This is Mazon Monday post #230. What's your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:[email protected].
Over the years, we've shared numerous articles about Jim and Sylvia Konecny, highlighting their significant contributions to ESCONI. Jim served as ESCONI's president in 1966 and 1967, but both he and Sylvia were involved in much more. They played key roles in ESCONI's displays at the first North American Paleontological Conference (NAPC) in 1969. Even after relocating to Prescott, AZ in 1974, they continued to collaborate on articles for the ESCONI newsletter and related magazines. In their later years, they made a lasting impact by donating their extensive fossil collection to advance science. Most of their collection now resides in the Field Museum, providing valuable insights into the paleontology of Mazon Creek.
The following article appeared in the September/October 1969 edition of Earth Science Magazine.
Personal Notes on the
Mazon Creek Area of Northern Illinois
By JAMES E. and SYLVIA KONECNY
Although much has been written about this region, its history as a producer of coal and later of fossil plants and animals is not well known. We have attempted to close this gap by providing historical and social data on this area that has produced and is still producing such a wealth of fossil material. Mazon Creek fossils are known throughout the world.
Living only a 40-minute drive from the area, we have been collecting there extensively over a period of 10 years. The general limits of the area fall within a triangle formed by the towns of Morris, Wilmington and Gardner. The towns best known to most col- lectors, Braidwood and Coal City, lie within this triangle. Mazon Creek also lies within the triangle.
Coal mining operations were started in the area shortly after the Civil War, this being the oldest coal producing district in Illinois. Strangely enough, the discovery of coal was by accident, A farmer digging for a well became frustrated at not finding water at the normal level and kept digging until he reached a coal seam.
On this monument in Diamond, Illinois, is en- graved "Sacred to the memory of our deceased brothers who lost their lives by the flooding of the Diamond mine, February 16, 1883." The victims' names appear on the bronze plaque.
The first mines were shaft mines whose spoil heaps still dot the land- scape like tiny volcanoes. These underground mines were designated by names such as Diamond, Eureka and Eileen. The opening of mines brought an influx of immigrants to this area, starting with the Scotch, English, Italians, and finally Bohemians from the large coal districts in Czechoslovakia. The Bohemians probably composed the largest ethnic colony and even now have their own Bohemian National Cemetery on the eastern out- skirts of Braidwood.
We are all familiar with the numer- ous disasters of underground mines and this area was not spared such a disaster. On February 16, 1883, the Diamond Mine was flooded. The number of known victims was 74 but only 28 bodies were recovered. On the north side of Illinois Route 113, in the town of Diamond, there stands a monument erected to the memory of the victims of this disaster.
With the advent of larger machinery it was found that a new method, strip mining, was more economical than underground mining when a coal seam was not over 100 ft. in depth. This method involves using a large shovel or drag line to strip the overburden, over a large area, down to the coal seam. Smaller shovels and bulldozers then remove the coal and load it onto trucks which are driven directly into the pit. A "coal tipple" is located on the premises where the coal is washed and sorted. Stripping in this area was begun in 1927. At the present time it is employed at one location in the triangle, the mines of the Peabody Coal Company near Essex. The strip mines are designated by pit numbers. such as Pit 1, Pit 2, Pit 3, etc., the lone exception being the Cooper Pit. Today Illinois ranks as the fourth largest coal producing state.
The remarkably preserved Mazon Creek fossils, which are enclosed in nodules or concretions, are found in the shale lying directly above the coal seam. This formation is known as the Francis Creek Shale. The nodules are spheroidal-shaped bodies which were formed by iron compounds being de posited within the shale surrounding a foreign object, namely a plant or animal. Theoretically, this foreign object creates a plane of weakness within the nodule. When the nodule is placed on edge and struck a sharp blow with a hammer, it should split open along this plane and reveal the plant or animal within.
According to reliable sources the first collecting of these nodules was done at Mazon Creek in 1857. A few were later collected in the spoil heaps of the underground mines; however, the greatest number of specimens have been found in the spoil heaps of the strip mines.
Top. Left: Spoil heap from early shaft mine resembles a volcanic cone. Right: Spoil heaps from strip mining. Pit 11. Center. Left: Coal tipple at Pit 11. Here coal is washed and sorted. Right: Dragline at Pit 11 stripping the overburden. Note size camparison with truck at far left. Bottom: Left: Collecting right in Mazon Creek itself appealed to Terry and Fran Wolff and Sylvia Konecny on a hot summer day. Right: Recommended method of splitting nodules.
The first collector at the Mazon Creek beds was Joseph Even. Ironically, all of his specimens were sent to Berlin, Germany. They did, how ever, create international interest in this locality. Some of the other early collectors were J. C. Carr, L. E. Daniels, P. A. Armstrong, F. T. Bliss, John Bronson and Ralph Lacoe. The last, a wealthy businessman from Pennsylvania, hired collectors and also bought specimens from casual collectors. His collection was donated to the U. S. National Museum and possibly created the greatest impact in making the Mazon Creek localities famous, since it was from this collection that numerous monographs were published.
About the time that the nodules. from underground mining and Mazon Creek were becoming scarce, strip mining operations began nearby. It was found that the weathered spoil banks contained the same type of con- cretions. A new generation of collectors appeared on the scene. Note worthy among these were John and Lucy McLuckie, Jerry Herdina, Mr. and Mrs. Peter Enrietta and George Langford. The McLuckie and Herdina collections have been extensively studied by professionals from numerous institutions. Almost the entire Enrietta collection has been donated to scientific institutions. George Langford is probably the best known of this latter group of collectors. He also donated his collection to scientific in stitutions. After many years as an amateur, he became Curator of Fossil Plants at the Field Museum of Natural History. His two published volumes, though uncritical, are probably the most comprehensive works written on Mazon Creek fossils. We have been fortunate enough to personally meet all of the latter group. It has been most interesting to hear them reminisce about their varied adventures and experiences.
Now the collecting field has ex- panded and a new generation is on the scene. For fear of inadvertently eliminating someone, we will not try to name these collectors. Most of them belong to one of the numerous clubs of the Chicagoland area. Like the preceding generations of amateurs, the present group is also cooperating with the professionals. A number of them already have new species named after them.
The Mazon Creek area comprises numerous collecting locations-some adjacent to each other, others quite isolated. There are also numerous spoil banks which for some strange reason are barren of fossils. Besides two col- lecting localities on Mazon Creek itself, there are about a dozen other locations in the "fertile triangle." Local collectors have pet names for many of these such as Chowder Flats, Goldblatt's and Piano Hill.
Collecting the nodules is not the easiest thing to do since many hills have to be climbed and only one in ten nodules is good enough to take home. In the summer an added inconvenience is the heat. In his diary George Langford records temperatures of 120° in the gullies between the light grey shale hills. Only the diehard collector will spend weekend after weekend in these hills.
In all but one of the collecting locations the plant fossils found outnumber the animal fossils by 100 to 1. From these locations about 500 plant species and 200 animal species have been described. The one locality which is the exception to the rule was discovered about 10 years ago. This is Pit 11 which is located near Essex, Illinois. Here the animals are as common as the plants and in a much better state of preservation.
Also noteworthy is the fact that the fauna at Pit 11 is marine-dominated whereas the fauna from the other locations is mostly terrestrial. Since the Field Museum of Natural History considers these as two distinct faunal assemblages, their paleontologists have given each its own name for convenience of reference. The fauna from Pit 11 is known as the "Essex fauna" and the fauna from the other Mazon Creek locations as the "Braidwood fauna." Approximately 150 species of animals have been discovered at Pit 11, of which about 100 are new species. This indicates that Pit 11 was a different ecological environment than the other localities. Recognizing this location to be as important as, if not more important than, the Burgess Shale of British Columbia and the Solenhofen Limestone of Germany, the Field Museum, in 1966, submitted a proposal to the National Science Foundation for support of a special research project.
- Helminthochitan concinnus (chiton)
- Asterophyllites equisetiformis (foliage of Calamites, forerunner of the modern horsetail).
- 3. Alethopteris serli (fern-like seed plant).
- 4. Neuropteris gigantea (fern-like seed plant).
- 5. Euphoberia armigera (millipede).
- 6. Orthotarbus robustus (spider).
The object of the Field Museum project is to (1) describe new species and attempt to determine the zoolog- ical affinities of the unusual elements, (2) reconstruct the paleoecological setting of the marine fauna, (3) determine the relative stratigraphic position of the Mazon Creek localities, (4) to compare the paleoecological features of the Braidwood and Essex faunas, and (5) evaluate the overall evolutionary significance of the Mazon Creek faunas.
The Field Museum will be host to the North American Paleontological Convention on September 5, 6 and 7 of this year. Great emphasis will be placed on the Mazon Creek Faunal Research Project. Many amateur collectors who have been assisting the Museum in this work will have specimens on display at this time.
Lest collectors start a "gold rush" to the Mazon Creek area in anticipation of a fossil bonanza, we must state that all of the locations mentioned are on private property and special permission must be obtained to enter the premises. The majority of the old strip mines are now owned by local sportsmen's clubs and only members and their guests are allowed free use of them.
On many weekends this area has been a second home for our entire family and has produced numerous memorable experiences. Although we have several thousand Mazon Creek fossils the lure of a new find keeps us going back to "them thar hills." As long as there are nodules to be found we will be there.
Top. The John McLuckie home in Coal City, Illinois. Many eminent professional paleontologists and hundreds of amateurs have been welcomed here. Center. George Langford, at age 87, accepts the first copy of his second book on Mazon Creek fossils, "The Wilmington Coal Fauna and Additions to the Wilmington Coal Flora," in June 1963. At left, Anton Sobolik, 1963 president of the Earth Science Club of Northern Illinois: at right, the senior author, chairman of Esconi Associates, publishers of the book. Bottom. The late John McLuckie with some of his Mazon Creek specimens. Mr. McLuckie was a machine operator at the strip mines for a number of years.
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