North Mississippi

Gem and Mineral

Society

Since 2001


Attention NMGMS!

Notice: Due to the weather forecast for Parsons, TN of snow Friday night and Saturday, Feb. 6th of snow flurries in the a.m. cloudy, with temps in the 38 degree range with a "real feel" of 36, I am cancelling the Sat. Feb. 6th field trip to the Vulcan quarry in Parsons, TN. I called the quarry today and they won't know if they are going to be open or not until the last minute. They may be open if the roads are clear, but the weather doesn't sound very good. It is a long way to go and not have a very good day in which to collect. Again I apologize for this. I guess Old Man Winter doesn't want to cooperate and provide us with a good weekend! Will definitely try to reschedule another trip to this locale at the next possible opportunity. Our next field trip that is on the docket will be Sunday, Feb. 21st at the Blue Springs crab site in Union Co. MS Watch the Nugget and your emails for further details.

Sincerely, Nancy Roberts, field trip chair, NMGMS

Notice : Blue Springs crabsite in Union County,MS. Feb. 21st We will meet there at 10:00a.m. To get to the crab site, take Hwy 78 out of Tupelo, MS heading west toward Memphis and take the Blue Springs exit (apprx. 12 miles W of Tupelo, or if heading east, it is the exit after New Albany). From the exit, turn right onto Hwy 9(or left if coming from Memphis), heading N toward Blue Springs. (Use caution, as this interchange is under going a lot of construction right now) In about a block, there is a stop sign where Hwy 178 crosses Hwy 9. You will see the work areas ahead (very gray Coon Creek deposit), both to the left and right of the road. There is a water tank on the right side. Go past the stop and continue a little way on Hwy 9 and park on the shoulder of the road. You can see the large cut in the hillside on the W side of the road. They were moving that dirt onto the E side of the road where the water tank is. Both sides have fossils. There is a lot of construction material on the east side of Hwy 9 now. Most of what we are collecting now is from the big gray area on the W side of the highway. This locale is just N of the new Toyota plant that is being constructed on Hwy 78. Along with the crabs, you will find turtle and mosasaur bone, shark teeth and vertebrae, mollusks and bi-valves of all kinds, shrimp, small corals and bryozoans, some ammonites and a few things that I have not managed to get identified yet.

Please drop me an email( therockhoundlady@yahoo.com) or call if you plan to attend. Thank you, Nancy Roberts field trip chair, NMGMS 731-689-5336H 731-727-5574C

NMGMS has Mr. John Young, the owner of the crabsite property, to thank for giving us permission to collect here. So please show respect to the premises and follow all field trip etiquette. Please stay clear of all buildings and equipment, fill in any large holes that you dig, pick up your trash, don't wander off, as there are private residences in the area and use caution when on top of the excavation. Thank you.

Nancy Roberts, Thursday, February 4, 2010

MISSISSIPPIAN FOSSILS

General overview of the geology of North Alabama.

by Richard Keyes

NMGMS February 20, 2010 Program:



Richard Keyes will be giving a slide presentation showcasing many of the fossils depicted in his new book during the Feb. 20th meeting of the North Mississippi Gem and Mineral Society. NMGMS will meet in the Helen Foster Auditorium from 1 p.m. until 3 p.m. at the Lee County Library at Madison and Jefferson Streets in Tupelo.

Richard Keyes has been collecting fossils in the Tennessee Valley Area for 47 years. Over this time period, he has met many professionals from whom he gleaned valuable information about the fossils he was collecting and their classifications. Richard became an identification expert in his own right and has been asked many times to help identify the fossils that others have collected. Richard put together a field guide containing photos of many of the Tennessee Valley Area fossils. Other collectors now have a book by which they can identify their own fossil collections. Richard says that in putting this guide book together, he has expanded his area of expertise and appreciates some of the fossils that at first he was not very interested in. NMGMS is a non-profit organization that has a keen interest education, hands on work shops, field trips, discussions about geology and the earth sciences as well as teaching the various lapidary arts to youngsters and oldsters.

Contact persons: Bill and Floy Hawkins, 662-844-7441

Next meeting....



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We are the North Mississippi Gem and Mineral Society and were established in 2001.
We meet the third Saturday of each month(except July and August)
at the Lee County Public Library in Tupelo,
on the corner of Jefferson and Madison St. from 1p.m. to 3p.m.

Our next meeting will be on Feb 20th and the speaker will be Richard Keyes of Huntsville.
He will be covering the Mississippian Era fossils found in N Alabama and NE Miss.

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