sea which covered South Georgia. The enclosed bryozoan
fossils are about 35 to 36 million years old. This was a quite sea and the coastline would have
crossed South Macon. The Twiggs Clay was primarily formed by heavy sediments suspended in
our rivers as they emptied at the shoreline. It is known for several large vertebrates.
Clay collected, screened and washed by Thomas Thurman
Sample Jars provided by Tina Perkins
Sample E: Sedimentary mineral, Kaolinite (kaolin), also known as China Clay
Kaolin is by far Georgia’s most economically important mineral.
The state has large deposits from the Augusta area to the Columbus area ranging in age from
more than 65million years to 33 million years. The deposits parallel the Fall Line, which runs
from Columbus, through Macon, to Augusta. Kaolinite is derived from feldspar which eroded
from Georgia’s Piedmont region and became suspended in our rivers. The feldspar was deposited
as the rivers drained into the sea then decayed to become kaolinite. Kaolin has multiple uses;
porcelain is made from kaolin, used in cosmetics, as a paper coating, the frosting of light bulbs,
tooth paste and as a medicine for an upset stomach.
Donated by KaMin Performance Minerals in Twiggs County
Prepped for egg-cartons by Tina Perkins’ High School Science Class 2009-2010
Sample F: Mineral from iron oxide, Iridescent Hematite.
*This iridescent variety of hematite is very rare globally and Georgia is one of few sources for
many world famous, museum quality specimens.
While harder than natural iron, hematite is more brittle and can be formed in hot spring or
through volcanic/water interaction. In the case of Georgia’s hematite; hundreds of millions of
years ago volcanoes stood over Lincoln County and interacted with ground water.
Collected and donated by club officer Jay Batcha
Graves Mountain, Lincoln County, Georgia during a Club dig.
Sample G: Metamorphic rock, Kona Dolomite
Marquette County, Michigan
2.1 to 2.2 billion years old
Named after the Kona Hills south of Marquette County, Michigan where it is found. This dolomite
is an ancient rock formed by fossil stromatalites between 2.1 to 2.2 billion years ago. These
stromatolite formations are from some of the first life on earth. (No fossils will be visible.)
Donated by club officer Jay Batcha.
Sample H: Metamorphic mineral, Kyanite
Southwest of Thomaston, Upson County, Georgia
Have Questions?
Contact Education Chairperson
Thomas Thurman
Email: tpangangan@aol.com
Page 3 of 17
Middle Georgia Gem & Mineral Society
www.midgagms.org
Blue bladed crystal widely distributed in Georgia’s metamorphic rocks. It can also occur as green,
white, grey or black. Its presence in metamorphic rock is taken as an indicator of high pressure
during the metamorphic process, low pressure metamorphic rocks carry different suite minerals.
Donate by club officers Phil & Susan Hargrove
Sample I: Igneous Rock; Obsidian (Volcanic glass from lava)
**Beware of sharp edges!**
Glass Butte, Central Oregon
Obsidian is an example of a lava flow rock. It forms when dense; silica rich lava cools rapidly and
lacks crystal structure. Silica is basic component in glass. Obsidian was the preferred American
Indian material for stone projectile points; it can be shaped into more-than-razor-sharp edges.
Typically black, reds, yellows, grays and green occur due to trace mineral content.
**Beware of sharp edges!**
Donated by club member Ray Crowfeather.
Sample J: Igneous Rock; Ryholite,
(Volcanic pumice from lava)
New Mexico
This form of rhyolite, lightweight with a porous structure, is from an explosive eruption and is
called vascular pumice. Gas bubbles trapped inside the rock when it was expelled de-pressurized
as the rock cooled (image bubbles popping), forming the sponge-like appearance. Some forms of
pumice will float in water.
Donated by club officer Jay Batcha.
Sample K: Metamorphic, Granite Gneiss (gneiss is pronounced as “nice”)
Vulcan Quarry, Bartow County, Cartersville, GA
Part of the Corbin Gneiss Complex
Originally formed during the Proterozoic Eon about 1.2 billion years ago.
Granite; is formed by the slow cooling and crystallization of magma at some depth in the
Earth’s crust, cooling is slow enough to allow various minerals to separate giving
the common striped or blotchy appearance.
Gneiss; refers to either sedimentary or igneous rocks (in this case igneous) which were
exposed metamorphic processes. (In this case that process occurred during the
continental impact event about 300 million years ago, this formed the folded
Ridge & Valley region of North Georgia.)
It is a reflection on a dynamic Earth that this granite formed from magma deep below the surface,
then was folded and forced through the metamorphic process after a continental collision, and
finally exposed at or near the surface through erosion.
Donated by club officer Jay Batcha.
Sample L: Calcite (Cave Onyx)
Ladds Mountain, Bartow County, Cartersville, GA
Cave Onyx is composed of calcite. It is the material which forms stalactites and stalagmites in
caves. Water erodes the calcite from limestone which forms the cave and carries the water to a
cave where it coats the cavity walls in colored layers, as seen in the sample. The color of the layer
is dependent on the temperature of the cave as well as what minerals are suspended in the water.
Donated by club officer Jay Batcha.
Sample M: Fossil, Sea Urchin
Species: Rhyncholampas gouldii
Brooksville , Florida (also occurs in Georgia)
Approximately 34 million years old, extinct species.
Known in Jamaica as sea eggs, these specimens were collected by students of Georgia
Southwestern during a research project. In life they were covered with short spines and burrowed
Have Questions?
Contact Education Chairperson
Thomas Thurman
Email: tpangangan@aol.com
Page 4 of 17
Middle Georgia Gem & Mineral Society
www.midgagms.org
for food just beneath the sea floor. Urchins are members of echinoid class which includes sand
dollars. Urchin and sand dollar shells are made of interlocking panels, and each panel is a distinct
calcium (calcite) crystal. For this reason they are often preserved as limestone fossils, such as
these sea eggs. Because the evolutionary history and fossil record of echinoids is well understood,
they are very useful to paleontologists for dating sediments.
Donated by Dr. Burt Carter, Department of Geology & Physics, Georgia Southwestern
State University, Americus, Georgia.
Sample N: Fossil, Petrified Wood (encrusted with quartz crystals)
Brilliant, North-west Alabama
At least 94 million years old.
Known in Alabama as diamond rock.
Wood is petrified when the plant material has been replaced by stone, or mineralized. Typically
the replacing mineral is silica (quartz). Petrified wood is common in Alabama. It is formed when
forests are flooded and material, whole or in fragments, becomes buried before it can decay. From
there dissolved silica (quartz), suspended in water soaks into the wood and in time the wood
becomes petrified. The quartz crystals slowly grew in cavities. Pure quartz is clear; the coloration
seen here is due to trace minerals present in the water. Museum quality specimens occur.
Diamond Rock logs 32 feet long have been reported. Petrified wood occurs in Georgia but it is
rare.
Collected and donated by club officers Phil & Susan Hargrove
Sample O: Sedimentary rock, Dry Creek Jasper
High grade chert, polished by tumbling
Bartow County, Adairsville, GA
Approximately 450 years old.
Chert is a common sedimentary rock widespread in Georgia. It forms when limestone soaks up
dissolved silica (quartz), over time this hardens the limestone. Chert can be very hard, much
harder than the best concrete. Chert varies greatly in color, quality and composition depending on
the quality of the original limestone and the amount of silica suspended in the water. Silica alone
will form clear or translucent chert; if other minerals are present the chert will be variously
colored. High quality chert lacking pits is sought after by those pursuing the lapidary, or rock
polishing, arts. High quality colored chert is typically called jasper or chalcedony (shall-sea-dony)
and can be very beautiful. Translucent or banded chert is called agate. Flint is typically solid grey
high quality chert. Chert can also preserve very detailed, fine grained and enduring fossils.
Chert was heavily used by American Indians, and most all early humans, as a tool making stone.
The igneous obsidian, as included in this kit, was preferred for tool making, but it doesn’t widely
occur. Most American Indian projectile points found in Georgia are made from chert in some
form; the best samples are formed from jasper.
Collected, polished and donated by club officer Jay Batcha.
Sample P: Fossil, Coral
Chert and/or agate from coral.
Withlacoochee River, Lowndes County, Georgia
A common fossil from southernmost Georgia to North Florida, large museum quality specimens
are well known.
Approximately 20 million years old.
When this coral lived the coastline would have been across South Georgia, submerging North
Florida with parts of South Florida standing as islands. Several major rivers drained into the area
with heavy loads of silica (dissolved quartz). Hard coral is made of calcium, like limestone. (Chalk
is a form of limestone) The coral absorbed the silica and in time became chert.
Collected and donated by Susan & Phil Hargrove.
Have Questions?
Contact Education Chairperson
Thomas Thurman
Email: tpangangan@aol.com
Page 5 of 17
Have Questions?
Middle Georgia Gem & Mineral Society
www.midgagms.org
Contact Education Chairperson
Thomas Thurman
Email: tpangangan@aol.com
Page 6 of 17
Middle Georgia Gem & Mineral Society
www.midgagms.org
Suggested Classroom Application
For Sample Kits
Kindergarten:
Georgia Performance Standards Framework
Unit One Organizer: SKE2, Rocks & Soil
Identify differences between rocks and soil.
Rocks: (Rocks are made up of one or more minerals, each formed by different processes)
Samples C, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, O
Soil: Soil is a mixture of weathered rock, air and humus (decomposed organic matter).
Most local soils are clay based.
Sample D: Twiggs Clay already possesses minerals & rock, it weathers to a light
tan soil as the organic matter (fine roots can be seen in many samples)
gradually decomposes.
Sampled H: The red clay in the seams and cracks of the kyanite represent soil.
Use attributes to classify and sort rocks and types of soil.
Light coloration: Sample E
Sparkly: Sample F
Dark coloration: Sample J
Rough: Samples C, J or K
Shiny: Sample H
Smooth:Samples B, H, I or O
Demonstrate knowledge of terms, Rock, soil, water, air, large, heavy, dark, light, smooth, rough,
smell, texture, grain, particle, color.
For “heavy & light” feel difference between samples F (hematite) & J (rhyolite).
Lesson 1; Introduce standards
Here students are introduced to the basic concept of rock & soil.
o Rock specimen, Sample K (Granite). This is commonly seen by Middle
Georgia students and is widely used in commercial and residential
applications.
o Soil is not well represented in this kit, Sample D (Twiggs Clay) is closest
but the presence of fossils would probably distract from the lesson.
Lesson 2; Earth materials video
Recommend staying within frameworks.
Lesson 3; Nature walk
Recommend staying within frameworks.
In many cases students will collect granite samples from the school yard; these may be
compared to the sample in the kit. There are subtle differences in granite from different
parts of the state. Middle Georgia granite tends to be striped where the kit sample is from
northwest Georgia. For complex reasons it is very different and tends to be blotchy in
appearance.
Lesson 4; Rock-A-Lot
This activity is used to show how rocks are similar and different. Discuss the word
attribute and teach what that means and relates to rocks. Use light, dark, shiny, sparkly,
rough, smooth, big and small. Students can group rocks according to those attributes.
Materials: Rocks from previous lessons, purchased rocks (Samples from kit should fill
these needs. If teacher wishes to purchase (minimal expense) a bag of polished rocks
from the club we can supply as needed.
Lesson 5 & 6: Samples from kit can be used to support frameworks.
Have Questions?
Contact Education Chairperson
Thomas Thurman
Email: tpangangan@aol.com
Page 7 of 17
Middle Georgia Gem & Mineral Society
www.midgagms.org
Grade 3
Unit One Organizer: S3E2, Framework Fossils
This unit teaches that fossils lived long ago.
1) What are characteristics of different fossil types?
Small pieces of large organisms
Samples: A (shark’s tooth) & B (fragment of turtle shell)
Small pieces or nearly whole pieces of small organisms
 Sample C: snails, clams and other small life
 Sample D: branches of small colonial animals
 Sample M: whole, or nearly whole, sea urchin
 Sample P; partial remains of coral colony
2) What information about the original organism did you gain from observing the fossil?
 These organisms were present at different points in Georgia’s history.
 Sample M, can be used to show that sand dollars and sea urchins are closely
related.
3) Which organisms left these fossils? Samples A, B, C, D, M & P (see sample descriptions)
4) Why might you find a fossil of an aquatic organism in a desert? The Earth Changes
 Freshwater fossils in a desert show that at some point ample water was present.
 Salt water (marine) fossils in a desert show that oceans or seas were present in
the past. This can be attributed to sea level change and/or continental drift.
5) What knowledge about fossils did you gain from your research?
 That climates change for a variety of reasons.
 That the presence of fossils allows scientists to interpret past environments.
 That by observing which fossils occur in what locations, and at what depth,
scientists are able to not only date past environments, but understand how life
and environments have changed.
6) How are different fossil types formed?
 Fossils are formed when organic remains become mineralized, in other words
minerals become absorbed and in time replaces bone, shell or plant material. In
most cases this occurred after the specimen was buried in sediments.
 Cave fossils are also known where organic remains may or may not have been
buried, but were submerged in mineral rich, fresh, ground water for long periods
and in repetitive cycles (especially during the repetitive ice ages), the minerals
were absorbed and the very stable environment of the cave allowed
mineralization.
7) Where are fossils most likely to be found?
 In the Middle Georgia area, especially just south of Macon and throughout
Houston County, fossils are often found on the surface or in the walls of gullies,
ditches, streams and river banks. (Be sure to get property owner permissions
before looking for fossils.) Age and types of fossils can vary dramatically
depending on where one looks in Middle Georgia’s complex geology.
 Fossils are well known in Georgia, especially north of Atlanta and south of
Macon. Georgia’s oldest fossils, found in the Appalachian Plateau (see included
physiographic map) are trilobites which lived approximately 500 million years
ago. Our most recent fossils include both mammoths and mastodons which lived
throughout Georgia about 12,000 years ago.
Concept: Fossils as evidence of organisms that lived long ago.
 The presence of ocean fossils, in numbers, so far inland in Georgia (see
physiographic map) is evidence that these organisms lived long ago.
 Scientists can date fossils accurately using various methods, including
observation of the different layers, or stratigraphy, of sediments and comparisons
with matching fossils of known age from different locations.
 The diversity of Georgia’s fossils, from a diversity of locations, clearly shows that
Georgia has supported many different environments at different times in history.
Have Questions?
Contact Education Chairperson
Thomas Thurman
Email: tpangangan@aol.com
Page 8 of 17
Middle Georgia Gem & Mineral Society
www.midgagms.org
Grade 3; Physical Attributes of Rock & Soil
Focus Standard S3E1
Concept: Rocks and soils are made of minerals.
There are no soil samples in this kit, but soil can be collected outside.
Enduring understanding: (Definitions)
 The Earth is composed of mineral elements.
 Rocks are composed of one or more minerals.
 Minerals are a naturally occurring solid chemical substance for geologically.
 Rocks have physical characteristics (shape, color, texture).
 Scientists classify rocks by using observation and simple tests.
 Soil is composed of weathered rock, air, water, and humus.
 There are three basic types of soil, each with different characteristics.
 Scientists classify soils by observation and simple tests.
Rocks are composed of one, or more, minerals.
 Rock Samples from kit; C, G, K & O (With Sample K being best.)
Each of these samples represents a mixture of minerals assembled
naturally to form a rock.
 Minerals Samples from kit; E, F, H, & L (With Sample E being best)
Each of these represents naturally occurring solid (nearly pure)
chemicals which naturally/geologically formed in distinct processes.
Soil is composed of weathered rock, air, water and humus
(Humus is the organic component of soil, made from decomposed plant and animal
remains.)
 Sample D (Twiggs Clay) is sedimentary clay which weathers to a light tan soil and
is often seen in this state in older exposures. In many of the collected samples
(not all) fine roots, decaying seeds and modern snail shells can be seen. These are
the beginnings of humus.
Rocks are broken down to form soil.
 Sample H (Kyanite) a metamorphic mineral known for it’s resistance to
weathering. It is only formed when existing rock is exposed to high pressure,
deep underground, for extended periods of time. These samples of kyanite occur
in loose red clay soil, as can be seen by the red clay which fills their seams and
cracks. The metamorphic rock which held them when they formed eroded away
into soil, leaving only the tougher kyanite.
Explain that rocks and soils are made of minerals.
 Various minerals form in a variety of processes.
 One or more minerals forms a rock
 Different minerals weather at different rates.
 Sample E (kaolin) is a mineral formed when feldspar, under the right conditions,
weathers.
 Silica is well represented in the kit.
Sample I: Obsidian is nearly pure silica as lava, volcanic glass
Samples A, B, N, O & P are all fossils formed when silica dissolved in
water was absorbed my organic material and mineralized.
Quartz sand, very common in Georgia, is nearly pure silica.
Silica weathers very slowly.
 As shown by this kit, there are many types of minerals in Georgia. Georgia’s soils
have a high mineral content and wide variety of weathered minerals.
 Additional example; the red color seen in many of Georgia’s soils and clays is the
product of large amounts of oxidized (rusted/weathered) iron. The source of this
iron was mountains and volcanoes, now weathered away, which once stood on
the Piedmont (see physiographic map).
Have Questions?
Contact Education Chairperson
Thomas Thurman
Email: tpangangan@aol.com
Page 9 of 17
Middle Georgia Gem & Mineral Society
www.midgagms.org
Grade 5: Students will identify surface features of the Earth caused by destructive
and constructive processes.
Focus Standard S5E1, Earth Science
A. Identify surface features caused by constructive processes.
Deposition:
 *Fossil Samples A, B, N & P were formed when deposition buried organic
material and began mineralization process. These deposited sediments became
farmable land.
 *Sample C is a limestone created by deposition of sediments, including
invertebrate & vertebrate remains. Limestones are frequently minded for
building material (cement) as well as fertilizer (calcium).
 *Sample E is sedimentary clay deposited as river suspended sediments, originally
feldspar, into coastal waters where it weathered into kaolinite (kaolin). Kaolin is,
by far, Georgia’s most economically important mineral, Creating both industry
and jobs at many levels.
Earthquakes (There are no kit samples directly related to earthquakes)
 Sample K was formed when during a continental collision event 300 million
years ago caused through continental drift. This event would have cause large
scale earthquakes. This is a famous Georgia granite with both ornamental and
construction uses.
Volcanoes
 Sample F was produced by a combination of local volcanic activity and local
water. The mineral remains hundreds of millions of years after the volcano has
eroded away. The source for this material was Graves Mountain which has
proven a valuable mining site for other minerals.
Faults (Advised by Dr. Burt Carter, Georgia Southwestern State University)
 Georgia has numerous faults in the Piedmont, Blue Ridge, and Valley & Ridge
provinces (see physiographic map) which formed between 253 and 542 million
years ago, during times of continental collision when the current Appalachian
Mountains and their predecessors were formed. These faults continue down into
the deep Coastal Plain rocks buried beneath more recent sediments. (See page 11
of this paper, Hypsognathus entry, over South Carolina.)
 There are also surface faults on the Coastal Plain (see physiographic map) near
Augusta. The exact age of these faults isn’t clear but they’re believed to be at least
33 million years old. It has been suggested that theses faults are associated with
the hot springs of the Appalachian Mountains. It has also been suggested that
the Charleston earthquake of 1886 (See Earthquake entry on page 10.) might
have been caused by recent, renewed movement of these Augusta, Georgia area
faults. Neither of these “suggestions”, or theories, has yet been shown by peer
reviewed scientific research.
B. Identify and find examples of surface features caused by destructive processes.
Erosion (water – rivers and oceans, wind)
 Georgia’s exposed granite, in every case including Stone Mountain (which is not
world’s largest granite outcrop), was formed several miles underground when
lakes of lava slowly cooled. These were later exposed through erosion by water
and wind. The granite itself is very resistant to weathering and erosion.
Weathering
 Georgia’s red clay, so often seen along roadsides, is evidence of weathering in a
destructive process of igneous and metamorphic rocks from the Piedmont (see
physiographic map). In the Bibb and Houston Counties this clay is highly
variable, in both color and hardness. The reddish coloration is typically from
Have Questions?
Contact Education Chairperson
Thomas Thurman
Email: tpangangan@aol.com
Page 10 of 17
Middle Georgia Gem & Mineral Society
www.midgagms.org
oxidized (rusted) iron, oxidation is a weathering process, the deeper the reddishorange coloration the higher the content of weathered iron.
Impact of organisms
 The red clay which shows erosion and weathering also shows the impact of
organisms on Earth’s climate. The red coloration is due to the oxidation of iron.
Iron oxidizes in the presence of oxygen. The main driving force for the presence
of oxygen in our atmosphere is photosynthesis. So the oxidized iron in our red
clays is one of Georgia’s best surface feature examples for the impact of
organisms.
Earthquake (Selections from USGS website: earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/states/georgia)
 The great Charleston, South Carolina earthquake of 1886 caused severe shaking
in Georgia. On August 31 at 9:25 p.m., preceded by a low rumble, the shock waves
reached Savannah. One woman died of fright as the shaking cracked walls, felled
chimneys, and broke windows. Panic at a revival service left two injured. Two
more were injured by leaping from upper story windows. Several more were
injured by falling bricks. Ten buildings in Savannah were damaged beyond repair
and at least 240 chimneys damaged. People spent the night outside. The Tybee
Island Light Station’s 134 foot lighthouse was cracked near the middle where the
walls were six feet thick, and the one-ton lens moved an inch and a half to the
northeast. In Augusta the shaking was the most severe in Georgia. An estimated
1000 chimneys and many buildings were damaged. Business and social life was
paralyzed for two days. Brunswick and Darien were alarmed.
 On November 1, 1875, at 9:55 in the evening, an intensity VI earthquake occurred
near the South Carolina border. It was felt from Spartanburg and Columbia,
South Carolina, to Atlanta and Macon, Georgia, from Gainesville to Augusta, and
generally over an area of 2500 square miles.
 An earthquake of intensity V (or over) occurred on March 12, 1964, near
Haddock, less than 20 miles northeast of Macon, shaking was felt in four counties
over a 400-square-mile area.
Volcano
 Graves Mountain, in Lincoln County Georgia, while generally constructive, has a
distant volcanic past (more than 250 million years ago) which included eruptions
producing large quantities of volcanic ash and free flowing lava. At the time these
would have been highly destructive to local organisms and environments. The
world has changed dramatically since then and there is no longer any danger of
volcanic activity from Graves Mountain, or anywhere in Georgia.
Have Questions?
Contact Education Chairperson
Thomas Thurman
Email: tpangangan@aol.com
Page 11 of 17
Middle Georgia Gem & Mineral Society
www.midgagms.org
Grade 6: Focus Standard S6E5.
How do Fossils Show Evidence of Change in
the Surface of the Earth?
Georgia’s Oldest Fossils:
Approximately 500 million years old.
The finger-nail sized trilobite seen at the right was
collected in Northwest Georgia’s Appalachian Plateau
(see physiographic map). When it lived this area was
the floor of a shallow sea and there were neither bones
nor trees on all the Earth. The Appalachian Mountains
didn’t exist yet and Georgia was in the Southern
Hemisphere.
South Carolina: Approximately 200 million years ago
Coastal Plain sediments of South Georgia are a thick
blanket of sediments covering much older sediments
which often tell stories from different climates. Dr.
Tim Chowns is a Professor of Geology for the
University of West Georgia. He reports that the skull
of a 200 million year old Triassic reptile, genus Hypsognathus, was recovered from a core sample
near the Savannah River in South Carolina at a depth of 2,016 feet (nearly half a mile down),
Hypsognathus was a primitive reptile about 13 inches long
and very much like a modern lizard, though they are
unrelated. Their bodies were low and broad with short
tails; their heads were adorned with horns. Dr. Chowns
reports that the area producing the fossil is a buried rift
valley known as the Dunbarton Basin filled by red sandy,
conglomerate mudstones. When Hypsognathus lived this
was a desert basin with dry lake beds. Georgia was a desert
200 million years ago.
Georgia: 75 Million Years Ago
The outline of the human in the
following images is only meant show a sense
of how large these animals were. All of these
animals went extinct many millions of years
before humans appeared.
Sixty-five million years ago all the dinosaurs went
extinct. Seventy-five million years ago, ten million
years before the dinosaurs disappeared, Georgia was
still a very different place. The coastline stretched
roughly along the Fall Line (see Physiographic Map)
from Columbus, through Macon and on to Augusta,
Georgia. To the west of Georgia, covering most of the
Mid-Western United States was the Western Interior
Seaway, as seen in the map to right. Georgia was at a
crossroads between the Western Interior Seaway, the
Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. Dinosaurs
walked north of our Fall Line coastline. Interestingly,
the Western Interior Seaway, as it split the landmasses
of North America, also caused splits in the Dinosaur
Have Questions?
Contact Education Chairperson
Thomas Thurman
Email: tpangangan@aol.com
Page 12 of 17
Middle Georgia Gem & Mineral Society
www.midgagms.org
populations and in many cases, such as the Tyrannosaurs, isolation led to the emergence of
eastern and western species. Along this lost Georgia coastline, and in our rivers, there were huge
crocodiles, 30 feet long and very capable of taking many dinosaurs. The sea covering South
Georgia was an equally
dangerous place full of
large
predators
including many species
of large sharks, and the
bony fish seen below.
The following research
by shared by Dr. David
Schwimmer, Professor
of
Paleontology
at
Columbus
State
University, Columbus
Georgia
Samples A & B in the
egg carton kit represent
two separate species, a
large shark and a large
sea turtle, which swam
in a the sea covering
South Georgia during
the
time
of
the
dinosaurs more than 75
million years ago. Both
of these fossils came
from West Georgia,
south of Columbus, east
of the Chattahoochee
River and on the banks
of Hannahatchee Creek
in Stewart County,
Georgia. We will revisit
this location a bit further on as we consider how fossils chow evidence of change in the surface of
the Earth.
Sample A: The tooth is from a species of
extinct Goblin Shark which hunted the
shallow water coastlines. Modern Goblin
Sharks, a separate but closely related species,
hunt deep water coastlines. The shallow water
species went extinct with the dinosaurs, but its
deep water cousin survived that extinction
event. There were many sharks, rays and
skates present in this sea; hump tooth sharks, thresher sharks, crow sharks, angel sharks, nurse
sharks, ragged tooth sharks, large members of the great white shark family, several types of
sawfish (including some decidedly odd species long extinct), several rays, cow-nosed rays,
chimera, and guitar fish (a skate).
Sample B; is from the large, side-necked sea turtle which was plentiful 75 million years ago. Now
extinct, about 70 species of related side-necked freshwater, aquatic turtles endure in the Southern
Hemisphere including the African dwarf mud turtle whose shell is about 5 inches long and the
Have Questions?
Contact Education Chairperson
Thomas Thurman
Email: tpangangan@aol.com
Page 13 of 17
Middle Georgia Gem & Mineral Society
www.midgagms.org
giant South America river turtle whose shell reaches 35 inches long. These turtles would have
shared the sea with the many sharks.
Beyond sharks and turtles, bony fish are also present in the fossils record of this time and
location; gar, bowfins, bonefish, and the small, odd looking saber-tooth herring (Enchodus
petrosus) are all well known. There were also giants like the below illustrated
Megalocoelacanthus dobiei (pronounced: mega-low-see-la-kanth-us dough-bee-ee). This is a new
species discovered and named from a wealth of fossils found in Alabama and Georgia. Oddly,
because of the large size of the remains many specimens housed in collections went unidentified
or misidentified until a large mass of fossils from a single individual was found and confirmed as
a new species. “Megalo” means giant. This fish is a famous “living fossil” though to be extinct
until a live specimen was caught in 1938. They emerge into the fossil record about 390 million
years ago. Modern species run about 5 feet long, so Megalocoelacanthus dobiei, at 11.5 feet, were
large heavy bodied predators.
The coelacanths are interesting in the fact that like the goblin sharks we discussed earlier; there
were both deep water and coastal/shallow water species and only deep water species remain.
Another very large predatory fish swimming in this Georgia was Xiphactinus vetus (pronounced:
Zee-fact-teen-us vee-tus), a younger species and very close relative of the fish shown below.
Xiphactinus vetus is another new species discovered and named by Dr. Schwimmer from fossils
collected in Alabama and Georgia. It was identified as a distinct species by elongated, curved teeth
and distinct vertebra which Xiphactinus audax lacked. Our local species, Xiphactinus vetus, was
at least as large, or larger, than the specimen seen below. In life, Xiphactinus vetus would have
probably been about 15 feet long.
Have Questions?
Contact Education Chairperson
Thomas Thurman
Email: tpangangan@aol.com
Page 14 of 17
Middle Georgia Gem & Mineral Society
www.midgagms.org
Fossils give us information that 75 million years ago, the world
was much warmer and sea levels were much higher. Scientists at
Columbus State University, have identified fossils of at least two
ocean going families of successful predatory marine reptiles,
mosasaurs and plesiosaurs, from sediments in Georgia and
Alabama. Mosasaurs and plesiosaurs were not dinosaurs.
Dinosaurs are defined as land animals whose legs are vertically
beneath them, not splayed to the sides like a lizard’s or an
alligator’s. Most of these finds have been single bones which don’t
allow for identification beyond saying it belong to a mosasaur or a
plesiosaur, however sometimes scientists get lucky and find
enough material to properly identify a specimen and confirm its
presence, such was the case for the mosasaur Tylosaurus.
Mosasaurs had large heads, short necks and long tails. They
swam snake-like, except that they had four paddles instead of
feet. They are related to lizards and snakes, closely related to
monitor lizards. The mosasaur Tylosaurus was a 50 foot coastal
predator, almost the length of two school buses.
Plesiosaurs
are
an
opposite approach to hunting in the sea. They had small
heads, long necks and short tails; they swam by flapping
their four large flippers and “flying” through the water.
Several species have been identified in Western Alabama.
Georgia has produced several plesiosaur fossils, but not
enough material from any single individual to confirm the
species.
All these predators were feeding on schools of prey fish,
many not so different than those found today. This was a
healthy, diverse and thriving sea which left a strong fossil
record in western Georgia and across a thin line between
the Coastal Plain and the Piedmont along the Fall Line (see physiographic map).
Back on land, 75 million years ago, we find dinosaurs in Georgia. Appalachiosaurus
montgomeriensis, a member of the tyrannosaur family has been confirmed in both Georgia and
Alabama. An amazing complete juvenile was recovered in Alabama. The white bones shown in the
“to scale” reconstructed image represents the actual fossils found. Isolated bone fossils from other
individuals have been found in Georgia. We saw how the Western Interior Sea split what would
become the United States into western and eastern landmass. Members of the Tyrannosaur
family are rare in the eastern United
States as conditions which favored the
preservation of land animal fossils in
the eastern United States were
decided rarer than in the west. But as
Appalachiosaurus shows us, fossil
were preserved from time to time.
Tyrannosaurus rex is a western
species. Appalachiosaurus was its
equally
formidable
eastern
descendent which hunted here in Georgia.
Have Questions?
Contact Education Chairperson
Thomas Thurman
Email: tpangangan@aol.com
Page 15 of 17
Middle Georgia Gem & Mineral Society
www.midgagms.org
Hadrosaurs, seen below, also walked Georgia and no doubt in fear of Appalachiosaurus. Leg and
foot bones from Hadrosaurs are frequently found but not enough material from any single
individual have yet been discovered to allow species identification.
Have Questions?
Contact Education Chairperson
Thomas Thurman
Email: tpangangan@aol.com
Page 16 of 17
Middle Georgia Gem & Mineral Society
www.midgagms.org
We’ve seen how Georgia’s fossil record shows the evidence of change in the surface of the Earth.
 We’ve seen how Northwest Georgia was part of a shallow sea in the Southern
Hemisphere, more than 500 million years ago, and hosted trilobites before there
were either bones or trees. Other strange animals were also present.
 We’ve seen that 200 million years ago South Carolina, right across the state line,
was a desert, with dried lakes, inhabited by desert reptiles. Desert conditions
were also seen in Georgia.
 We’ve seen that 75 million years ago dinosaurs walked in the northern half of the
state while monstrous fish and marine reptiles hunted the sea which covered the
southern half of the state. Ten million years later nearly all of these animals went
extinct with only a few of the fish remaining in Georgia waters today.
 There isn’t room here to show the dizzying array of changes the fossil record
reveals in the tens of millions of years after the dinosaurs, sea levels rose and fell
many dozens of times. The powerful Suwannee Current became established
across South Georgia while sea levels were high, linking the Gulf of Mexico to the
Atlantic, it carved a canyon 150 miles long, which was backfilled by later large
scale erosion so that very few traces remains today.
Whales emerged into the global fossil record, the proto-whale
Georgiacetus vogtlensis swam our sea for a few million years and went
extinct, one of the last links between the proto-whales and modern
toothed and baleen whales. (See the Georgia Southern Museum online.)
 But Georgia’s changing environments aren’t finished yet. Lastly we’ll look at the
fossils of ice ages in Georgia.
Many of the dinosaur era sharks, bony fish and reptile bones we discussed came from the banks of
Hannahatchee Creek in Stewart County. In 1986 amateurs found something unexpected in the
creek bed itself. A beautiful mastodon tooth and a partial leg bone. Both specimens remain in
private collections. The tooth
was collected by Jimmy
Stafford of Lumpkin, Georgia
and the leg bone was collected
by Len and Josephine Lee of
Omaha, Georgia. Both were
loaned to David Schwimmer
for study. A cast of the tooth
was made and then both
fossils were returned to their
owners. The tooth cast can be
seen at Tellus Museum in
Cartersville, Georgia. This
paper was published by the
Georgia Journal of Science.
These fossils came from
Mammut americanum, the
American Mastodon, and size
comparisons suggest that they
both could have come from
the same adult individual.
This animal lived in Georgia
around 12,000 year ago.
Fossils from this species, and
this same time frame, are
known from North Georgia,
Have Questions?
Contact Education Chairperson
Thomas Thurman
Email: tpangangan@aol.com
Page 17 of 17
Middle Georgia Gem & Mineral Society
www.midgagms.org
West Georgia and Coastal Georgia. The American Mastodon is only distantly related to
mammoths and elephants. Mammoths (as in the movie Ice Age) and elephants are closely related
as both are grazers, eating grass. Mastodons were browsers, eating brush and leaves. Their teeth
are distinctly different from elephants or mammoths. The slightly larger Mammoths were also
present in Georgia at this
time, mammoth fossils are
very well known from
Georgia’s coast where large
herds likely lived.
It
is
believed
that
mastodons lived in herds.
They emerge into the fossil
about 3.7 million years ago
and
the
American
Mastodon is the most recent
species, it went extinct
about 10,000 years ago.
Mammals from the ice ages
are well represented in Georgia and the evidence strongly suggests that both forests and large
grass covered prairies were present in Georgia during the ices ages. Paleontologists from several
of Georgia’s universities have
shown that fossils are present for
mastodons, mammoths, caribou,
horses, llamas, giant bison, giant
beavers, tapirs, glyptodonts (like
giant armadillos), black bears, cave
bears, cougars, jaguars, ocelots,
gray wolves, capybara, giant
ground sloths (3 species, with one
20 feet tall on its hind legs), and
several giant land turtles. Animals
whose fossils haven’t been seen but
are expected to be found would
include several species of big sabertooth cats including the famous
Smilodon, the American lion and
dire wolves.
I called the mastodon tooth
recovered from Hannahatchee
Creek “beautiful.” Below are the
quoted descriptions which Dr.
Schwimmer reported.
“The molar features a complete
crown and nearly complete roots…
relatively little chemical-physical
alteration, other than the striking
blue-black mineral coloration… the
tooth roots retain the typical offwhite color of fresh ivory.”
These fossils show that Georgia has
indeed changed many times and
that change is ongoing.
Have Questions?
Contact Education Chairperson
Thomas Thurman
Email: tpangangan@aol.com