deutscheben Posted April 25, 2018 Share Posted April 25, 2018 This past Saturday I was finally able to join ESCONI on one of their quarry field trips, this time to the Vulcan Manteno Quarry in Kankakee County, Illinois. After a relatively quick jaunt up I-57, I arrived at the quarry along with about 20 other enthusiasts, all clad in hard hats and neon safety vests. It is still an active quarry, although no mining was happening on that day, so the manager went over the rules with everyone- no climbing the rock piles, no getting too close to the high wall or the edge of the pit. Then we car-pooled down to the bottom of the quarry. The quarry exposes the Silurian Racine Dolomite Formation, and pile after pile of grey to orange colored rock was arranged on the quarry floor. It was hard to know where to start, so everyone wandered off to poke around and see what they could find. I didn't find much to begin, but after a little while I started noticing some interesting shapes, and within about an hour I had filled my bucket. I say "shapes", because I am not as familiar with this deposit as Mazon Creek, so my IDs for most of these only get as specific as "cephalopod" or "crinoid"- and in many cases more like "round organic-looking thing" . At the designated time everyone began heading back to the cars as a light drizzle came down- we only had about an hour and a half, but like I said, that was plenty of time to fill a 5 gallon bucket. It was an excellent trip, and I have to thank ESCONI and Vulcan for making it happen- I will definitely be signing up for the next one! My most interesting find is two associated partial impressions of echinoderms- the field trip leader suggested the one on the right was from Caryocrinites but he was not sure about the one on the left. I also found another small echinoderm piece, perhaps the base of a crinoid calyx? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trevor Posted April 25, 2018 Share Posted April 25, 2018 Awesome finds! : ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deutscheben Posted April 25, 2018 Author Share Posted April 25, 2018 I also found this finely preserved internal impression of a brachiopod. It is difficult to photograph well, but this good sized cephalopod was my other favorite find- the chambers are faint but distinct, and you can see the siphuncle on one end. I found a few other fossils that I am unclear on- I will post those in the ID forum when I get a chance. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidgy's Dad Posted April 25, 2018 Share Posted April 25, 2018 Nice report! Glad you had fun and a productive trip. Life's Good! Tortoise Friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peat Burns Posted April 25, 2018 Share Posted April 25, 2018 That's some palaeozoic goodness. What a great opportunity. Thanks for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raggedy Man Posted April 25, 2018 Share Posted April 25, 2018 Going to the St.Paul, Indiana trip next weekend? ...I'm back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darktooth Posted April 25, 2018 Share Posted April 25, 2018 Great finds! Glad your hunt was fun and successful! I like Trilo-butts and I cannot lie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deutscheben Posted April 25, 2018 Author Share Posted April 25, 2018 6 hours ago, Trevor said: Awesome finds! 6 hours ago, Tidgy's Dad said: Nice report! Glad you had fun and a productive trip. 6 hours ago, Peat Burns said: That's some palaeozoic goodness. What a great opportunity. Thanks for sharing. 5 hours ago, Darktooth said: Great finds! Glad your hunt was fun and successful! Thanks everyone! 6 hours ago, Raggedy Man said: Going to the St.Paul, Indiana trip next weekend? I won't be able to make that one, unfortunately. Are you going? I will be at the Braceville Dig, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeargleSchmeargl Posted April 25, 2018 Share Posted April 25, 2018 Productive place! Every single fossil you see is a miracle set in stone, and should be treated as such. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monica Posted April 26, 2018 Share Posted April 26, 2018 18 hours ago, deutscheben said: It is difficult to photograph well, but this good sized cephalopod was my other favorite find- the chambers are faint but distinct, and you can see the siphuncle on one end. I'm a big fan of cephalopods - you've got a nice one there! (Also - I love it when you can see the siphuncle!!! ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimravis Posted April 26, 2018 Share Posted April 26, 2018 Nice trip report and cool finds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raggedy Man Posted April 26, 2018 Share Posted April 26, 2018 17 hours ago, deutscheben said: Thanks everyone! I won't be able to make that one, unfortunately. Are you going? I will be at the Braceville Dig, though. The St.Paul trips are usually more productive than the quarry trips in northern Illinois. I will not be able to attend the Braceville hunt. ...I'm back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted April 27, 2018 Share Posted April 27, 2018 Nice trips report and finds. Darwin said: " Man sprang from monkeys." Will Rogers said: " Some of them didn't spring far enough." My Fossil collection - My Mineral collection My favorite thread on TFF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deutscheben Posted April 28, 2018 Author Share Posted April 28, 2018 On 4/25/2018 at 6:00 PM, MeargleSchmeargl said: Productive place! On 4/26/2018 at 4:03 AM, Monica said: I'm a big fan of cephalopods - you've got a nice one there! (Also - I love it when you can see the siphuncle!!! ) On 4/26/2018 at 6:01 AM, Nimravis said: Nice trip report and cool finds. On 4/26/2018 at 10:15 PM, ynot said: Nice trips report and finds. Thanks! On 4/26/2018 at 10:30 AM, Raggedy Man said: The St.Paul trips are usually more productive than the quarry trips in northern Illinois. I will not be able to attend the Braceville hunt. I would like to make it to St. Paul some day- I'm glad that there seem to be regular opportunities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raggedy Man Posted April 28, 2018 Share Posted April 28, 2018 1 hour ago, deutscheben said: Thanks! I would like to make it to St. Paul some day- I'm glad that there seem to be regular opportunities. You do not need to be with ESCONI. You can call and see if they're allowing open fossil collecting. Last year I had the whole quarry to myself for 3 days. It was amazing. I found over 12 complete trilobites, 3 ccmplete crinoids and tons of gastropods. It was the hunt of a lifetime. 2 ...I'm back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deutscheben Posted May 1, 2018 Author Share Posted May 1, 2018 Wow! that definitely sounds worth a trip. I have received a tentative ID on the left echinoderm impression on my first specimen above- Holocystites, a cystoid that had not been previously reported from that area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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