Past Uncovered at Sturgeon City
Advanced Marine Science Institute digs for fossils
Ashley Hudson, Nicola Chernetski and Kristin Curtis

Seive and dig.

Early Thursday morning, June 2nd, the Advanced Marine Science Institute began a fossil dig in one of the old drying beds at Sturgeon City. Despite the rainy weather, students worked diligently to sift through the dirt and find fossils to examine.
Instructor Pat Donovan Potts stated that her favorite part of conducting experiments such as todays is “interacting with students.”

Students climbed into a pile of sediment donated by Martin Marietta Quarry in Maysville, North Carolina. Using shovels and sieves, they discovered fossilized plants and animals from years past.

The fossils make their way from the dirt strewn through sieves, and are then sifted until only the artifacts remain. Julianne Goyenna, rising senior at the North Carolina School of Math and Science, predicts that identifying the different rocks and fossils found would be the most challenging part of the task.
Jeff Rose, a recent graduate of White Oak High School, made one of the day’s most interesting discoveries: a large shark’s tooth about two and one half inches long.

Ummmm.... more dirt.