An old report... and I mean an old one....

With a quick project completed in Greenville, NC, I had a couple of hours to spare before my ride home.  I suited up, loaded my gear and entered the brisk waters of the Green Mill Run on a late afternoon in December.

Once again, as a creature of habit, I made my way to the 10^th Street tunnel area to see if there was any new graffiti since the last time I was there in addition to collecting some of my favorite fossils, the lowly belemnite (Belemnitella Americana).   They tend to congregate in this area as a result of water erosion on the proximate Pee Dee formation exposures.  

I even found a nice invertebrate although I’m for sure on the ID.  It doesn’t quite look like the normal extinct oyster of the Exogyra costata that I’m used to finding with the belemnites in this rich cretaceous section of the creek.

I decided to work the tunnel with hopes of another 2.5” Carcharodon carcharias, but, as expected, no notable teeth were discovered.   They were just the usual suspects and worn ones at that.

Upon cleaning my top ½” screen of broken brick and large rocks I ended up throwing what I thought was a thick piece of asphalt.  It wasn’t until I released it, that I noticed (in mid flight) the bone structure and foramina on the side of it.  My anhyzer throw of the water logged vert, which felt like a five pound weight, landed squarely on a huge pile of rocks.  I cringed expecting it to shatter in two pieces.  It was no worse for wear, tumbling for God knows how far down this creek.  I reached down and picked up my biggest vertebrae from this creek, approximately nine inches wide and a good two inches thick.

My right foot was water logged and going numb from a slow and annoying pin hole leak that still eludes my boot repair.  I may have to resort to my backup plan…. Foot in a hefty gallon bag before putting my waders on.  Might have to put one on each foot, I always forget which foot is the leaker until a couple hours of shoveling reveals which side it is.

A mess of small beaters, plate o' bems and my biggest GMR vert.

....enjoy