jort68 Posted March 12, 2020 Share Posted March 12, 2020 On March first, I decided to rent a car and drive south. I'm finishing school in Chicago in May and am preparing to move west, so I really had no time to waste collecting Illinois. I hit three spots - one limestone road cut and one shale road cut in Oglesby, IL and the Mazon pits on the way back up to the city. I'm grateful to a few members for their posts and message replies regarding the road cuts, I couldn't have done this trip without them. I took off at 7 AM towards Oglesby. Here's the map, if you look at Oglesby on Google maps the location here should come together: Once you're there, it's basically a free for all. You are searching through the LaSalle Limestone Member of the Bond Formation which houses Pennsylvanian fossils. There are brachiopods everywhere you look which crumble down the hill and expose new matrix. Here are some of the Linoproductus I took home: I'll make another post for the second road cut 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jort68 Posted March 12, 2020 Author Share Posted March 12, 2020 The second road cut is here: I got to this one with out a lot of specifics and there was not much there on the day. I came away with a few crinoid hash plates which are certainly cool to inspect around the home. These crinoid plates were reminiscent of ones found on this thread, a location I had been considering because of those plates. Perhaps that's a useful option for you as well if you're planning an Illinois trip. On to Mazon! 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jort68 Posted March 12, 2020 Author Share Posted March 12, 2020 The intersection was 5000 N and 1900 W. (Kanake County). That is pictured to the left here, with the pin being my parking spot. It was getting late, so I honestly just jogged down the dirt road and ducked around the hills filling my pockets with small concretions. I followed deer paths and went through the overgrowth in search of the hard to reach ones. This was around the time first day collectors were packing up to leave. The walk back to the car was incredible. Most of the unopened ones I found that have not already popped open empty after freeze/thaw are soaking for another round. By the base of a tree, I found this which appeared to have neatly popped open. Either that or it had been unsuccessfully whacked, but it was so delicately opened as to give me second thoughts. A member in Fossil IDs thinks it may be achistrum, a sea cucumber. A potential jellyfish: A septarian nodule: 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jort68 Posted March 12, 2020 Author Share Posted March 12, 2020 Needless to say, I was exhausted by the time I returned home. It was an extremely fulfilling day. I was lucky enough to have escaped city life for a day and to have finally picked up the fossils that had been waiting for me. Thanks for reading Feel free to ask if you need any elaboration on the directions, or anything. Happy hunting! 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidgy's Dad Posted March 12, 2020 Share Posted March 12, 2020 Love the brachipods from Oglesby. I have a few myself, but yours are monsters! Thanks for sharing and good luck with the rest of your Mazon Creek nodules. 1 Life's Good! Tortoise Friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digit Posted March 12, 2020 Share Posted March 12, 2020 That's a lot to pack into one day--but if one day is what you got, then you made the most of it! For your unopened Mazon Creek concretions, soak them for at least a week or so in an effort to get them well saturated. Then pop them in the freezer overnight to let the expansion of freezing water do the work. Thaw them and see if any have popped open. If not, give them a couple more days of soaking and repeat as necessary. After a few rounds you might consider tapping lightly around the edge to see if you can "entice" a concretion to pop. Cheers. -Ken 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilNerd Posted March 12, 2020 Share Posted March 12, 2020 Sounds like one heck of a whirlwind road trip, but looks like you got some good finds. Thanks for posting! 1 The good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in it. -Neil deGrasse Tyson Everyone you will ever meet knows something you don't. -Bill Nye (The Science Guy) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Tahan Posted March 12, 2020 Share Posted March 12, 2020 Very solid outing!! Big fan of the crinoid hash and I see the mazon is still giving to those who keep preserving. Those big brachs are lookers as well 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deutscheben Posted March 12, 2020 Share Posted March 12, 2020 Thanks for the report! You hit up a couple of my favorite hunting spots here in Illinois, and I'm glad to see you made some nice finds at each. The giant productid brachiopod is very impressive, I love finding those. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monica Posted March 13, 2020 Share Posted March 13, 2020 I agree with Adam - the brachiopods are especially awesome!!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
connorp Posted March 14, 2020 Share Posted March 14, 2020 Yup, you hit the classic NW Illinois spots. Nice that you got to visit before moving. If you have more free time, hit me up and I’d be happy to share another site or two that are a bit closer. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Kmiecik Posted March 14, 2020 Share Posted March 14, 2020 14 hours ago, connorp said: Yup, you hit the classic NW Illinois spots. Northeast. 1 Mark. Fossil hunting is easy -- they don't run away when you shoot at them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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