Fort Payne Chert in Alabama The image to your right shows a specimen of Fort Payne chert in Alabama. Pictured on the PHOTO QUIZ page is an Alabama chert quarry. Chert is a fine grained sedimentary rock that is closely related to flint. It may contain small fossils, and varies greatly in color, depending on which other minerals are present within it. The properties of chert allow for many uses, such as building tools and starting fires. Currently, chert is most frequently used as construction material. The Fort Payne chert formation is a Mississippian cherty limestone that overlies the Chattanooga Shale and underlies the St. Louis Limestone. It is named for Fort Payne, Alabama, where this particular formation occurs.
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