Near Bartow, FL we stopped to look at the tailings from phosphate mining operations. There are a variety of shark teeth, sting ray parts, etc. to be found here, though the largest specimens, being phosphate rich, are removed during mining process. We also got to meet the local constabulary.
This morning we meet up with Rodger Portel from the University of Florida. He is taking on a guided tour of Haile Quarry. In the limestone here, the Ocala, we are finding a wide variety of fossils, including bivalves, corals, sponge casts, Gastropoda, sand dollars, sea urchins, etc.
Lastly we are looking at Miocene karst infills. Here we find all sorts of vertabate bones and teeth, such as giant sloth, camels, etc. our finds include rib and toe jines, most likely from a giant sloth.
We had to beat an 8:30 gate closing at our campground tonight, so we’re cooking out for dinner tonight. Unfortunately we just discovered we are missing the hose to hook the gas to the stove. So it’s going to be luke warm shredded rotisserie chicken burritos with a vegan/veggie bean option.
Near the entrance to Anastasia State Park are old Spanish quarries. This is where they mined coquina to build the Castillo de San Marcosnand many other buildings in Saint Augustine during the 17th and 18th century. Modern mining of the Anastasia coquina continues elsewhere nearby today.
The Castillo de San Marcos is the oldest masonry fort in North America. It was built from blocks of Anastasia coquina, the lithified version the shell hash layers in the beach we viewed at the last stop. It is still being used as a building stone today, including at the town visitors center.
