This is Mazon Monday post #79. What's your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:[email protected].
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Here is the field trip report for the Braceville Fall Field Trip, written by ESCONI President Keith Robitschek.
The September field trips to the Braceville spoil pile started with Saturday and Sunday being mostly sunny and rather warm for a late summer day. We had 43 participants Saturday and 45 Sunday, braving what would become very hot days. In fact, this was the hottest Braceville outing we have experienced in recent memory. Both days the temperature exceeded 90 degrees. Luckily two canopies were ported in and setup near the spoil pile. Thanks go out to the Andersons for bring in your canopy.
On a sad note, the beginning of the Sunday’s outing was delayed by the police and fire department. At around 1:30 Sunday morning a motorcyclist had a problem taking the curve on Berta Road not far from the spoil pile entrance. The accident was not discovered until later that morning. As in all accidents that result in a death, the police have to close off and investigate the accident site. With much appreciation, a big thank you to one of our newer members, Maarten Vonhof and Rich Holm for helping out in getting folks to the west side entrance to the spoil pile.
As most of you know the Midwest has been in drought for a good part of the year. During the walk in, it always seems to be damp on both sides of the path, especially closer to the spoil pile. But, this is misleading considering the water table is close to the surface, with the water filled mine shaft being just a few hundred feet or so from the path and spoil pile. However, the drought was reflected in the state of the spoil pile. The surface of the ground and ridges were dry and dusty, with very little water erosion. As the winds picked up, this dust was even being blown up hill. Digging into the pile showed very little moisture in the first foot to foot and a half in most places.
This fall’s fossil donations, of several buckets, were provided by the Kruty family, Ralph Jewell, Andrew Young, Marie Angkuw, Rich Holm, Connor Puritz, and Keith Robitschek. The types of fossils donated were: Pennsylvanian concretions (mostly ferns and a few Jellyfish), Florida Pliocene (shellfish and shark teeth), Cambrian Trilobite parts, and Devonian material (shellfish and Silurian crinoid calyxes and cephalopod segments). The variety provided many with the opportunity to bring home fossils on both days. It was enjoyed by both the young and the young at heart.
Ready set GO!
or at least the last four years Ralph Jewell an ESCONI member has been making many of his fossils available to members at the Braceville outing, thank you! And maybe thank you to your boss for requesting you to thin your collection at home, maybe…
During this field trip, we had seen an increase in fossil identification requests. Several members brought in concretions for help. Andrew Young, Rich Holm, and Keith Robitschek helped educate our newcomers on how to hunt for concretions on and around the spoil pile. It takes time to train the eye to recognize the different shapes and colors that help discern rock from concretion. Not only were many concretions found on the surface around the pile but also in the ridges. People continue to find concretion clusters when digging in situ. It is great to hear of people taking to heart the message to use the freeze/thaw process to open their concretions. Remember that we have a video now on the ESCONI web site on collecting Mazon Creek concretions. The video is titled “Mazon Monday #66: Video for June 2021 Paleontology Meeting - "Collecting Mazon Creek Fossils" and is located under the Videos page.
Several participants were not only successful in finding concretions but also found several mining artifacts. Timber spikes were found along with a mule shoe, and what looks tobe a connecting hook used to join ore carts, a segment of a miner’s pipe, and a near complete bottle that could be over 100 years old.
All in all, it was a fun weekend and no one went home empty handed.
