Alabama Lithic Material
Name | Natural | Non-heat treated points | Heat treated points | Color details | Primary found in: | Associated Formation / Member |
Andesite Generic Type |
North America | Varies | ||||
Attalla Chert | Occurs as a conglomerate or breccia and is light to medium gray. Primarily has small angular chert fragments in a siliceous matrix. | Northeastern Alabama | Attalla Chert Conglomerate, Chickamauga Limestone Formation | |||
Argillite (Generic Type) |
Light to dark green, but may range to various shades of gray. | North America | Varies | |||
Armuchee Chert AKA: Horse Leg Chert (Ridge and Valley Chert) |
Black to dark or medium gray | Northeastern Alabama | Frog Mountain formation | |||
Bangor Chert (Ridge and Valley Chert) |
Translucent and banded, ranging in color from black to a dark bluish gray or greenish | Northern Alabama | Bangor Limestone Formation | |||
Bangor Limestone AKA: Colbert County Limestone |
Medium gray | Northern Alabama | Bangor Limestone Formation | |||
Bibb Chert | Dark gray with chert nodules characterized by irregular cavities | Central Alabama | Bibb Dolomite Member of the Knox Formation | |||
Blue Gray Fort Payne Chert | Opaque gray to bluish gray, or black with tan patches. White fossil specks are usually present | Northern Alabama | Fort Payne Formation | |||
Blushing Star Coral (Species type) |
Ranges from grayish white to gray with darker "star burst" patters present. | Southeastern Alabama | Tampa Formation | |||
Box Fire Coral (Species type) |
Encrusted base with thick walled box like structure forming upward. | Southeastern Alabama | Tampa Formation | |||
Brassfield Chert AKA: Clifton Chert / Agate, Belfast Chert |
Artifacts tend to range in color from light greenish to blue or light tans mottled with yellowish red to milky white | Northwestern Alabama | Brassfield Formation | |||
Brain Coral (Species type) |
Brain like shape with ridges and deep interconnected double valleys. | Southeastern Alabama | Tampa Formation | |||
Brierfield Chert | Ranges from a medium to dark blue gray in color characterized by chert with irregular cavities. | Central Alabama | Brierfield Dolomite Formation | |||
Buffalo River Chert | Ranges in color from light to dark tans with orangish, reddish and bluish hues. May have gray or brownish swirls | Northwestern Alabama | Fort Payne Formation | |||
Camden Chert | Mottled white to gray, gray to gray blue, pale yellow to olive-yellow or tan. Vugs, quarts inclusions, streaking generally present | Northwestern Alabama | Tuscaloosa Formation | |||
Carnelian (Generic Type) |
Translucent and varies in shades from reddish brown to reddish orange. | North America | Varies | |||
Catahoula Orthoquartzite | Range from white to gray, tan, black, green, or almost clear with black angular inclusions giving a "peppered" appearance. | Southwestern Alabama | Catahoula Formation | |||
Cheaha Quartzite | Ranges in color from a white to light gray | Central Alabama | Cheaha Quartzite Member of the Talladega Formation | |||
Chepultepec Chert
Knox Chert Variant (Ridge and Valley Chert) |
Ranges from yellow to white and oolitic | Northern Alabama | Chapultepec Member of the Knox Formation | |||
Chickamauga Chert (Ridge and Valley Chert) |
Ranges from a brownish black to a black in bedded limestone, but ranges to a drab olive green in limestone boulders. | Northeastern Alabama | Chickamauga Limestone Formation | |||
Clayton Chert (Coastal Chert) |
Ranges from yellow to brown, though white may occur. | Southern Alabama | Clayton Formation of the Midway Group | |||
Clear Branch Chert | Black | North central Alabama | Clear Branch Sandstone Formation | |||
Conasauga Chert (Ridge and Valley Chert) |
Most commonly a light bluish gray to tan or silver, rarely reds do occur. Commonly mottled and is oolitic. May be very chalcedonic | Northeastern Alabama | Conasauga Formation | |||
Copper Ridge Chert Knox Chert variant (Ridge and Valley Chert) |
Ranges in color from medium to dark gray to black | Northern Alabama | Copper Ridge Member of the Knox formation | |||
Crystal Quartz | clear colorless stone similar to clear glass | Eastern North America | ||||
Flint River Chert AKA: Butterscotch Chert (Coastal Chert) |
Ranges from a yellowish brown to a medium brown. | Southeastern Alabama | Flint River Formation, Vicksburg Group | |||
Florence County Fort Payne Chert | Ranges in color from dark gray to black and is mottled with lighter translucent light blue | Northern Alabama | Fort Payne Formation | |||
Fort Payne Chert AKA: Iuka Chert, Lauderdale 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 | Northern Alabama | Fort Payne Formation | |||
Fossilized Coral AKA: Agatized Coral, Silicified Coral, Coral Chalcedony (Generic Type) |
Ranges from clear to white, grayish blue, brown, tan, or yellow. Starburst patterns or banding may be present. | Southeastern Alabama | Tampa Formation | |||
Glendon
Chert (Coastal Chert) |
Ranges from white to a creamy tan or brown with dark gray, black, and bluish white also occurring. Clear chalcedony and mottling commonly occurs. | Southern Alabama | Glendon Limestone Formation, Vicksburg Group | |||
Hattiesburg Orthoquartzite | Gray opal cemented quarttztic siltstone or sandstone that may have shades of light brown or tan giving a mottled appearance. | Southwestern Alabama | Hattiesburg Formation | |||
Horse Creek Chert Tuscaloosa variation AKA: Pickwick Chert and Lost Quarry Chert |
Banded with the band colors ranging from black to medium gray (outer band), yellow tan to pale yellow (next band), pink to reddish or brick red (center). | Northern Alabama | Tuscaloosa Formation | |||
Jefferson County Fort Payne Chert | Mottled light tan to white, beige is the most common color | Northern Alabama | Fort Payne Formation | |||
Jemison Chert | Commonly a light gray with iron staining. | Central Alabama | Jemison Chert Formation, Talladega Group | |||
Kalona Quartzite | Ranges from a light gray to a light brown or white. | South central Alabama | Kalona Quartzite Member, Wash Creek Slate Formation, | |||
Ketona Chert Knox Chert variation |
Light gray | Northern Alabama | Ketona Dolomite Member of the Knox Formation | |||
Knox Chert | Dark blue to bluish gray with translucent mottling. Red Knox Chert has a reddish color with slight mottling. | Northern Alabama | Knox Formation | |||
Lenoir Chert | Dark Gray | Northeastern Alabama | Lenoir Limestone Formation | |||
Lisbon Chert AKA: McBean Chert, Silicified Chert Hash (Coastal Chert) |
Ranges from red to yellow or cream to blue. Mottling or striping may be present. Jasper and chalcedony also occur in this formation. | East central Alabama | Lisbon Limestone Formation of the Clairborne Group | |||
Little Oak Chert | Ranges from a medium dark gray to dark gray. | North central Alabama | Little Oak Limestone Formation | |||
Longview Chert Knox variation |
Primarily reddish, but white to gray colors do occur | Northern Alabama | Longview Member of the Knox Formation | |||
Marianne Chert AKA: Mint Springs Marl |
Ranges from a white to cream color | Southern Alabama | Mint Springs Marl Member of the Marianna Limestone Formation, Vicksburg Group | |||
Mountainous Star Coral Orbicella Faveolata (Species type) |
Solid, very large dome or stumped shaped with small lumps, bulges, or lobes. | Southeastern Alabama | Tampa Formation | |||
Mustard Chert (Fort Payne variant) |
Ranges from a tannish yellow and olive color to a bluish black and commonly has strings of bryozoan fossils forming a "string of beads". | Northeastern Alabama | Ft Payne Formation | |||
Newala Chert (Ridge and Valley Chert) |
Ranges in color from black to gray, white to faint purple with bands of smoky gray to olive green | Northeastern Alabama | Newala Limestone Formation | |||
Ocala Chert AKA: Jackson Stage Chert (Coastal Chert) |
Ranges in color from a a white to a cream or tan, yellow, red, and black colors also occur. Fossil inclusions commonly occur. | Southeastern Alabama | Ocala Limestone Formation, Jackson Group. | |||
Orthoquartzite (Generic Type) |
Ranges from white to tan, red green, brown, or black. | North America | Varies | |||
Paint Rock Agate AKA: Greasy Cove Agate |
Colors of yellow, orange, red black, gray, and blue with banding or quartz formation at the center of the nodule occasionally occurring. | Northeastern Alabama | ||||
Petrified Wood AKA: Agatized Wood, Opalized Wood |
Vary in color based on the minerals present during the process | North America | Varies | |||
Piedmont Gravel Quartz
|
Ranges from bright white to light gray, tan, brown, pink, or red. | West central Alabama | ||||
Quartz AKA: Vein Quartz |
Milky white with thin veins |
North America | Varies | |||
Quartzite (Generic Type) |
Varies from white to gray, or pink and tan in color | North America | Varies | |||
Randall Creek Petrified Wood | Shades of cream, tan, and brown with wood grain or rings commonly present. | Southeastern Alabama | ||||
Rhyolite (Generic Type) |
Gray to grayish black, flow banding may be present alternating from light to darker gray | North America | Varies | |||
Shady Chert | Ranges from a bluish gray to a yellowish gray blue, or white with mottling commonly present. | Northeastern Alabama | Shady Dolomite Formation | |||
Staghorn Coral (Species type) |
Cylindrical branches | Southeastern Alabama | Tampa Formation | |||
Suwannee Chert (Coastal Chert) |
Ranges from brown to a creamy tan with dark gray, black, and bluish white also occurring, chalcedony, mottling, or banding may occur. J | Southeastern Alabama | Suwannee Limestone Formation, Vicksburg Group | |||
Tallahatta Chert AKA: Tallahatta Chert, Alabama Agate |
Glossy multicolored chert that may vary from red to amber, yellow, and blue. | Southern Alabama | Tallahatta Formation, Clairborne Group | |||
Tallahatta Quartz AKA: Tallahatta Sandstone, Snowflake Quartzite |
Light gray arenite with white specks giving a snowflake appearance. | Southern Alabama | Tallahatta Formation, Clairborne Group | |||
Tampa Chert | Ranges from a yellow to a tan or brown with medium to dark gray also occurring. Chalcedony or quartz filled vugs are commonly present.. | Southeastern Alabama | Tampa Limestone Formation | |||
Tuff AKA: Solidified Volcanic Ash |
Contains greater than 75 volcanic ash and ranges from white to tan, gray or pink. | North America | Volcanic activity | |||
Tupelo Fort Payne Chert | Light beige to light tan with light gray mottling and may have banding. It has a creamy appearance | Northern Alabama | Fort Payne formation | |||
Tuscaloosa Chert AKA: Red / Yellow Jasper |
Ranges in color from white, tan, yellowish tan to yellow or brown, and red. Mottling is not present | Northern Alabama | Tuscaloosa Gravel Formation | |||
Tuscumbia Chert AKA: Carmack Chert |
Ranges from light to dark gray | Northern Alabama | Tuscumbia Limestone Formation |