This is Mazon Monday post #234. What's your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:[email protected].
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ESCONI hosted the Fall 2024 edition of the Braceville Field Trip over the weekend of September 7th and 8th. The primary focus of the event was searching for Mazon Creek fossils and concretions. The site, commonly referred to as "Worm Hill," is known for its variety of marine fossils, including worms, jellyfish, sea anemones, and clams, with marine worm fossils being particularly common.
The weather was perfect for both days of the event, with temperatures in the mid-70s and clear skies, completely free of rain. Conditions were ideal, allowing a full turnout of 50 participants each day. Familiar faces mingled with some new visitors, and notable attendees included Arjan Mann, Mike Donovan, and Naiomi Cookson from the Field Museum, as well as Alan Keith, who traveled from Texas. There were several generous contributions to the fossil dump from Andrew Young, Ralph Jewell, Marty Houdek, Elizabeth Gentry, Rich Holm, Alan Keith, Connor Puritz, and Phil Anderson.
Saturday's group selfie
The hill is looking about the same. Althought, it was much larger in the past. If you are curious about its history, have a look at Mazon Monday #30. The spoil pile is from a shaft mine operated through part of its history by the Braceville Coal Company. It was their No. 2 mine. They operated it from 1892 - 1900. It was the second most productive of their six mines, producing almost 1.8 million tons of coal. The mine covered about 249 acres. The company was targeting the Colchester coal seam, which sits at a depth of between 103 and 110 feet with a thickness of 3.5 feet.
From the look of the road outside the spoil pile, some of the collectors were very excited to get to the site.
After burning rubber in the road, here's the group of eager fossil hunters rushing to get to the hill...
Of course, we had the famous fossil dump... there were generous contributions from Andrew Young, Ralph Jewell, Marty Houdek, Elizabeth Gentry, Rich Holm, Alan Keith, Connor Puritz, and Phil Anderson. Thanks!
Discussions around the pile
Those orange buckets really glow in the sun!
Concretions!
Nice one, George!
Is that a new Estwing, Jeremy? What's in your hand? A frog?!? Is he helping you dig?
Is there a better way to spend Saturday night after a long day of hunting fossils?... Dinner at the Tully Monster Pub and Grill in Morris!
See you guys again in the spring!
Note: some of these photos came from Ralph Jewell, who has a great thread over on the Fossil Forum. Check it out! Other photos came from Andrew Young, Phil Anderson, Eileen Routson, Jody Gosain, Taleka Robinson, Chad Stevens and others. Thanks!
