Color:  Fort Payne chert ranges in color from black to a grayish blue, or white to a bluish white.  Bluish gray is the predominate color with bluish hues.
Variations include:
Blue Gray Fort Payne chert ranges in color from opaque gray to bluish gray, or black with tan patches.  White fossil specks are usually present.
Dover Chert range from a light tan to almost a black chocolate brown with swirls, bands, or streaks of light to dark
Florence County Fort Payne Chert ranges in color from dark gray to black and is mottled with lighter translucent light blue.
Jefferson County Fort Payne Chert is mottled light tan to white, beige is the most common color.
Tupelo Fort Payne Chert is light beige to light tan with light gray mottling and may have banding.  It has a creamy appearance.

Texture: Fine grain

Luster: Dull to satin like luster

Silica Fabrics / Fossils: Fossiliferous including; crinoid stem fragments, large fenestrate bryozoans, brachiopods, and small indeterminate fossil fragments.

Patina:

Heat Treatment:  Heat treatment darkens the colors, increases the bluish hues and increases the luster.

Knapping:  Heat treatment increases the knapping quality.


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Distribution Comments:

Named for Fort Payne Alabama, Fort Payne chert forms in ridge and valley regions of the lower Tennessee River valley of Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi.  Was previously referred to as Lauderdale Chert for outcroppings in Lauderdale County, Alabama.  Chert from the Iuka Formation was later included in the Fort Payne Formation.