Rockford Quarry

[Nimravis]

With today being a chilly (54 degrees) and rainy day, I decided to attend a dual club (ESCONI and the Rock River Valley Gem & Mineral Society) trip to a sand and gravel quarry near the Rockford, Illinois. This pit contains piles of sand and small glacial till cobbles. I have never been to this location and was not sure what to expect, except that fossils could be found there. The rocks at this location that contained fossils are smooth and roundish and though I found fossils, there was nothing great. Between the two clubs, I believe that there were about 12 participants, including our own Lisa @Mud Girl.

 

Walking on these piles reminds me of scree fields-  You walk up 3 feet and slide down 2 feet.

 

 

 

Here is a pic of Lisa checking out some pretty rocks. She was very happy with her new Pink Hardhat that she bought for this trip.

 

 

Here are some finds-

 

Receptaculites-

 

 

When I first saw these next pieces, I thought that they were Bryozoan, but now I am not sure. Tony  @Peat Burns and @Herb , what do you think? Or anyone else on the forum please chime in.

 

 

 

Here are some other pieces that I found-

 

 

Here is a pretty piece that Lisa found-

 

 

Though we both had a lot of fun collecting at the Pit, I do not believe that I would ever collect there again since I is not my type of collecting.

 

[Darktooth]

Interesting finds! Thanks for sharing your trip!

[Bobby Rico]

Nice finds with beautiful patterning. Thank for sharing 

[Raggedy Man]

I was thinking about signing up for that, but the short duration of the hunt and the drive to and back just didnt make it worth it. Definitely some interesting finds. Thanks for sharing!

[caldigger]

Thought they told you it was to be Pleistocene. Maybe Pleistocene glaciers bringing down older stuff as morainal deposits.

[Nimravis]

2 hours ago, Raggedy Man said:

I was thinking about signing up for that, but the short duration of the hunt and the drive to and back just didnt make it worth it. Definitely some interesting finds. Thanks for sharing!

I agree about the trip time- it was about 1 1/2 hrs each way and and then we had about 2 1/2 hours of collecting.

[Nimravis]

1 hour ago, caldigger said:

Thought they told you it was to be Pleistocene. Maybe Pleistocene glaciers bringing down older stuff as morainal deposits.

I agree and was hoping for Pleistocene stuff, but I believe everything I found was Ordovician and who knows how far North it came from, it was still nice to get out.

[Monica]

Very interesting finds, Ralph - each fossil contained within its own nice-sized rock - very handy! 

 

[Nimravis]

1 hour ago, Monica said:

Very interesting finds, Ralph - each fossil contained within its own nice-sized rock - very handy! 

 

That is a very good way to put it Monica.

[Peat Burns]

Looking from my phone, they do appear to be bryozoans, but I'd want to see them under a dissecting scope to be sure 

[KimTexan]

I know what you mean about it not being your sort of place. It is obvious they are not Pleistocene and did not originate from there.

Also, they are all pretty worked over. You’ve hunted some great places with amazing Bryozoa.

I think we are spoiled finding so many cool fossils that we do. If I didn’t hunt so many places and find cool stuff in situ I’d be thrilled to find anything.

[JimB88]

Actually those are typical Ordovician fosills that can be found in that area. I find it strange that they chose a sand and gravel pit when there are many good quarries in the area that are full of Ordovician goodies. You need to talk to the folks in the Burpee Museum and see if you can get into Stateline quarry in South Beloit IL ('bout 10 mile north of Rockford.)

[Nimravis]

2 hours ago, JimB88 said:

Actually those are typical Ordovician fosills that can be found in that area. I find it strange that they chose a sand and gravel pit when there are many good quarries in the area that are full of Ordovician goodies. You need to talk to the folks in the Burpee Museum and see if you can get into Stateline quarry in South Beloit IL ('bout 10 mile north of Rockford.)

Jim, I know that they go into other quarries in the area and I believe that they picked this one because it was in conjunction with another group that collects Rocks and Minerals, the possible finding of fossils was just another added attraction.