Awolartist Posted February 16, 2018 Share Posted February 16, 2018 Hi friends! I just recently moved from Gainesville to Lake City, and have been reading about fossiling in the area... Seems like the Suwannee River makes for some pretty good finds. I don't scuba or have a kayak, I was wondering if anyone might be able to give me some hints about exact places to go on the river to access some more shallow beds for places that I could wade and sift. Particular Bridges, stretches, Etc. It doesn't seem like the topic has come up in quite a few years. Thanks in advance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goatinformationist Posted February 16, 2018 Share Posted February 16, 2018 Start at White Springs to sift when the water is low and pick up all the agatized coral, pet wood, shells, and smalls that you want. Fill your bucket in 30mins. The Suwannee is just like every other Florida river, i.e., you will trip over mostly Quaternary fossils and tons of artifacts (most all arties are protected so leave them). You will need a $5 permit here for vertebrate fossils: https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/vertpaleo/amateur-collector/fossil-permit/. Use: http://www.srwmd.state.fl.us/ to see how the water levels stand in your area. Meh, once you get to Dowling Park it become too deep to sift although beaches are not in short supply. There are shallow places and reefs below Dowling but above Branford though, like at turn-around bridge.Go ahead and pop a-hundred for a used kayak and a little bit extra for a paddle and flotation vest. You are right there in the right place for it, and you will never look back. Oh, and take a stainless pistol for those pesky el-legarto's. And of course you must never approach suck-holes; the only thing that gave Jacques Cousteau nightmares. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Members StradicFanatic Posted June 24 New Members Share Posted June 24 Ok what is a suck-hole? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Pristis Posted June 24 Share Posted June 24 1 hour ago, StradicFanatic said: Ok what is a suck-hole? It is the intake end of a siphon in the limestone bottom. What wasn't pointed out earlier is that the Suwannee is a karstic feature; that is, the river follows a channel which is deeply incised into the limestone. It doesn't meander the way the Peace River does, cycling between excavating and reburying fossils, building temporary beaches and bars. If you wade a beach in the Suwannee, beware of the abrupt drop-off that marks the incised river channel. Beyond that hazard, the beach is typically sand overburden which won't contain fossils. 1 http://pristis.wix.com/the-demijohn-page What seest thou else In the dark backward and abysm of time? ---Shakespeare, The Tempest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Members StradicFanatic Posted June 26 New Members Share Posted June 26 that's interesting. Never heard of that before. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now