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I went up to the UP this week doing mostly sightseeing with my friends. They were aware of my predilection for rockhounding so we often made stops to areas that might bear good fossils/agates. In particular I knew there were some 'lagerstatten' in the Stonington Peninsula region of the UP. The most important formation I know of is the 'Big Hill formation' (correct me if I'm wrong). Some links about it here: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/308005515_A_new_Lagerstatte_from_the_Late_Ordovician_Big_Hill_Formation_Upper_Peninsula_Michigan https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6325806/ Now, I didn't have enough time to bother my friends into finding these exposures (and as far as I know, rock collecting in a national forest is not allowed)... However, while we were driving south on County Road 513 T on the west side of the Stonington Peninsula, headed for the lighthouse, I spied a small hillcut on the east side of the road. The hillcut was directly across from a large cemetery-- we pulled over and I had a quick look at some of the rocks there. The hillcut itself was about 20 feet tall, and maybe 600 feet long. I could see near the top of the cut a few feet of limestone bedding planes jutting out from the escarpment. Weathering had amassed a slopped pile of clay and fossils that nearly filled the ditch at the base of the hillcut. On the surface, I saw many brachiopods (different kinds of Platystrophia, possibly?) some of whom were larger than 2 inches across. I also found some small bryozoan colonies and possibly pieces of isotelus gigas molts. The pieces were too small to tell, I am unsure if this particular roadcut could yield anything fully articulated. The rock was very weak and almost clay like. Does anyone know about this roadcut? What formations might be there? I took a few small samples with me but I didn't want to start excavating, obviously. If anyone is interested I could post some pictures of what I picked up, or I could send more detailed directions. Best, Foss
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