This is Throwback Thursday #176. In these, we look back into the past at ESCONI specifically and Earth Science in general. If you have any contributions, (science, pictures, stories, etc ...), please sent them to [email protected]. Thanks!
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Late August 1997 saw a very ambitious ESCONI Field Trip. It lasted for eight days, from August 23rd until August 31st. It started in Brechin, Ontario, Canada, went through to Niagara Falls in New York and back to Chicago. The trip was organized by Dave Bergmann, who was Field Trip Chairman for a few years in the 1990's. He and his wife Sheila were very active members for a long time.... from the 1980's through the 2010's.
This is one of the few photos of the trip. Dave is on the left. Bealis Giddings is holding the large cephalopod in the foreground. Jim Fairchild is on the far right.
Here is the announcement from the July 1997 edition of the newsletter.
Brechin, Ontario has a few quarries. We don't have any photos from the trip, but this is probably similar to the LaFarge quarry visited, At some point, they visited the James Dick and the Bowmanville quarries.
James Dick Quarry
Here are a couple of cephalopods from the James Dick. These were purchased by Ralph Jewell at the Bergmann garage sale back in 2019.
These are ediasteroids from the James Dick Quarry, also from Ralph.
The trip report appeared in the October 1997 newsletter. It sounds like it was successful. Many great fossils were found.
MAPLE LEAF FIELD TRIP
Finally all the odd ends were tied and information was put in the July Bulletin. We had 3 quarries we could work for two days. The other days were to be used for travel and free time. We had very little information of the formations in each quarry. We knew it was hard rock mining of Ordovician nature. We were to meet at the camp grounds for more information. Crossing the border was a new experience for some and other differences would follow during the week.
Canada is a land of many wonders, and we took back home a wealth of knowledge.
Money exchange was first each person exchanged the amount he wanted. The rate was 1.3 to our 1. Some of the money was different. They have a one dollar coin which they call "loonies" (reverse side of coin has a loon on it). They also have a two dollar coin called "twoie". Makes sense,? Gas took some getting use to. Pumps stated anywhere from 59.0 to 63.0 per liter, thus 3.785 liters = 1 gallon. So gas is expensive go easy on the driving. We bought food, dinners, stamps, and all sorts of needed items. We tried to mail some cards only to find that mail boxes are few and far apart. We have taxes but they have about 3 on every item, and their health plan is different.
Most of us took Highway 401 to Toronto. There things really changed. We took the express so we could go to the far side (east) of Toronto. We were on a five lane wide highway, going like mad. We neared our exit to Route 12. Exit lanes are two lanes wide. Then we had to cross the local lanes. Finally we were out of that mess. From then on we traveled two or one lane roads. when we reached Brechin, (a hundred miles from Toronto) we were down to one lane. The map shows roads further north as narrow and fewer. The land topography was different and pretty. Glaciers had scraped the area leaving bed rock and some Ordovician strata. There is very little top soil, so no major crop growing areas of tall trees are seen. Beef and Dairy cattle are seen, as well as many horses (all breeds). There were no flies or mosquitoes in Brechin.
Monday we all gather together and caravan to our first stop. The Lafarge Quarry Company is found both in the states and Canada. We finally met Dana Hewson with whom we had set up the details. He provided us all with a stratagraph of the working quarry. We were given instruction on what to do and wear. We had to go back to the parking lot before they could blast. We decided to take our lunch break then then on to the rocks. Everyone put on their equipment, and started to look and choose a spot to start. We started finding, trilobites and crinoids, few brachiopods. It was evident some one had been there with a power saw. One of the workers brought out a specimen we told him that it was a big trilobite. One of our members bought it from him. We talked with Dana and decided to stay on the same bench only a different ares. We brought out our saws and went to work. As we were to depart for the day Dana suggested another Lafarge Quarry was farther north. They had only cephalopods there. We all said yes. So he called to make the arrangements.
Tuesday morning we all lined up he had secured permission and had directions. Bealis and Andy had been investigating the area so they took the lead of our caravan. This quarry was different. The road divided the quarry, one side was granite the other side where we would hunt had limestone of Ordovician time. The managers were very hospitable and pleasant people. We were instructed on where to hunt. We always had to stay clear of their equipment. I was glad to do that, as we were like an ant next to their equipment. Next- pick your spot to start looking. We found some nice small coiled cephalopods The fossils were right on top of the limestone. We hunted, stopped for lunch and moved to a larger pile of rock. We found a very few trilobites, and a few clam fossils. Bealis grabbed a few and threw them in his truck --the 8 foot one in a huge block he did not take. Andy had some trouble catching his cephalopods. He would find one and mark the area. Upon returning with his equipment to cut it free, the cephalopod had crawled away. Those cephalopods never let Andy catch them. We headed back to camp. On arrival some headed for a dip in the lake, others started supper while some packed up fossils or talked. The campfire and supper were a good place to discuss the fossils and the next day's agenda. We all needed some sleep.
Wednesday, Dave leads us to the next quarry. The tall aggregate piles we should stay off of till after the blast. In the front part of the quarry they were set- ting up to blast was off limits until until we got the all clear. We parked in a safe spot until we were told we could go in. This was Ordovician period and the Verluam Formation. Doug Deen call out for everyone to be at their cars. This time we were able to watch the blast. It was sure neat. You heard it. then saw the rock raise up and move over.--it just broke the rock up and moved it a short distance from the wall. Those big front end loaders moved in and took big bites over to the conveyor belt. The rock may have had fossils but the dust was too thick on them. We spread out through the quarry. We started seeing black clouds and a few rain drops coming. Doug had heard a bad storm was approaching us. We had to leave. Later we found out our area was only lightly pelted but one town had too much water. We stopped for ice cream and ended talking with the girl in the store. There was another quarry near by with good fossils. We took down the name and information for Doug so he could try to get us in. Dorothy and Sheila are the only two that were "limp" alongs before the trip but we added Pappy the first day out when a rock gave way under him. So there are three that use some strange ways to move around. Our bodies are begging us to quit. Just look at the Fairchild children-Allison, Chelsea, Aaron and David still out playing.
Thursday, we are off to the Dufferin Aggregate Co. They lead us to the area we would be allowed to collect in. We found fewer fossils on bigger rock. We decided to return to James Dick Quarry for the rest of the day. Andy and Chuck ended up on the top of the quarry. Later we all ended up there to see what was going on. They had investigated several squares that had been cut out of the rock. What they found was the rare Carneyella (Echinodermata). We arrived and cleaned off another area with a whisk broom. We had stumbled onto a whole colony of them. They ranged in size from adults to babies. A Museum group arrived and we talked to several and found out some information. They had people from seven different countries in their group. Dave left one of the fossil Carneyella with Doug Deen. Andy and Bealis were going to head out early as they did not have a motel reservation. This Friday was a travel day and free. We needed to make contact with the next quarry. Saturday our camping group took of the the St. Mary's Quarry. Andy and Bealis met us at the gate. They were not able to get a local motel and had to travel some distance. Too many events were going on in the town. After signing in the staff took us down. This is a good place to find Trilobites. We found two types of rock here. One was black oil filled shale from the rim of the quarry and the other was hard blocks of limestone. We found fragments of trilobites. One big trilobite about 20 inches was in a huge boulder. (still is!) This quarry had many benches to work on so we worked our way up from the bottom. Chuck was added to our injury list.
Sunday morning found 3 cars ready to tackle the quarry again. Jim had found a nest of baby trilobites in the black shale. We found some. The rain started so we had to be careful. We came across a crinoid stem 3 feet long but no head or hold fast. While there we head a rumble --looking up we saw some blocks of rocks fall from above to the floor, that is why we say stay away from under over- - hanging rock. They are a great bunch of people here. We had to adhere to the rules of each quarry. Even though the quarries were close to each other, they did not contain the same things. When there was an abundance of cephalopods, the trilobites are rare. The reverse also applied.
All too soon, it was time to say goodbye to Canada and the people we met.
-- David Bergmann.
