We are not really traveling back to the Cretaceous, but a broad swath across central Alabama is underlain by white Cretaceous chalk. It is full of fossils. We have oysters, mosasaurs, sea turtles, snails, ammonoids, sea biscuits, more oysters (practically the world capital for fossil oysters), and lots more. On one of our trips a teacher found a sea turtle shell.
We don't just collect fossils. A major part of the workshop is using fossils to correlate rock layers at a large outcrop. Hands-on practice doing what geologists really do in the field all the time.
Lagniappe includes a copy of Lost Worlds in Alabama Rocks, by Jim Lacefield, probably the best book about the geology of an American state ever produced. But wait, there's more! Pamphlets, books, free fossils, posters, lunch, and lots more.
Here are a few pictures from recent expeditions.
If you want to learn more:
https://www.facebook.com/Fossils-of-the-Black-Belt-690641810945830/
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