This is Mazon Monday post #113. What's your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:[email protected].
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Braceville Field Trip (Mazon Creek) May 14th and 15th
by Keith Robitschek
This spring’s field trip to the Braceville spoil pile started on Saturday with a warm cloudy day with a chance of rain. We had about five minutes of a cool light drizzle. To be honest, it was well timed and felt good. Near the end of the field trip, it got uncomfortably hot, reaching 88 degrees and humid. We had 39 members show up which left 11 no-shows. Kids young and old alike enjoyed the fossil dump performed just before lunch. Sunday’s weather was a direct opposite from that of Saturday. Mostly cloudy for most of the day, with cooler temperatures. There was about a minute of light mist midday. Unfortunately, only 34 members turned out on Sunday. For the weekend, nearly a third of members that signed up were no-shows. This did allow the guides to be much more personal by sharing knowledge with the participants that were there.
This spring’s fossil donations were provided by Andrew Young, Marie Angkuw, Rich Holm, Jeremy Zimmerman, Rob Coleman and myself... Thanks! Everyone got to pick through them, ask questions, and take home a few handfuls of fossils. The fossils giveaways came from all over the world, including England, Morocco, Indiana, Wyoming, and Iowa. Many of the donations can be seen at the feet of our young hunters in the picture below.
Here a video of the fossil dump on Sunday.
There was much success digging into the ridges, where concretions were being discovered in both eroded areas and in situ. Remember, when you find one concretion in situ, they usually come in small clusters relatively close to each other. The image below looks like we have plots subdivided under leases for excavation.
The top of the hill is the coolest place to be, along with a nice breeze.
Check the ESCONI website! It has a wealth of information about Mazon Creek fossils. We have the weekly Mazon Monday series. Mazon Monday #66 applies well to the Braceville spoil pile.
