EAST TENNESSEE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY
April 2017 Meeting
Monday,
April 10, 2017
6:00 - 7:30 pm
Pellissippi State Technical Community College
10915 Hardin
Valley Road, Knoxville
J.L Goins Administration Building
Faculty/Staff Dining Room
DIRECTIONS
APRIL PRESENTATION
Gray Fossil Site
By
Harry Moore, Geologist (retired)
Tennessee Department of Transportation
Knoxville, Tennessee
Abstract
The Gray Fossil Site
in northeastern Tennessee represents a unique terrestrial fossil
assemblage dating to the Late Miocene Epoch (approximately 5
million years ago to about 7 million years ago). Discovered in
2000 during road construction by geologists with the Tennessee
Department of Transportation (TDOT) and Tennessee Department of
Environment & Conservation (TDEC), the site is volumetrically
one of the largest single fossil localities in the world.
To date, the site has yielded fish, frogs, salamanders, turtles,
snakes, alligators, birds, shrews, rodents, squirrels, rabbits,
elephants, rhinoceroses, tapirs, peccaries, camels, sloths,
saber-tooth cats, short-faced bears, lesser pandas, and a variety
of weasels, to name a few. In addition to these vertebrate
organisms, invertebrates, plants, and pollen/spores are also
abundant at the site.
Preliminary evidence supports a large sinkhole surrounded by an
oak/hickory type forest, a departure from the typical Miocene
grassland environment. A 40,000-square-foot, $10-million research
facility and visitor center has been constructed at the site. The
facility was funded by a TDOT Community Enhancement Grant from
the Federal Government.
The Gray Fossil Site has been proven to be rich in
paleontological treasures and is providing valuable information
on the geological past of the East Tennessee landscape.
Tapir skull found by Harry Moore
in June of 2000 at the Gray Fossil Site.
Page updated May 26, 2018 |