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January 7, 2009

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Shark Teeth

Layer?...

Layer?

3/4/2003 7:10:54 AM

legacyForum

725 posts

Layer?

I was wondering If there is good dirt under us everywhere here in the lowcountry or is it just in some areas? Ive been working for my grandfathers development company for 2 years and we were building a subdivision behind the walmart in goosecreek when I started. Its the perfect job for finding teeth. My toothaholism started when we began digging our ponds! Since then I havent been the same. My first find was a half broken 5" MEG. I couldnt beleive It. I had no idea they were down there! After that ,every time it rained I couldnt care less about work! My boss cant stand it! Everywhere I go I keep my eyes on the ground and walk real slow and Ive learned to block out the sound of my boss barking at me. since Ive started Ive found all kind of stuff. I even found the other half of my first tooth a month later on the other side of the job that I found it on, almost a half a mile apart. I almost had a stroke the day I found out someone else had been piliging my village. So after that I made sure It was picked clean before I went home. Its a very addicting hobby! Im digging a dirt pit beside the same walmart to build a pad for a shoppingcenter its 25ft deep and still No layer! Will I ever get there? Its higher ground than the other place does that have anything to do with it?

3/7/2003 4:27:05 AM

ditchweezil

347 posts

Re: Layer?

Good question! There is layer almost everywhere in the lowcountry. Usually if you don't find it, its down deeper. I've seen very few spots where there is actually nothing. The fossils' depth is dependent upon the location of the ashley marl - a very hard white-grey layer dating back to the middle oligocene. The rocky layer that contains the megs (Hawthorne) is always above that. The ashley marl is very deep under Charleston (can be 50 feet or more), but all around (Goose Creek, for example) it can be much higher. Not always, though. It has big shelves and valleys in it, and that's why the location Hawthorne layer is so hard to predict. I've been to the site you wrote about, and there is layer there, but its not that good. Just up the road, though, in Crowfield, I remember a spot hawthorne that was 2 feet thick of solid gravel. All the teeth were totally chewed up, but there were loads of them! Keep looking - you have the best job in the world for fossil hunting. It won't be long before you have some great ones! An just because the layer is sucky in one pond, doesn't mean that it won't totally rule in another one just 50 yards away. dw

5/13/2003 1:40:38 AM

legacyForum

725 posts

Re: Layer?

I just started looking after I attended the local Gem and Mineral Show and they told me the fossil layer around here is about 7 feet down ("dig your grave"). I live in Crowfield and tried scouting around our bigger ditches. When I find that thick layer of grey, red and orange clay, is that the target or should I search deeper? Thanks for any tips!

5/15/2003 4:36:30 AM

legacyForum

725 posts

Re: Layer?

You should search deeper. That clay youre talkin about is fossilless. where I work is close to crowfield and we've dug alot of ponds and ditchs out there and the layer where we are looks greenish-gray and has alot of little shells and white rocks, but its over 20 feet under the ground. But we are up on a hill, the property behind us is down the hill and the layer is about 8 feet under. Ive always found the layer in that area to be a really sticky grayish-green clay.

5/16/2003 12:31:31 AM

ditchweezil

347 posts

Re: Layer?

It really depends on where you are how deep the layer is. Some places in Summerville it is less than 2 feet under the surface. And one I remember over near hwy 61 had layer well over 30 feet down. You will want to look for gravel wherever you are hunting, though. The teeth are mixed in with that. The gravel can be in just about any color and consistency of dirt, too. In some places, its mixed with sand, and in others, with clay. If there's no gravel, there's most likely no teeth. Happy hunting! DW

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