Texas Fossils: An Amateur Collector's HandbookMatthews, William Henry
Science
Texas Fossils: An Amateur Collector's Handbook
Matthews, William Henry
Paleontology -- Texas
Cretaceous fossils are more commonly found in shales and chalky
limestones. Fossiliferous outcrops of these rocks can be found along
many streams, roads, and highways of central Texas, north Texas, and the
Edwards Plateau. Outcrops which have been weathered are more likely to
provide good collecting. In general, collecting is poor in areas covered
with heavy vegetation or recent stream deposits. Good collecting
localities are outcrops which have a fairly steep slope with a covering
of weathered rock material and a minimum of vegetation. One should move
slowly from the base of the slope upward while searching the ground for
any evidence of fossils, and particular attention should be given to any
small gullies since these often contain fossils that have been washed
out of upper beds in the exposure.
CENOZOIC ROCKS
Cenozoic rocks are widespread in Texas but occur primarily in a broad
belt along the Gulf Coastal Plain. In addition, there are exposures of
nonmarine Cenozoic strata in the High Plains, North-Central Plains, and
Trans-Pecos region. There are also many exposures of Cenozoic igneous
rocks in Trans-Pecos Texas.
Rocks of Cenozoic age occur in more than one-third of Texas and consist
of conglomerates, sands, clays, and some limestone and lignite beds.
Tertiary
Extensive exposures of Tertiary rocks trend northeast-southwest in a
broad band across the Gulf Coastal Plain area. These strata, consisting
of sands, clays, and poorly consolidated limestones, are underlain by
Cretaceous rocks.
Invertebrate fossils are common in certain Tertiary formations and
pelecypods, gastropods, and corals are the predominant forms. In
general, however, fossiliferous exposures are of local occurrence and
most of the Tertiary formations are unfossiliferous. Those Tertiary
invertebrates that are present, however, are often well preserved and
represent many interesting types (Pls. 16, 22, 23, 29, 30, 31).
Tertiary invertebrate fossils are commonly found in sands, clays, and
marls. Many of these sands and marls have a green color which is due to
the presence of glauconite (a green mineral containing iron and closely
related to the micas). At certain localities on the Gulf Coastal Plain
the glauconite marls and sands of the Weches and Crockett formations
contain large numbers of well-preserved clams, snails, and corals.
Fossiliferous exposures of Tertiary rocks are sometimes found in road
cuts, but better exposures may be found along the banks of rivers and
creeks. Certain bluffs along the Brazos, Sabine, and Trinity rivers are
well-known Tertiary fossil collecting localities. Many of these better
localities are listed in some of the Bureau of Economic Geology
bulletins included in the bibliography of this publication (pp.
109-110).
Quaternary
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