The Red Mountain Expressway Cut also known as the Red Mountain Geological Cut is a section of Red Mountain that was blasted and removed in the 1960s to allow the Red Mountain Expressway to enter downtown Birmingham, Alabama

Birmingham, Alabama

Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...

. This highway linked Birmingham with its southern suburbs of Homewood

Homewood, Alabama

Homewood is a city in southeastern Jefferson County, Alabama, United States. It is a suburb of Birmingham, located on the other side of Red Mountain due south of the city center. It has one of the highest population densities in Alabama. As of 2009 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the...

, Mountain Brook

Mountain Brook, Alabama

Mountain Brook is a city in southeastern Jefferson County, Alabama, and a suburb of Birmingham. According to 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 20,821. Mountain Brook is a particularly affluent city within the Birmingham metropolitan area and has appeared in several lists...

, and Vestavia Hills

Vestavia Hills, Alabama

Vestavia Hills is a city in Jefferson and Shelby Counties in the U.S. state of Alabama. It is a suburb of the city of Birmingham.-History:Vestavia Hills is named for the estate of former Birmingham mayor George B. Ward. It was situated on the crest of Shades Mountain in what is now the northern...

. It has spurred suburban growth towards the south of Birmingham. This section also provides the route for US Highway 31 (US 31) to the south (the Montgomery Highway) and US 280 to the southeast.

The resultant cut exposed geological strata spanning millions of years (150 million years of geological time within 650 feet (198.1 m) of exposure), including the red ore seam that spurred Birmingham's development. A new species of Lower Silurian (middle Llandovery epoch) phacops

Phacops

Phacops is a genus of trilobite in the order Phacopida, family Phacopidae that lived in Europe and North American in the Silurian and Devonian periods. It was a rounded animal, with a globosa head and large eyes, and probably fed on detritus...

id trilobite

Trilobite

Trilobites are a well-known fossil group of extinct marine arthropods that form the class Trilobita. The first appearance of trilobites in the fossil record defines the base of the Atdabanian stage of the Early Cambrian period , and they flourished throughout the lower Paleozoic era before...

, Acaste

Acaste (genus)

Acaste is a genus of extinct trilobite of the order Phacopida which lived throughout the Silurian period. They are characterized by a convex dorsal surface, an absence of spines, a shortening of the head-shield and a general rounding off of all angles . Species include Acaste downingiae and...

 birminghamensis, was first collected from exposures on Red Mountain. Named for the city, the new species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 was published in May 1972.

The cut

Cut (earthmoving)

In civil engineering, a cut or cutting is where soil or rock material from a hill or mountain is cut out to make way for a canal, road or railway line....

 was designated a National Natural Landmark

National Natural Landmark

The National Natural Landmark program recognizes and encourages the conservation of outstanding examples of the natural history of the United States. It is the only natural areas program of national scope that identifies and recognizes the best examples of biological and geological features in...

in 1987.