This is Mazon Monday post #131. What's your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:[email protected].
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On Saturday, September 10th, 2022 and Sunday, September 11th, 2022, ESCONI hosted the Fall 2022 Braceville Field Trip. These are semi-annual field trips held each spring and fall. Here is a report by ESCONI president Keith Robitshek, Andrew Young, and Rich Holm.
The September field trips to the Braceville spoil pile started with Saturday being mostly sunny and rather warm for a late summer day. Sunday was cool and drizzly until about 12:30. We had 39 participants Saturday braving what would become a hot day and 27 participants Sunday, all in raincoats. Saturday the temperature was over 85 degrees and Sunday barely made it to 70 degrees. Those that did not show up truly missed a good time!
Travel to the Braceville spoil pile along I 55, was a bit of an experience. North bound traffic was backed up for miles due to road construction and an accident. On the way home going north on I 55 Saturday, there were two accidents involving 5 cars in one and 3 cars in another. We hope no ESCONI member were involved in these unnecessary accidents.
Lack of rain left the spoil pile dry and dusty Saturday. These wasn't much erosion this summer. As the winds picked up, this dust was even being blown up hill. Digging into the pile showed very little moisture. The rains Sunday was both a hindrance and helpful. The previous day’s fossil dump was quickly hidden by people walking on and around the concretions thanks to the rain and muck. The clay became a sticky, slippery mess, making it hard to climb up the spoil pile. But the rain did a good job in exposing dusty concretions.
For both days, we had six to nine buckets of fossils donated by various active club collectors. This September’s fossil dump contributors were Ralph Jewell, Rich Holm, Andrew Young, Jeremy Zimmerman, and Keith Robitschek. Most of the fossils were Pennsylvanian concretions with both opened and unopened concretions from a few Mazon localities. Most of the Pennsylvanian concretions were ferns, but jellyfish were also present in large numbers. Also, included were additional fossils from the Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, Mississippian, and Oligocene. For these, there were trilobite parts, crinoid calyxes, brachiopods, and a few Oligocene bones chunks. Several of the specimens provided by Ralph will be added to our silent auction in next year’s ESCONI show.
A few participants found mining artifacts, most of which were timber spikes.
All in all, it was a fun weekend and most of us had a great time playing in the mud!
