North Eastern NC fossil sites

[wt080262]

Recently relocated to Roanoke Rapids, I am partially handicapped and am hoping to find somewhere close. I have done some online searching an found that there should be sites in this area. If anyone could point me in the right direction it would be greatly appreciated. My adult daughter usually helps me get around, we live near the upper reaches of Quankey Creek. We have done some searching around there but only found Indian artifacts.

[ynot]

There is always the Aurora fossil museum in Aurora NC. Also  -- I have heard good things about Greens mill run.

[SailingAlongToo]

@wt080262

 

The Hanson Quarry in Rocky Mount has some fossils and does occasionally allow public access. You may want to give them a call and ask when is the next public day is.

[wt080262]

Thanks guys, but I am really trying to find something closer. Does anyone know where along Roanoke River you  might locate sites? What about Lake Gaston area?

[SailingAlongToo]

2 hours ago, wt080262 said:

Thanks guys, but I am really trying to find something closer. Does anyone know where along Roanoke River you  might locate sites? What about Lake Gaston area?

 

@wt080262

The general geology east of I-95 is that of the Albermarle Embayment of the Atlantic Coastal Plains. The Albermarle Embayment and Atlantic Coastal Plains were created by successive marine overlaps depositing sediment beds on top of each other and pushed up against the Piedmont (bed rock) to the west. The Piedmont (bed rock) runs roughly along I-95 give or take. The marine overlap that deposited the sediment beds occurred due to multiple significant marine transgression / regression events (multiple significant sea level rise and fall events.) Think about a loaf of sliced bread, tilted one way or the other along the long axis with each slice lying on an angle on top of several others. This is quite similar to the way the Atlantic Coastal Plains bed deposits look. Add in multiple geologic uplift events occurring around the same time and the current waterways cutting through over time and you have the topography we now see.

 

So, for the record, there have been at least 19 major sea level rise and fall events (and numerous other smaller ones) along the Atlantic Coastal Plains since the dinosaurs got wiped out around ~65 MYA. These sea level rise and fall / deposit events created what are now called the various stratigraphy layers making up the Paleocene to the end of the Pleistocene. All that said, if you are looking for marine fossils (sea shells, shark teeth and boney stuff), it will generally be found east of I-95. There are a few exceptions, but I doubt you will find anyone willing to share those site locations with you. 

 

I know you can find fossils (well worn sharks teeth and broken bones) by screening the sediment in the bottom of the Tar River, in the big curve of the river in Tarboro. You can park on the south side of the bridge in town, walk underneath it and head upstream a little into the curve and start digging with a shovel. Screen that material and you should find some stuff.

 

The fossil sites I know of on the Roanoke, Meherrin and Chowan Rivers are accessible by boat only. To get to any of these sites without a boat, you would need to get landowner permission to access from their property. There is a site on the Nottoway River in Southampton County, VA, where you can walk into from the state roadway and find fossils but that is only at very low water levels unless you want to dive.

 

Hope this helps.

 

SA2

[Danimalia]

Top Sail usually has a good number of teeth. And Fort Macon near Atlantic Beach, when the tide is low.

[wt080262]

Thanks alot that's very helpful information.