A Quick Visit To A Couple Road Cuts Near Oglesby, Illinois

[Nimravis]

I was bored this morning so I decided to take a quick 70 mile drive to an area close to the Illinois State Park- Starved Rock. The road cuts are not to far from the former Lonestar Quarry in Oglesby that contains limestone from the Pennsylvanian Bond and Mattoon formations. When this quarry was accessible, brachiopods, nautiloids, ammonoids, crinoid (stems / cups), bryozoans, horn coral, trilobite pieces and shark teeth. At the road cuts, I was hoping for some of the same. (If you see that I identified something incorrectly, please advise).

 

My first stop was along Route 71.

 

 

I was able to collect on both sides of the road.

 

 

The most abundant fossil that I found was the brachiopod "Composita argentia". If I was in the quarry, I could literally pick of hundreds of these in no time at all, but at this road cut I found about 20.

 

 

I also found a couple of what I believe to be the brachiopod "Juresania nebrascensis".

 

 

1 piece of horn coral "Lophophillidum proliferum".

 

 

1 brachiopod which I believe to be "Punctospirifer kentuckyensis".

 

 

A couple small crinoid stems and 1 small crinoid hash plate, which was not worth the taking, but I did.

 

 

 

The second road cut was about 5 minutes down the road on Route 62.

 

 

Unlike the first site, this area is very unstable and caution needs to be the first thing that you practice here; I would not suggest this are for smaller kids and people who are not sure-footed as the approach is steep, littered with loose rocks and the head wall is not secure.

 

 

The matrix at this location appeared to be different and I did not find 1 of the common "Composita argentia".  The most common at this site was the brachiopod that I believe to be "Juresania nebrascensis". 

 

 

 

A couple brachiopods that I believe are "Linoproductus cora".

 

 

 

A few Spirifer brachiopods.

 

 

And laslty- a couple crinoid stems.

 

 

It was not a great haul and I do not think that I will be visiting either site again, but is was a great weather and what else is better than fossil collecting. Hope you enjoyed this report and again, please correct any mistakes that I most likely made.

 

 

 

[FossilDAWG]

Maybe not a great haul to you, but to us brachiopod fans... 

Don

[Fossildude19]

Indeed - somethings we don't get to see all that often. 

Thanks for the report/pictures. 

Regards,

[ynot]

Nice finds and report!

Thanks for sharing.

[Nimravis]

@FossilDAWG, @Fossildude19, @ynot - thanks for the nice comments.

[Peat Burns]

Agree with the others; love the brachiopods.  Thanks for sharing.

[Ludwigia]

Thanks for the report. It's nice and also helpful for the rest of us to be able to learn from your experience.

[smt126]

I've been wanting to hit that first road cut up for some time, but its 3 and a half hours from my house. It's nice to see some pictures other than google earth.

[Monica]

Finding those nice, loose brachiopods in my area (Georgian Bay Formation, Upper Ordovician) would absolutely make my day - well done!

[Nimravis]

@Peat Burns , @Ludwigia , @smt126 and @Monica thanks for the comments and glad you enjoyed the report.

[CBOB]

Thanks for the report.  I got excited in your first post of the possibility of finding some sharks teeth.  I've always wanted to hunt for shark teeth in IL but only have a few specimens I've gotten in trades.  Still on my bucket list to find some myself though.   Good luck out there!

[CBOB]

And that crinoid hash plate is pretty cool too.

[Shamalama]

Not bad finds at all. The brachs are really cool and I agree with @FossilDAWG, they are the best.

[deutscheben]

Thanks for the report! The second site has been one of my staples the past few years as I've been getting back into fossil collecting. It definitely produces a great variety of brachiopods.

[sixgill pete]

These look like 2 great spots. And I too, love the brachs.

[Nimravis]

@Shamalama , @deutscheben and @sixgill pete thanks for the comments. Even though I stated that I may not visit these sites again, I might make a quick trip in the winter when the leaves have fallen and blown away, I might have better luck and be able to see more of the area.

[smt126]

Are we even going to get a winter this year? 90 degrees to start fall up here. It's been pretty dry up here to the north of you, so a lot of the vegetation has been going to seed this last week. I'd love to make a trip down there maybe in late October, but not sure if it would still be overgrown then too.

[Nimravis]

1 hour ago, smt126 said:

Are we even going to get a winter this year? 90 degrees to start fall up here. It's been pretty dry up here to the north of you, so a lot of the vegetation has been going to seed this last week. I'd love to make a trip down there maybe in late October, but not sure if it would still be overgrown then too.

I think it will- I was thinking in January, hopefully with no snow on the ground.

[Captain America]

Great photos and trip; we're headed to one of those sites just now, plus an abandoned coal mine dump if we've got time. We hit Brachiopod Heaven and left behind a leather glove when we accidentally disturbed a wasp's nest, got a bit stung up and had to run out. Classic stunt and very memorable.

[Jeffrey P]

I have yet to find any Pennsylvanian Age brachiopods and would have been quite happy with those, especially the better preserved ones from the second site. Congratulations. Glad you had a good time. 

[-AnThOnY-]

Oddly enough, i was in that quarry about 3 months ago. Did find a couple good goniatites, no trilobites or shark teeth though! Bummer. Although its nice to know that they should be there.