jamesp
Cave Dweller 
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,612
|
Post by jamesp on Mar 8, 2014 20:12:53 GMT -5
Fast flowing creeks with high bluffs close by are almost always coral producers in this 30 mile circle around White Springs FL. Bluffs at 100' +/- 10' above sea level is the magic number. Higher seems to have been out of the water. Lower may have been too dark. This creek is a rocket. Gotta get the kayak in it. Has a 2 mile section to put in/out. Quick trip.  This creek is full of silicified oysters and mangrove root casts. Only a few small but richly colored corals. And a few mammal bones/teeth. Wet season runoff has water very high in tannic acid. Rough on skin.   Almost 2 miles from the (Suwannee River) and he still has to go up on stilts one floor. Many are 3 floors up.  Somewhere on this one mile sand road the grader is hitting a vein or more of coral. Found at several clay spots along the length of the road. Plant is Red Root. Have seen a black fellow collecting deer tongue on this road.  Down town White Springs. Used to have a big spring called Sulfur Springs people soaked in for 'medicinal reasons'. Five story bath house is still standing. It was a concrete shell with 4 internal decks built at river level. The open inside area was a pool separated from the river by the shell. They just raised the pool with the river level. Check out the party animals    |
|
|
|
Post by gingerkid on Mar 8, 2014 20:51:45 GMT -5
Beautiful pics, James! Love those old homes in the South!
Are the water moccasins out now?? Just kiddin' with you, but have a safe trip houndin'!! Looking forward to seeing your finds.
|
|
|
|
Post by Pat on Mar 8, 2014 21:01:05 GMT -5
Lovely trip. Were you able to nab some coral, or maybe a petrified bryozoan ? Hope so!
|
|
jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,612
|
Post by jamesp on Mar 8, 2014 21:19:19 GMT -5
Lovely trip. Were you able to nab some coral, or maybe a petrified bryozoan ? Hope so! Got a about two big buckets of petrified oysters and a tired body Pat. About time to crash |
|
jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,612
|
Post by jamesp on Mar 8, 2014 21:20:26 GMT -5
Beautiful pics, James! Love those old homes in the South! Are the water moccasins out now?? Just kiddin' with you, but have a safe trip houndin'!! Looking forward to seeing your finds. Did not see a single reptilian Jan. Suits me just fine. |
|
bhiatt
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2012
Posts: 1,532
|
Post by bhiatt on Mar 8, 2014 23:42:17 GMT -5
good stuff! The water looks kew. Looks like a dino could be in there somewhere.
|
|
grayfingers
Cave Dweller
Member since November 2007
Posts: 4,575 
|
Post by grayfingers on Mar 9, 2014 8:29:49 GMT -5
Cool how the creek cuts through the strata in those bending curves, following the edge of a formation maybe?
|
|
jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,612
|
Post by jamesp on Mar 9, 2014 10:31:50 GMT -5
Cool how the creek cuts through the strata in those bending curves, following the edge of a formation maybe? I think the shape of the slopes dictate a lot of the curves in the creek. The path of that creek would have been dictated by the path of least. But what causes the ascending slopes and valleys on the hillside is a question too. Many hills around Atlanta are rock outcrops, but many are clay outcrops. This area is about all sand till you get to the bottom of that creek. It is a clay bottom creek. Yellow/orange gritty hard clay. You can expect oxbow behavior where the slopes terminate further from each other but this creek seems controlled by the shape of the surrounding slopes. Hard to figure Bill. By the way i was next to the massive phosphate mine of Hamilton County. Their mine is 130-160 elevation. I road for miles thru their tailings and found zero coral. Then i rode soil roads at 90- 110 feet and found coral quite regularly. Then i thought about the limestone bluffs in the Suwanee River in this area of which i have boated down. And the entire 50 mile stretch of those stone bluffs have not one fault shift or even a vertical crack. I do not think it has seen tectonic activity since formed. And the only coral occurs in a small percentage along that 50 miles. And that is where the rare 90'-110' high sand hills overlook the river. The more territory I cover on this river the more i think the coral has a story to tell about the water level of a warm weather event. I am no geologist but I am a decent coral finder. And this is a typical narrow depth bandwidth shallow water coral type. This little creek intrigues me because it is about the highest in elevation clay bed around including the Suwannee and the Withlacoochee. And it is full of shallow water oysters and mangrove roots silicified the same as the occasional corals i find in it. I am just a lowly coral hunter. I would like to ask the geologist of the area what he thinks. And that would be 'is the coral an indicator of the water level of a past warm water event?' and see what he says. Sorry to ramble, but curious minds want to know. They will say i am off by 100 feet(deeper). |
|
