Exploring Georgia's Natural History
  • Natural History & Geology
    • Podcast; The Tivola Whale
    • Coastal Plain Correlation Chart
    • GA Paleo Research by Paul F. Huddlestun PhD >
      • Late Eocene & Older... Coastal Plain Stratigraphy
      • Washington County Core Logs By Paul Huddlestun
      • Coastal Plain Core Logs by Paul F. Huddlestun
    • Presentation; Oaky Woods Stratigraphy
    • Physiographic Map of Georgia
    • Fossils of Oaky Woods
    • Collections & Stewardship of Georgia’s Fossils
    • I, Periarchus (A Fossil's Tale)
    • Georgia's Amateurs >
      • Amateur; Jared Dyche, On The Way To A Degree
      • Cam Muskelly, Duluth, GA
      • Kyle Keller, Valdosta, GA >
        • Kyle Keller Returns, Still Rocking!
      • Hank Josey, Dublin
      • Bill Christy; Kamin Performance Minerals Fossils
    • Public Fossil Locations >
      • South Houston County Fossils
      • Updated; Islands of the Savannah River
    • Georgia Fossils in the Smithsonian
  • Education Material
    • My Field Kit; What You Need In The Field
    • Meet Crassostrea gigantissima, Georgia's Historic Giant Oyster
    • Georgiacetus Presentation; A Whale for Georgia
    • The Natural History & Fossils Record of Houston County, GA
    • Evolution in Georgia's Fossil Record
    • Georgia's State Fossil; Shark Teeth
    • Georgia's Paleontology For Georgia's Classrooms
    • SW GA RESA 2018 Talk
    • Library & School Presentations
    • An Introduction To Fossils; Presentation
    • Georgia's Fossils Presentation; 500 million years
    • Georgia College Natural History Museum
  • Meteorites
    • Did I Find A Meteorite?
    • Georgia's Lost Meteorite
    • Georgia's Witnessed Meteorite Falls
    • The Sardis Iron, Georgia's Largest Meteorite
  • 1: Georgia's Oldest Fossils; Archaeocyathids, At 513 Million Years Old
  • 2: Trilobites; 500 Million Years Ago
    • 2A; Murray County Stromatolites
    • 2B; A Trilobite Nest in Georgia
  • 3: Geologic Time
  • 4: Our Oldest Vertebrate?
  • 5: Georgia Before the Dinosaurs
    • 5A; Georgia’s Pennsylvanian Plant Fossils
    • 5B: Carpentertypus durhami, Georgia’s Giant Insect, 315 Million Years Ago
  • 6: 200 Million Years Ago
    • 6A: Birth of the Atlantic Ocean
  • 7: Cretaceous Georgia, Dinosaurs & more
    • 7A: Georgias Pterosaur
    • 7C: Coelecanths
    • 7B: So Many Sharks
    • 7D: Xiphactinus vetus
    • 7E: Side-necked turtles
    • 7F: Marine Reptiles
    • 7G: Dinosaurs in Georgia
    • 7I; The Blufftown Formation
    • 7L: Bill Montante's Mega "Gator" Tooth Discovery
    • 7K: The Pio Nono Formation
    • 7J: The Eutaw Formation
    • 7H: Deinosuchus schwimmeri in Recognition of Dr. David Schwimmer
  • 8: Suwannee Current, Gulf Trough, & Bridgeboro Limestone
  • 9: The Clayton Formation Report; By Hank Josey
    • 9A: The Georgia Turtle
  • 10: The Eocene; Georgia's Oldest Mammals
    • 10A: The Origins of Whales
  • 11: A Whale For Georgia
  • 12: Basilosaurids; The First Modern Whales
    • 12A: Basilosaurus cetoides
    • 12B: Basilotritus
    • 12C: Cynthiacetus (Revised)
    • 12D: Chrysocetus
    • 12E: The Redmond Mandible of Albany Ga
    • 12F; Houston County, GA Basilosaurus to the Smithsonian
  • 13: Ziggy and The Museum of Arts & Sciences, Macon, GA
  • 14: Late Eocene
    • 14A: Eocene Fossils & Stratigraphy
    • 14B; Fossils, Impacts, & Tektites Dating the Clinchfield Formation
    • 14C: The Tivola Limestone
    • 14D: Twiggs Clay Vertebrates
    • 14F; Sandersville Limestone, By Hank Josey
    • 14E: Ocmulgee Formation Vertebrates
    • 14I: Dating Late Eocene Sediments
    • 14J: Georgia's Tektites; Georgiaites
    • 14K; Shell Bluff; Georgia's Most Historic Paleontology Site
    • 14L; Taylors Bluff, Paleo Paddling the Ocmulgee River
    • 14M; Eocene Terrestrial Mammals From Gordon, GA
    • 14N: Fossil Ridge, A Stratigraphic Study in Oaky Woods Wildlife Management Area
    • 14O; Georgia's First Entelodont
    • 14P: Historic Rich Hill
    • 14Q; Bibb County's Christy Hill, Clinchfield Formation Hilltop
  • 15: Early Oligocene
    • 15A: The Marianna Limestone
    • 15B; The Glendon Limestone
    • 15C: Undiffereniated Oligocene Residuum
    • 15D; Brissus bridgeboroensis; A New Echinoid Species From Georgia’s Bridgeboro Limestone
    • 15E: The Curious Steinkern Sea Biscuits of Red Dog Farm Road
    • 15F: Early Oligocene Gordian Knot
  • 16: Bonaire GA Entelodont
  • 17: The Whale Eating Shark
  • 18: Miocene Epoch; 23.3 to 5.3 Million Years Ago
    • 18A; Miocene Terrestrial Vertebrates
    • 18B; Paul Fell, Rockhouse Cave
    • 18C: The Marks Head Formation
    • 18D: Miocene Terrestrial Vertebrates of the Marks Head Formation
    • 18E: The Statenville Formation
    • 18F: South Georgia’s Dugong Metaxytherium calvertense
  • 19: Pliocene Epoch; 5.3 to 2.5 Million years Ago
    • 19A; Two Small Primitive Horses from Taylor County
  • 20: The Ice Ages; Pleistocene & Holocene Epochs
    • 20A; Clark Quarry's Mammoths & Bison
    • 20B: Pleistocene Vertebrate List
    • 20C: Georgia’s Eolian Dunes
    • 20D: Georgia’s Carolina Bays
    • 20E: Late Pleistocene Significant Events
    • 20F: Southeastern Thermal Enclave
    • 20G; Diamond Back Terrapins
    • 20H; A Kaolin Mine Beaver Dam
    • 20I; Pleistocene Vertebrate Fossils On Georgia’s Piedmont
    • 20J; Watkins Quarry Pleistocene Vertebrates, Glynn County, GA
  • *NEW* 20K: Pleistocene Vertebrates from Coastal Georgia
  • 21: Humans in Georgia
  • 22: Geology of the Coastal Plain, 1911
    • 22A: 1911 Cretaceous Fossil Locations
    • 22B: 1911 Eocene Fossil Locations
  • 23: Coastal GA Locations (1957)
  • 24: Needed; The Georgia Geologic Survey
  • Building This Site
    • Origins Of This Site
    • Contributing Artists
    • Black & White Sketches

My Field Kit
What You Need in the Field


​By Thomas Thurman
​

Michael Barnette, whom some of you will know, recently suggested that I create a Field Kit page. “What does one need in the field?” Since I’d been considering that very thing… here it is. 
​
​Field kits are very personal things & everyone’s is different. So I will introduce you to Thomas’s Field Kit, and it is even highly variable. The goal is to have what you need wherever you're going, but not to carry unnecessary tools. 
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​What You Actually Need:
Curiosity, that is the most important thing. The next thing is getting out there. The science is in the field! You don’t need a rock hammer, or rock pick, an old claw hammer will do. You don’t need fancy tools, an old screwdriver or butter knife will do most tasks. A cheap trowel will collect a lot of fossils.

​
Research!

The most important tool is your mind sharpened with research.

Do your homework, read the literature, most of what you need to know is there.
​
In the case of Georgia there is a rich history of literature but since the Georgia Geologic Survey was closed in 2004, nearly 20 years ago, further research into our paleontology has been spotty and often non-existent. That makes amateurs, acting professionally and respectfully, all the more important!


Here is a link to the literature of the Georgia Geologic Survey, free downloads which can lead you. to many fossils
​Georgia Geologic Survey Bulletins | Environmental Protection Division

​So here is my full field kit, typically I carry some variant of this, but if I don't know exactly what I'll be working with, I carry it all. That doesn't happen often.

The weight, including the walking stick and a hat, is 16.6lbs, that's with an empty water bottle. If I'm leading a group I'll add a First Aid Kit (2lbs). I'll also carry what food I'll need while I'm out. And believe it or not, my pack still has room for fossils.

Now, I'm not a collector. I do not maintain a collection. However I do collect enough to have research samples for this website and to provide education samples to teachers.  

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My Complete Field Kit

  1. Walking Stick; I’ve made several over the years as I’m bad about leaving them behind  or loosing them. This one is bamboo. I sealed the hollow at the base with waterproof glue. Mine are usually 5 feet long, this one ended up at 64”. I often use them as a scale for pictures. Walking sticks should be very study but lightweight. They are useful for testing the ground as you go & give a good retort when bounced on hard rock; both hardwood & bamboo sticks do this. They harmlessly remove spiderwebs and snakes from your path.
  2. Sharp knife; I usually carry a Swiss Army Knife, but I have a variety I use depending on where I’m going.
  3. Water Bottle (At least 1), Stay hydrated out there
  4. Zip lock bags for samples (various sizes). I typically carry a few sandwich sized bag and a few gallon sized. Freezer bags tend to be heavier/stronger.
  5. Paper towels; Several uses, from padding for samples to cleaning
  6. Machete (short); The woods can be thick with brush. There are several inexpensive, lightweight 12” blade machetes out there. Always get the matching sheath. I sewed the sheath into my backpack.
  7. Rock Hammer, Chisel Head (Brick Hammer)
  8. Rock Hammer, Rock Pick
  9. Magnifying loupe. Some sort of magnifying glass is useful in sediment ID. This is a 10X Belomo Triplet Loupe
  10. Pick (Estwing Burpee Pick); There are many style of picks. The Estwing Burpee Pick fits in my backpack and is light weight.
  11. Compass; Compasses are cheap and very useful. $20.00 will get you an excellent compass. $5.00 will get you a perfectly good compass.
  12. Small shovel (entrenching tool); There are many styles. I’ve broken 2 folding shovels in the field so I don't like folding/collapsing shovels. I carry this small Cold Steel Special Forces 92SF model ($20.00 for the shovel, the sheath cost another 9.00, worthevery penny.) It fits in my pack, its tough, it digs happily, and the head is sharpened all the way around. This makes it useful as a light hatchet or heavy machete. It is also designed to be thrown, but for the life of me I can’t think why you would throw away of possible weapon. There is a larger one now available.
  13. Sieve; Coarse; #5 mesh, 4000 micron. You can certainly make a excellent sieve for 10.00. Usually I only carry this one.
  14. Sieve, Medium; #10 mesh, 2000 micron; I have a full set suitable for finding foraminifera, but these two are light and suffice for fieldwork.
  15. GPS; This is a Garmon handheld GPS with Southeastern Topo-maps loaded, even works when your cell has no signal. Best for field work, gives elevation and can lead you back to your car.
  16. Tools for fine work, Small probes and scrapers for fine work
  17. 5 hour energy, An emergency supply. Energy to make it back to your car when you’ve overexerted yourself.
  18. Weak acid, acid to test for carbonates (limestone)
  19. Binoculars, Is that exposure over there worth exploring?
  20. Backpack, Not expensive, but be picky. You need something which will hold up in harsh conditions. You also need something which can get stained, abused, torn… 
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Oh... I always wear hiking boots in the field!
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