Coon Creek Science Center

The Coon Creek Science Center is a science center and fossil finding site at 2985 Hardin Graveyard Road in Adamsville, McNairy County, Tennessee, USA.

USA in the Cretaceous Period
  Location of Coon Creek Science Center

The science center is situated on a 232 acres (94 ha) property on one of the most important fossil sites in North America.[1] The Coon Creek Formation is a geologic formation located in western Tennessee and extreme northeast Mississippi. It is a sedimentary sandy marl deposit, Late Cretaceous in age, about 73 million years old. In the Late Cretaceous epoch, the Gulf of Mexico reached further north and West Tennessee was covered by water.[2] The fossilization began when the water receded. Finds at the Coon Creek site range from marine shells, crabs and snails to vertebrate fossils, e.g. sharks.[3]

Apart from fossil digging, the Coon Creek Science Center offers fields and forests for hiking tours and wildlife watching as well as five ponds at which aquatic life can be studied. A telescope site is available for studies of the night sky.[1]

The science center organizes special tours, environmental camps and fossil digs.[2] Visitors can dig for fossils at the site and take them home.[4] Five camp-style cabins, a dining hall and kitchen are available to accommodate overnight guests.[1] Admission to the center is limited to organized groups by appointment.[4] The Coon Creek Science Center was acquired by the City of Memphis in 1988 and is part of the Pink Palace Family of Museums.[3]

See also

References
  1. "History of the Pink Palace Family of Museums". City of Memphis Division of Park Services and Museums Inc. Retrieved 2009-06-03.
  2. Toplovich, Ann (1998). "Coon Creek". Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture. Archived from the original on 2007-06-10. Retrieved 2009-06-04.
  3. "Coon Creek science Center - Pink Palace Family of Museums". City of Memphis Division of Park Services and Museums Inc. Retrieved 2009-06-03.
  4. "Coon Creek science Center". Tennessee Vacation. Archived from the original on 2009-07-29. Retrieved 2009-06-04.
  • "Coon Creek Fossils" (PDF). Rockhound News. Memphis, Tennessee: Memphis Archaeological and Geological Society. July 2003.

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