The Aurora Fossil Museum is a natural science museum in

Aurora, North Carolina Aurora is a town in Beaufort County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 455 at the 2020 census. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which is land and , or 9.60%, is water. ...

. The museum's collection is built around fossils recovered from the nearby

phosphate mine Phosphates are the naturally occurring form of the element phosphorus. In chemistry, a phosphate is an anion, salt, functional group or ester derived from a phosphoric acid. It most commonly means orthophosphate, a derivative of orthophosphor ...

owned since 1995 by

PotashCorp The Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan, also known as PotashCorp, was a company based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The company merged with Calgary-based Agrium to form Nutrien, in a transaction that closed on January 1, 2018. The company was the ...

, but also includes fossil specimens donated from around the world as well as geology and meteorite displays. Fossils from the local mine are approximately 18-22 and 2.5-5 million years old coming from layers in the mine traced to the early

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

and

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch (geology), epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.33 to 2.58Pungo River The Pungo River is a river in eastern North Carolina, United States. It originally began in the Great Dismal Swamp in Washington County, North Carolina; the upper part of the river has since been supplanted by the Pungo River Canal, dug in the 1 ...

and Yorktown formations. The museum also maintains 2 spoils piles in the park across the street from the museum. The pits are filled with mine tailings where small shell, coral, shark tooth and other fossils are relatively easy to find. The pits are open during daylight hours daily. The museum provides information about the geological history of the Aurora area, which is known as a center for fossil hunting (especially due to the phosphate mine). The museum was founded in 1976 and opened in 1978 as a collaboration between the town of Aurora, local mines,

East Carolina University East Carolina University (ECU) is a public university in Greenville, North Carolina, United States. It is the List of universities in North Carolina by enrollment, fourth largest university in North Carolina and the only one in the state with s ...

, and other interested parties. Visitors are allowed to collect fossils from the neighboring spoils pile.

Events

The museum has hosted a yearly Fossil Festival each May since 1983. The festival includes a fossil auction.

References

External links

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Fossil Festival
{{authority control Natural history museums in North Carolina Museums in Beaufort County, North Carolina Fossil museums in the United States Geology museums in the United States Paleontology in North Carolina Historic Albemarle Tour