Mississippian Road Cuts in Anna and Vienna, Illinois

[Nimravis]

I got of Chicago a couple hours before the snow came today- This has been such a bad winter / spring in Chicago - last weekend it was 80. I digressed, back to fossils. Today with a nice temperature of 72 degrees, I did about 3 hours of collecting at the Anna and Vienna road cuts in southern Illinois. These Mississippian road cuts are conveniently located off of I-57 and 146 (Anna) and I-24 and 146 (Vienna). 

 

 

I first stopped at Anna- you can collect on each side of the road, but like many sites, you need to look closely to find fossils.

 

 

Here are a couple pictures of how the fossils were found.

 

 

Here are a couple pictures of the fossils that I found at Anna.

 

Pentremities spicatus Blastoids/

 

I do not have my scale cube handy, so I used a standard pen.

 

 

Horn Coral-

 

 

Archimedes screw-

 

 

Crinoid stems- (I only pick up these to show that they are present)

 

 

Brachiopods-

 

 

Vienna finds will be next-

 

 

[Nimravis]

After Anna, I drove a few miles down 146 to the Vienna roadcut that is located at the I-24 on ramp.

 

 

Here are some pictures of how the fossils were found-

 

 

My first Blastoid found in the matrix-

 

 

Here are the fossils that I found at Vienna-

 

Pentremities spicatus Blastoids-

 

 

Archimedes screw-

 

 

Fenestella Bryozoan-

 

 

Crinoid Basal Plates-

 

 

 

Horn Coral-

 

 

Crinoid Stems-

 

 

Brachiopods-

 

[Nimravis]

I believe this is part of a crinoid caylx (?)

Any Help would be appreciated.

 

[Wrangellian]

Nice spots! Good production/diversity for such a small area. You seem to have a lot of those over there in the Midwest.

Crinoid calyx was my thinking on that too, but someone else will have to give you the name.

[Darktooth]

Some nice finds Ralph!

[Monica]

I love the Archimedes and blastoids, especially the ones still in matrix 

[Ludwigia]

Nice finds!

[Jeffrey P]

Very cool finds, especially the crinoid calyx. Congratulations.

[FranzBernhard]

Thanks for sharing! Fantastic sites and fantastic fossils. 

It seems, I never get tired watching your American palaeozoic invertebrates !

Franz Bernhard

[Tidgy's Dad]

Some terrific finds, Ralph! 

I love the brachiopods and echinoderms, but I have to say, those spiny corals are most intriguing. 

[Archie]

Awesome looking hunting spots! The preservation and diversity is fantastic, love those blastoids!

[Mark Kmiecik]

Very nice finds. Illinois sure has enough diversity to keep any collector busy.

[Nimravis]

22 hours ago, Archie said:

Awesome looking hunting spots! The preservation and diversity is fantastic, love those blastoids!

I agree Archie, hitting it once a year is about right. This is not a place that you could hunt monthly.

[Nimravis]

54 minutes ago, Mark Kmiecik said:

Very nice finds. Illinois sure has enough diversity to keep any collector busy.

So true Mark.

[OwlEyes]

Great finds!  Thank you for sharing.

[DeepTimeIsotopes]

Very nice. Those are some beautiful blastoids and fenestrate bryozoans you got there!

[Al Tahan]

As usual your Illinois adventures are very entertaining!! Awesome fossils as well. I bet your the only one who goes to those spots lol. 

[Nimravis]

3 hours ago, Al Tahan said:

As usual your Illinois adventures are very entertaining!! Awesome fossils as well. I bet your the only one who goes to those spots lol. 

Thanks Al and these two spots are well known and probably get more visits than I think they do.

[Jackson g]

On 4/27/2019 at 7:24 PM, Nimravis said:

I believe this is part of a crinoid caylx (?)

Any Help would be appreciated.

 

Looks like a Eucalyptocrinus calyx, could be off though. Let me know what you think.

[Nimravis]

1 hour ago, Jackson g said:

Looks like a Eucalyptocrinus calyx, could be off though. Let me know what you think.

Thanks-!i will look that up, I have no clue. 

[Max-fossils]

Fantastic stuff Ralph! Good job!

[Nimravis]

7 hours ago, Max-fossils said:

Fantastic stuff Ralph! Good job!

Thanks Max