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Contents: Aurora and Ocean Lakes FOSSIL FESTIVALS, and Fossil Identification Photos
| AURORA
FOSSIL FESTIVAL 2008
WAS HELD ON MAY 23-24-25 THIS YEAR (Memorial Day weekend each year) Here is a link to the Aurora Fossil Museum website (Events link):
http://www.aurorafossilmuseum.com/
& NC Office of Environmental Education website with more information on the 2008 show events: http://web.eenorthcarolina.org/net/calendar/details.aspx?c=413277&s=64808.0.0.37430
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AURORA FOSSIL FESTIVAL 2005 Was held on Saturday, May 28, 2005 This is the only day of the year that dump loads of the phosphate gravel is piled in the center of town for anyone to dig all they want and keep the fossils they find! There are food tents, arts and crafts, fossil dealers, and the Fossil Club, plus the Smithsonian is there to help you identify the fossils - for FREE. So make it a whole day event that's "mentally nutritious", and you won't regret it. Hotels available in New Bern or Washington, NC that are closest to Aurora, that has no hotels.
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| AURORA
NC ANNUAL FOSSIL DIG - Memorial Day Saturday, 2004
Here's the Aurora Fossil Show in Aurora, North Carolina - held every year in this small town. There's a phosphate mine close by that produces thousands of shark's teeth and other fossils that are collected as a by-product of the phosphate mining. For the show, they bring dump loads of the dirt from the mine to a "sand pile" in the center of town. For the Festival, the people can dig all they want and keep what they find! Awesome finds too! Across from the "sand pile" is the Museum, recently renovated, that will knock your socks off...enjoy the journey! Glenn (above) is actually on a pile of the phosphate gravel outside of Chocowinity NC |
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Another happy camper (judging by the color of his rear) from the fossil dig! Dad said he could take the pail full of phosphate with fossils home if he could carry them to the car! |
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What fun to dig fossils for free with the family to help! |
Adults have just as much fun finding fossils |
One little girl made her American Flag part of her fossil dig |
The annual Fossil Auction that benefits the Aurora Museum - great stuff!
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| AURORA
FOSSIL SHOW 2003 the free sand pile to dig for fossils...
This young man REALLY took advantage of the pile of phosphate in looking for fossils in the pile...
Another enthusiastic fossil pit "diver" ADULT with a dirty behind that we KNOW enjoyed the show and found some great fossils too! ...
(Above) Here's a little sweetie that enjoyed the fossils in our booth at the show - and WE enjoyed the shark backpack she had. It turns out this was a gift to her when she had to go into the hospital for her fifth brain surgery. A great gift for a tough little trooper.
Above is a good example of an Aurora megalodon tooth. Only the portion showing above Ken's hand is what was found, the rest was restored by a master. So it does not have the same value as an original tooth but sure is a beauty! |
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AURORA NC FOSSIL MUSEUM |
| Megalodon shark jaw model (from both ends!)
A list of Man Eating Sharks
Photographs of the phosphate mine and a model of a cross section of the mine showing layers of fossils.
Ore being slurried for pumping. This material is FULL of fossils that get sucked into the transport tubes up to 11 miles long
A great summary of the mine operation and the fossil layers found there: On the south shore of the Pamlico river in North Carolina near the Outer Banks lies an open pit phosphate mine still in operation. This mine produces some of the finest fossil shark teeth in the world and the region is known as "Lee Creek" by most. There are four recognized formations each with its respective representation of an epoch in time. They are in order of oldest first, PUNGO RIVER (Lower Miocene), YORKTOWN (Early Pliocene), CHOWAN RIVER (Late Pliocene), and JAMES CITY (Pleistocene). It is currently believed that the Pungo River layer once existed as a sub-tropical marine environment. The lowest strata of this formation is theorized to have been under 100 - 200 meters of water when covered by a prehistoric ocean with the uppermost layer having existed at a depth of 70 meters under water. The Yorktown layer is believed to have been under 80 - 100 meters at its lowest strata with a gradual decrease in the ocean depth to a point where the water was as shallow as 15 meters at the last time period of that formation's existence. Approximately 50 species of sharks alone are found in the Lee Creek mine. Other fossils exist representing skates, rays, bony fishes, mammals (mainly marine), reptiles (turtles) and a host of marine invertebrates. Lee Creek is a world-class site for some of the finest shark fossils. These specimens are coveted by collectors the world over. All it takes is to hold one of these gem teeth in your hand and behold the beauty up close and personal. In doing so, you too, will be hooked forever on the beauty of Lee Creek teeth. |
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Below is our great Fossil Identification showcase in our store (now in our home). Some are unusual fossils, others are more common fossils found right here on our own Myrtle Beach and surrounding areas. Folks came from near and far with their fossils to find out what they are. We've got reference books to back up the display as well, we're delighted to see what everyone has found. (See the Weirdest pages for a great Weird Museum we've set up of our MOST unusual collections).
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FOSSIL TURTLE HEADS on Myrtle Beach?
It's actually the 60 million year old fossilized snail (or rock-like cast formed by silt that replaced the snail) from an Ark shell (Cucullaea, a mollusk). Here's a photo of the full shell (below) so you can picture the "turtle head" inside it. An article ran in the April 3, 1997 Sun News (Myrtle Beach SC) with the details confirmed by the Smithsonian. The casts have the look of turtle heads because of a spiny ridge on the rounded top-side, an indent that looks like the place where a spine might attach, and a line that looks like where the mouth would close.
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| OCEAN
LAKES FOSSIL FAIR
Was October 25, 2008 this year Here's a link with more details on the Fair, and directions: Every year, the Fossil Club sets up their collections at the Ocean Lakes Campground in Surfside SC (southern Myrtle Beach). The Smithsonian has fossil ID experts there. The Aurora Phosphate mine people are there with material for kids to dig in (photo below). You will see below - fossil I.D. photos I took of some member's collections including Bob Johnson's, an incurable fossil hound here in South Carolina. Also visit the Nature Center around the corner for many local fossils collected, displayed and identified.
Bob Johnson's other passion is collecting vintage hearse cars (Our young customer in blue is in this photo with Bob)
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Belemnite (squid pen) |
Hydracodon jaw |
Crab claw |
Fish gill bones |
Jaguar canine tooth |
Manatee jaw fragment |
Marlin dorsal spine |
Mastodon teeth |
Ray dermal skutes |
Sawfish rostrum fragment and rostal tooth
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Woolly mammoth teeth |
Associated baby woolly mammoth ivory, teeth and bones |
Eagle claw, capybara tooth, elk jaw |
Pygmy sperm whale, wolf teeth, bear teeth, Mosasaurus teeth |
Eocene Whale teeth, gator teeth, bison teeth Toothed whale tooth:
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Drum fish jaw & upper mouthplate |
| Bear teeth, wolf teeth
Black bear teeth
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Capybara teeth, deer teeth |
Teeth of Peccary, Giant beaver, seal |
Tapir teeth & jaw |
Ground Sloth teeth, and claws with toes
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Beaver teeth |
Seal heel bone and flipper bone |
Dog tooth |
Muskrat jaw with teeth |
Camel tooth and leg bone |
Rhino tooth |
Mink jaw fragment with teeth |
Puffer fish |
Bonita fish nose & skull More noses
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Sturgeon skute |
Llama teeth & toe bone |
| Underside
of horseshoe crab found on beach (a living fossil)
and mating horseshoe crabs
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Allosaurus claw |
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