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Showing results for tags 'illinois'.
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having trouble reading Public Land Survey System descriptions
Rh_4m posted a topic in Questions & Answers
ive been reading this PDF as to understand how PLSS descriptions work, and its *mostly* been making sense to me: PLSSTutorial-1.pdf however, i have one small issue in the guide, it mentions basing the "range" and "township" positions off of a "starting point" but, it doesn't specify why the starting point is where it's at, and it also doesn't explain where/how to identify a state's starting point is the "starting point" a fixed position on a state? or does it vary, say, based off the description given in a PLSS coordinate, like the one I've attached? (covered the county name for the sake of confidentiality) big thanks to anyone who can help out! -
Hi, I am a graduate student from Chicagoland looking to get into fossil hunting. I recently started school in Wisconsin and I am hoping that I can make some good finds in this state. I have tried fossil hunting in the Mazon Creek area of Illinois, but I only ever found a single horse tail fossil and a hermit's shanty over there. Overall, the area is a pain to search unless you have a boat to access the islands in the lakes and I am hoping I will have better luck in Wisconsin while I am here.
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I found these two somewhat close together on an eroding hillside just south of WI in Stephenson County, IL.
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Hello, I've stumbled onto this site while doing research on doing scientific illustrations of green River fish. I've prepared many specimens over the years, but now want to do accurate illustrations of these fish. The research involves gathering as many fossil images as possible, and then finding living relatives and using them as references. Very time consuming, but for accuracy, one cannot find enough references.
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Hello nice to meet u
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I’m sure I will happen upon the right website at some point to identify it, but haven’t yet… certain it’s easily identified by the experienced. Can anyone help? I assume it’s a sponge? Maybe coral? Type? Thank you. Illinois.
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Hi, everyone. I found this rock yesterday in Illinois. I was thinking it could be petrified wood. I had my doubts, so posted elsewhere looking for an ID and received a response of “some type of coral”. Later in the night, while looking up fossil corals, I happened upon the word “Chaetetes“. When I looked it up, a few pictures seem like a close match…maybe exact? I’m wondering what the experienced think about it. Thank you.
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I'm in the process of photographing and cataloging specimens from a new site and thought some here might enjoy seeing some specimens as I go. These fossils were collected in eastern Illinois from the roof shales of the Herrin (No. 6) Coal. They are middle Pennsylvanian (Desmoinesian) in age. The Herrin (No. 6) Coal is the second to last coal member of the Carbondale Formation. For reference, the Mazon Creek biota occurs in the Francis Creek Shale Member, which overlies the first coal member of the Carbondale Formation, the Colchester (No. 2) Coal. Here's a general stratigraphic section of the Carbondale for reference. This biota has similarities to the Mazon Creek biota, but the flora especially is quite different. The fauna so far seems typical of terrestrial Pennsylvanian sites: bivalves, branchiopods, indeterminate arthropod parts, and a single shark egg. This biota is not well studied, and thus many names here are provisional pending a possible formal study. Scale bars are 1cm unless noted otherwise. Dunbarella striata Calamostachys tuberculata Alethopteris gibsonii Cyperites bicarinatus
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Hi I hope I’m doing this right. I live on a small farm in northwest Illinois just south of Wisconsin. Half my place is a wetland with a creek running through it; it has changed very little since the first plat of the area was drawn in the mid 1800s. I find a lot of fossils and quartzy and other rocks/minerals and I’m here to learn more about what I find. Thanks!
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I found this on the banks of the Mississippi River in Illinois. So I don’t know where it originated. So I can’t help with age or formation or even a general location. I posted on a couple fossil pages on Facebook and going to try here. Any help will be great. Rough size is in pictures but they are 7.93 mm wide and 6.31 mm tall roughly. If you have questions I’ll try to answer them the best I can. Thank you
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Hello, it’s been awhile! I’ve been opening up some Mazon Pit 11 stuff and came across this thing. I try to keep myself pretty grounded when it comes to Mazon stuff, because I’m horribly bad at ID’ing anything in a concretion. That said, any chance this is an annelid worm? Thank you as always!
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I found this handsome mystery in a Central Illinois creekbed. While I think it could be a sponge, it doesn't resemble any that I'm already familiar with. I wonder if it could be Brooksella Alternata, however that seems unlikely due to it coming from Illinois and not further south. I'm stumped, but beyond curious. Any input would be a dream. 20240219_214229.mp4
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Hello everyone. Been a while since I've been back on....life amiright!? Anyways coming back on the hunt with 2 kids now plus myself. Got some sites up my sleeve to pay a visit and re-visit. Lot of posts to go thru to look at others collections. Again...hello
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I've been spending a lot of time lately studying the Mazon Creek flora, and am continuously astonished by the diversity and quality of specimens that can be found. I don't think we see enough plants on the forum, so I figured I would go ahead and share some of my favorite finds. First is a specimen I recently shared, and a fitting start to the thread. This is Crenulopteris acadica, the most common true fern found in the Mazon Creek flora. It has been the most common plant I find, accounting for probably half my finds. Next is a favorite of mine. This is a section of Calamites (probably C. cisti) encrusted by a number microconchids. I always enjoy finding concretions with associations of different species. Last for now is a specimen of the rare seed fern Callipteridium neuropteroides with great coloration.
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From the album: Mississippian fossils
A good view of basal plates of a Phanocrinus crinoid.- 1 comment
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Hello I’m joe from southern Illinois. Been lurking in the shadows for awhile decided to join. Been doing fossils for about 6-7 years now. I have a few things I need help with identifying and some things to show off and maybe help some people out and learn a ton. Want to know anything else feel free to ask.
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From the album: Mississippian fossils
A nice little Phanocrinus crinoid calyx.-
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A Paelontologist Vists The Burpee Museum 12/23/23
Baking Geologist posted a topic in A Trip to the Museum
Because of this forum I found out about the Burpee Museum . The world’s best assistant and general laborer offered to take me there today. Prepare to be spammed with photos.- 23 replies
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Hello, Could I get an ID on this mazon creek unknown? It has pretty high relief and strong segmentation with makes me think arthropod like a millipede, but I don't see any legs so maybe it's an annelid worm or something.
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I've been chipping away at this cobble when I have spare time, and slowly exposing this fossil. I found the stone itself in western Illinois, relatively near the rivers. The matrix is shockingly tough, I can only rarely make a difference with any sort of precision, unpowered hand tool. Each grain of sand is firmly in place and does not want to leave. The exposed matrix was originally reddish to brownish, though newly exposed faces of chips broken off lack the red-brown color (the reddish color is entirely lost in the photos). Presumably the stone is Mississippian or Devonian. Other fossils in this rock are all flakey white brachiopod material ranging from 0.5 cm to 4 cm across at the widest points. I have tested some matrix scraps against vinegar, which dissolved the stone around the sand grains, but left the sand grains untouched. I've decided to hold off on any more matrix removal until I know what I should expect to find in the matrix. I found a second one of these, but it chipped off and lost it in my prep area outside. When it comes to the horses & zebras adage I always put more consideration into the zebras than I should, which is why I'm hoping this is some part of a vertebrate but more likely an oddly colored crinoid bit. We just don't have much vertebrate material where I'm at. The photos with circular borders are taken through a stereoscope at 15x magnification. The others have some level of digital zoom applied, but have a scale nearby (mm, cm). I apologize for any focus issues, this new phone has a finicky camera.
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Hey guys! It’s been a long time since I’ve been active on the Forum, but I have an exciting update - I just published my first paleontology paper on Christmas Eve! It’s a short paper documenting two shark species that are previously unreported from the LaSalle Limestone of northern Illinois (you guys may know it as the Oglesby roadcut!), Heslerodus divergens and Ossianodus sp. I’ve added the pdf of the paper here and here’s a link to it as well. Thanks to everyone here that helped give info about the site, especially @deutscheben! Gieser_et_al_2023_Kentiana_5.pdf ***Calling all LaSalle Limestone/Oglesby roadcut fossil hunters!*** If you have collected any shark or fish material from the Oglesby roadcut and would be willing to contribute to science and the growing knowledge of the (severely understudied) Paleozoic vertebrate diversity of Illinois, please contact me! Hobbyist fossil collectors have made some of the best finds in paleontology, and I would love to see what you all have collected from the site. This area’s fish diversity is much higher than is currently known to science and I would like to work on documenting it. Thanks! Email - rgieser2_AT_illinois.edu or you can just contact me on this site as well
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any possibility for IL fossil hunting in the winter? where?
rocks in my pockets posted a topic in Fossil Hunting Trips
hey! brand new to the forum. tagged mazon creek because I think that's the most popular spot in IL but I'm aware it's not open to the public at the moment. does anyone know of spots that are open to the public in the winter? anywhere in IL? otherwise, any connections with landowners have access to fossil beds? nowhere with disputed ownership/right on the border between public and private, not looking to put myself and my friends in an unsafe situation especially during deer season. I would really appreciate some input! don't need anything special, just wanna go poking around in the dirt with my friends. :) -
I "rediscovered" a weird rock I found 6 years ago at a quarry near Belvidere, Illinois. The rocks exposed at the quarry are dolomitic ordovician Galena group. Last night, I took a closer look at it under a microscope and noticed that the spiny crystal structures seem to be formed by mycelium. I know mycelium breaks down rocks, but I'm curious to hear any thoughts/insight about this oddity.
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Hello! I’m Ellen B and I’m currently living in far NE Illinois where there is plenty of glacial till and a brevity of outcrops. By day I do computer support now. But I have a MS in geology with a specialty in sedimentary rocks and paleontology. I also am a hobby baker hence my moniker.