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I made a trip today to Albion Falls in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada by public transportation. Albion Falls is a classical waterfall that cascades over the Niagara Escarpment in Hamilton, Ontario and is 19 metres high. The waters flow north along the Redhill Valley as Redhill Creek to empty to Lake Ontario. Once a popular tourist destination, climbing up the waterfall is not allowed anymore due to paramedics having to rescue irresponsible tourists who have hurt and died from slipping and falling. I mostly ended up checking out the Grimsby Formation which is nicely exposed near the waterfall. There are walls of exposure as the water meanders down from the falls, revealing nice explorable spots. The Grimsby Formation is part of the Cataract Group and dates to the early Silurian period. The Grimsby Formation is not popular as it is not fossiliferous. I’ve had better luck finding fossil animals in the Manitoulin and Cabot Head Formations at the Devil’s Punchbowl in Hamilton, Ontario. The reddish maroon bottom part of the exposure is the Grimsby Formation. It is mostly red/purple shale mixed with the same coloured sandstones. Here is a pic showing how the Cabot Head Formation of the Cataract Group progresses into the Grimsby Formation.

Yesterday and today I scouted two waterfalls on the Niagara Escarpment in Hamilton, Ontario. I only intended to check on what the winter has eroded away but I ended up finding some small fossils. The first waterfall I visited was the Devil’s Punchbowl. I only visited the lower falls (the one that runs over the Whirlpool Formation) of the Punchbowl as the creek of the fall has yet to dry up from warm weather. I ended up finding some small brachiopods and an orthocone on the Manitoulin Formation of this fall. Wow, I dont think an orthocone has been reported on the Manitoulin Formation at this locality yet. I might have to go back to those papers. I think this could be a Michelinoceras sp.