Earth Science Club of Northern Illinois - ESCONI

ESCONI Events September 2017

Field trips require membership, but visitors are welcome at all meetings!

Fri, Sept 8th	ESCONI General Meeting, 8:00 PM College of Dupage - Tech Ed (TEC) Building, Room 1038B (Map) - Topic: "Calymene blumenbachii and the Discovery of Trilobites" by Dr. Don Mikulic, Senior Paleontologist with the Illinois State Geological Survey
Sat, Sept 9th and Sun Sept 10th	Field Trip - Braceville - see here for details.
Sat, Sept 9th	ESCONI Minerology Study Group Meeting, 7:30 PM College of Dupage - Tech Ed (TEC) Building, Room 1038B (Map) - Topic: "Show and Tell"
Sat, Sept 16th	Field Trip - Vulcan Quarry in Kankakee, IL - see here for details.
Sat, Sept 16th	ESCONI Paleontology Study Group Meeting, 7:30 PM College of Dupage - Tech Ed (TEC) Building, Room 1038B (Map) - Topic: "Show and Tell"
Sun, Sept 24th	Field Trip - Cunningham Quarry in Rockford, IL - see here for details.
	ESCONI Archaeology Study Group Meeting - Open at this time, seeking a chair
	ESCONI Junior Meeting - Open at this time, seeking to restart the group.  Contact Diana Lord for information.

 

September General Meeting Topic: "Calymene blumenbachii and the Discovery of Trilobites"

The speaker at our September 8, 2017 meeting will be Dr. Don Mikulic, Senior Paleontologist with the Illinois State Geological Survey. The title of his program is "Calymene blumenbachii and the Discovery of Trilobites". The program is based on a chapter in "Fantastic Fossils - 300 years of worldwide research on trilobites", New York State Museum Bulletin 507. This book is available for download on ResearchGate under the account of Ed Landing.  Account on ReasearchGate are free.

Membership Is Now Available Via PayPal!

Membership is open to all people interested in the earth sciences.

Family membership is $20.00 for one year or $50.00 for three years. Membership runs from January through December, applies to immediate family in the same household, and includes an emailed digital Newsletter. Dues are payable either at the monthly meetings, or by mailing a check (payable to ESCONI) to the Membership Chair (Rose Jansen), or by credit card via PayPal at www.esconi.org. Members will be notified when dues are due again. Please note that new (first time) memberships paid on or after September 1st will include September - December, and the following calendar year.

 

TO BECOME A MEMBER, USE ONLINE PAYMENT and ALSO FILL OUT A MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION FORM (click on link) (PDF  APPLICATION) and EMAIL IT AS AN ATTACHMENT TO: [email protected] (You can also use this email address if you have questions or need help with your payment or application.)

 

YOUR MEMBERSHIP IS NOT COMPLETE UNTIL THE APPLICATION FORM HAS BEEN RECEIVED!

 

Membership Options

One Year $20.00 USD Three Years $50.00 USD

Member(s) Name

Or, complete this membership form and send with your check to:

Rose Jansen

ESCONI

2 Langford Court

Bolingbrook, IL 60440

To learn more about ESCONI, come to a General Meeting or Study Group Meeting or write a letter to ESCONI; Box 321, Downers Grove, IL 60515.

Field Trip: Vulcan Kankakee Quarry on Saturday Sept 16, 2017 from 8:30 AM to noon

There will be an ESCONI Field Trip to the Vulcan Kankakee Quarry on Saturday Sept 16, 2017 from 8:30 AM to noon. The quarry is located at 1277 County Highway 28.The rules are shown below:

 

1. You must be an ESCONI member as of September 9th and at least 18 years old to attend this trip.

 

2. Maximum attendance is 30.

 

3. Follow any directions given by quarry management on parking.

 

4. We will have site-specific training, and everyone will sign waivers. I will distribute the waiver forms by email a few days before the trip.

 

5. Collect only in areas designated by quarry management.

 

6. You must have the following safety gear: steel-toed boots, hard hat, safety glasses and safety vest. These must be worn at all times on the property.

 

7. No rock hammers, chisels, or large shovels. We can keep the fossils we find as long as they can easily be carried.

 

8. Photographs of the quarry or quarry facilities are not allowed. Photographs of fossils ARE allowed, and Vulcan management would like to have pictures of nice specimens.

 

9. Please review the ESCONI Code of Ethics available on the ESCONI website. This applies to field trips.

 

To sign up for this field trip, please send me (Dave) an email with the number of members attending. My email address is: [email protected]  No phone calls please. I will confirm via return email within 24 hours. If you do not hear back from me within that time, send it again!

Time: See How the Solar Eclipse Will Look From Anywhere in the U.S.

Time has a story that does a simulation of the upcoming Solar Eclipse on August 21st.  Just enter your zip code and enjoy!

 

CBC Quirks & Quarks - This armoured and spiky dinosaur still had to hide from predators

CBC Radio's Quirks & Quarks Show has a segment about an amazing fossil dinosaur specimen.  It's one of the best preserved dinosaur fossils ever found and was discovered in Alberta, Canada.  The animal is a nodosaur that lived about 110 million years ago during the Cretaceous Period.  The detail is such that researchers can determine what type of camouflage it employed.

Research Paper in Current Biology.

It weighed a tonne and a half, was five meters long, was covered in thick, bony armour and spikes, and still it had to hide from the terrifying predators of its time. A new dinosaur discovered in Alberta, and unveiled at the Royal Tyrell Museum of Paleontology in Drumheller, Alberta, is so well preserved that the scientists who've been studying it have been able to tell that it had a kind of camouflage common in much smaller and more vulnerable prey species today.

 

 

Field Trip: September 9-10, 2017 Braceville - Mazon Creek Fossils

Collecting Mazon Creek Fossils on private property.

Meet at 8:00 A.M. Saturday or Sunday at the BP Amoco in Coal City. No Age Limit. Hard Hats not required. Take I-55 to Exit 236 (Coal City). Take a right onto Highway 113 (Division Street). Go west to Broadway Street and Division in Coal City.

We will be collecting Mazon Creek concretions from an old spoil pile on private property. Hard hats are not required. Boots are recommended. An Estwing rock hammer is the best tool. A small shovel or pick is helpful. Gardening tools such as a hand rake work also. Knee pads, backpacks, fanny packs, extra clothes (you will get wet and muddy) are also a plus. Bring a bucket for the fossils. Also bring insect repellent.

You must be a member of ESCONI to participate.  This year participants will be asked to fill out a liability release form which can be downloaded from the web site. All participants must sign the form. Parents or legal guardians must sign the children’s form. Check the web site for details or contact John Good at 1-630-303-2352 for reservations or e-mail at [email protected].

Canceled: Professor Reed Scherer to speak at Elgin Library Wed Aug 9

This event was canceled!

Dr. Reed Scherer, Geology Professor at NIU, will speak at the main Elgin library starting at 7 PM on Wednesday, August 9, 2017. He will discuss the patterns of evolution as seen in the fossil record, but using cars as an analogy to illustrate evolutionary principles. Registration is suggested.

See https://www.gailborden.info/