My Hunting trip to Eben Emael (Maastrichtian of Belgium)

[ziggycardon]

Hi everyone,

 

From now on I will post my hunting trip reports to Eben Emael as I often forget to make separate posts for them.

I visit the Romontbos Quarry in Eben Emael multiple times a year with our fossil club, the BVP (Belgische vereniging voor Paleontologie).
It's one of the last active locations that's still accessible in the Maastrichtian Type Location that allows hunting, and the quarry is only a 20 minute drive away for me, so that's ideal.

 

DISCLAIMER:

For all new fossil hunters:

This location is off-limits for individual people!

You cannot go hunt there on your own.

The quarry is very strict and does not allow trespassing.

This is an amazing location with great fossil finds, so I cannot stress it enough to not enter this place illegal as it could put a stop to fossil hunting for everyone here. If you want to go on a fossil hunt here, join the BVP!

They are the only ones with permission to access the quarry, and they organize multiple excursions to the quarry each year under strict safety protocols. If we behave, and no one blows it by trespassing, we should be able to have access to this quarry until the year 2043.

 

 

Now that's out of the way, let me introduce this amazing location which is my favorite place to hunt!

The Romontbos quarry in Eben Emael is part of "Mount Saint Peter" which lies on the Dutch/Belgian border and is home to the so called Limburg/Liege chalk also know locally as "Limburgse mergel" which was often used as building blocks in the past which is why you can see serpulids, oysters and urchins in the stones of old buildings in the region.

The quarry is located only a couple of km from the city of Maastricht and "Mount Saint Peter" is the location where one of the first biggest fossil discoveries has been made, a skull of Mosasaurus hoffmanni A.K.A "The Beast of Maastricht" back in around 1766.

The layers of Eben-Emael are part of the Maastrichtian type locality dating back to around 70 - 66 million years ago, during that time this area of Belgium and the Netherlands was part of a shallow tropical sea.

 

The layers in the quarry have a very rich fauna and floral list:

You can find many bivalves (Acutostrean Agerostrea, Pinna, Neithea, ...), Gastropods, Brachiopods, Serpulids, Belemnites, Crustacean claws (Mesostylus faujasi), sea urchins (Hemipneustes striatoradiatus, ...) and shark teeth (Squalicorax, Pseudocorax, Palaeohypotodus, ...).

For the microfossil lovers there is also oportunities to collect Bryozoans and Forarminifera

There is also fish material like fish teeth and the odd scale or vertebra to be found, or if you are very lucky you can find fossils of one of the many species of Mosasaur and Sea Turtles that swam in this shallow sea.

 

But also plant material can be found like Sea Grass (Thalassocharis) of which this quarry is one of the only places in the world where you can find sea grass. But also Conifer material has been found regulary at past excursions.

 

Also known from this location and other localities in the Maastrichtian type locality but exceedingly rare are ammonites, crab carapaces, sawfish material, Elasmosaur material, dinosaur material (Betasuchus and Hadrosaurs), marine crocodile material and bird fossils.

It is in this same quarry that "the wonder chicken" Asteriornis maastrichtensis and Janavis finalidens were found.

 

 

 

Should you see me on one of the excursions, feel free to say hi and come for a talk!
Also feel free to share your own fossils from your trips to Eben-Emael, the more the merrier!

[ziggycardon]

24/09/2023

Last sunday I went hunting again in Eben Emael and had lot's of fun doing it!
The weather was amazing and so was the company! 

It's always great seeing the usual gang again (Both Tom's, Jonathan,Tineke) as well as talking with experts on the Maastrichtian and finally meeting some new faces like @pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon for the first time in the field.

 

At first I went to the waste heaps as you can sometimes find fossil Nautilus but I hadn't that kind of luck unfortunately, so we started our 45 minute walk to the active part of the quarry where the fossils can be found.

We stopped at the first section of the quarrry and met with Tom Vercammen who was guiding the newbies around the quarry. Unfortunatly this section had no interesting layers exposed at the moment so we moved on.
Then we went to see if there were interesting places in the lower level as I've found some cool stuff there in the past, but a quick glance showed that wasn't an option either. one side full of rubble of Meuse gravel and the other side was flooded, so we moved again.

 

At first I searched the first level with my good friend Tom G. were we found the usual fossils like oysters, brachiopods and a crab claw.

 

 

Acutostrea uncinella and Trigonosemus pectiniformis

 

Mesostylus faujasi

 

 

I also spotted a block with over 10 Hemipneustes striatoradiatus which were all crushed and fragmented unfortunately, but well trying to find a whole one I found lot's of Sea Grass (Thalassocharis bosqueti) in it.

 

Hemipneustes fragment with bivalve or brachiopod attached

 

 

Then we moved on the higher level where there was some new corner excavated where I found the best fossils.

This corner didn't look like much as first as it had lot's of Meuse gravel debris mixed in, though I found a rare flint Echinocorys while browsing the area which was carried by the river and deposited in the gravel which turned then to flint.

 

 

This gorgeous and rare coral was found by another member in the gravel.

 

[ziggycardon]

My gorgeous flint Echinocorys

 

 

At this new corner we found a layer rich in very large urchin spines.
technically Tineke was the first to spot it, then soon after we all started finding them.
Many others also found nice blocks with intact Hemipneustes in this spot, Jonathan found a single clock with 3 I believe.

 

 

Once home this layer turned out to be even more special as beside urchin spines it was extremely rich in Bryozoans and even Forarminifera which I've never encountered it Eben Emael before.
This particular layer was very crumbling and while crumbling lot's of bryozoans and forarminifera came loose. So I saved the piece with the large spine and cut it smaller and I crushed the rest of the rock to micro matrix to search for Bryozoans and Forarminifera.

 

 

Next Forarminifera and Bryozoa were merely found in the rubble that came loose when cutting the rocks and which fell of when moving it.

Just to show how rich the matrix is, hence why I crushed so much of it to search later

 

Siderolites calcitrapoides

 

Orbitoides sp. and other disc-shaped forarminifera

 

 

A jar full of Bryozoans

 

 

Better picture of the Sea Grass

 

 

Mesostylus faujasi

Edited September 26, 2023 by ziggycardon

[pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon]

Excellent report, Ken! And great to indeed have finally met you in person! Unfortunately, I wasn't feeling too well that day, so didn't make it to the actual quarry, but still made some nice finds in amongst the spoil heaps 

 

One question, though, when you talk about crushing the marl, which I've heard more people mention, how do you do that? I mean, without breaking the fossils within? Might give it a try with some of the material I collected last Sunday as well as at Kreco...

[ziggycardon]

2 hours ago, pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon said:

Excellent report, Ken! And great to indeed have finally met you in person! Unfortunately, I wasn't feeling too well that day, so didn't make it to the actual quarry, but still made some nice finds in amongst the spoil heaps 

 

One question, though, when you talk about crushing the marl, which I've heard more people mention, how do you do that? I mean, without breaking the fossils within? Might give it a try with some of the material I collected last Sunday as well as at Kreco...

Thank you! Hopefully you'll feel better next month, I'll be there as well.

 

As for making micro matrix it depends from chalk to chalk as different layers can differ in hardness.
In the past I've used watered down vinegar to dissolve the chalk. Other times soaking in water can be sufficient.
And in this case the chalk was so crubly I could just use my hand, the matrix it was all quite grainy so fell apart quite easily. Ofcourse some Bryozoans will probably have been broken but lot's of stuff came out quite nicely.

[Notidanodon]

Always love your reports  great finds!

[caterpillar]

Near the Pyrenees, we have the same levels as in your career. The same fauna with Hemipneustes, Mesostylus, Orbitoides,.... and I think that your long sea urchin spines are Prophyllacanthus spines.

Look at what I found

http://www.paleotheque.fr/global/fiche.php?id=627&categorie=echinodermes

[Ludwigia]

1 hour ago, caterpillar said:

we have the same levels as in your career

 

I just couldn't resist telling you that the English word for carrière is quarry. Although career sounds close to the French version, it actually has the other meaning of the same word, that  being "profession", while the French use the same word for both.

[Jasperfossils]

Nice finds! I also went there. I found good stuff. I will show photos when im done. @pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon do you have a photo of the Hemipneustes nest you found? 

[Jasperfossils]

1 hour ago, caterpillar said:

Near the Pyrenees, we have the same levels as in your career. The same fauna with Hemipneustes, Mesostylus, Orbitoides,.... and I think that your long sea urchin spines are Prophyllacanthus spines.

Look at what I found

http://www.paleotheque.fr/global/fiche.php?id=627&categorie=echinodermes

very interesting. 

 

[ziggycardon]

2 hours ago, caterpillar said:

Near the Pyrenees, we have the same levels as in your career. The same fauna with Hemipneustes, Mesostylus, Orbitoides,.... and I think that your long sea urchin spines are Prophyllacanthus spines.

Look at what I found

http://www.paleotheque.fr/global/fiche.php?id=627&categorie=echinodermes

That is very interesting, thank you!
I had no idea about this location, seems very interesting. I will do some looking up about that locality as well, will be cool to see the similarities between both locations.

 

22 minutes ago, Jasperfossils said:

I found good stuff. I will show photos when im done. @pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon do you have a photo of the Hemipneustes nest you found? 

I would love to see both your finds!

[Yoda]

@ziggycardon

 

Nice trip and some fantastic finds 

[caterpillar]

2 hours ago, Ludwigia said:

I just couldn't resist telling you that the English word for carrière is quarry. Although career sounds close to the French version, it actually has the other meaning of the same word, that  being "profession", while the French use the same word for both.

 

Yes, sorry. "Quarry" of course

[Ludwigia]

25 minutes ago, caterpillar said:

 

Yes, sorry. "Quarry" of course

 

No need to apologize. Google translate can really be atrocious sometimes.

[Jasperfossils]

@ziggycardon @pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon

 

Here an atriculated fish from the same layer as the urchin spines mentioned above. The spinal colome is nicely visible

 

Edited September 27, 2023 by Jasperfossils

[pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon]

5 hours ago, Jasperfossils said:

Nice finds! I also went there. I found good stuff. I will show photos when im done. @pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon do you have a photo of the Hemipneustes nest you found? 

 

Unfortunately, I'm not sure whether it's easy to make out due to the lighting I had to deal with. This seemed the best I could do at the time, but the contrast is quite low. Anyway, this is the nest with seven echinoids...

 

 

 

5 hours ago, ziggycardon said:

I would love to see both your finds!

 

I've been doing a bit of prep over these past few days, but still have some pieces to go through and haven't really identified any of the material I've found yet. Worked on a very interesting and mysterious (for me) find today, which I'll post some photographs of here later, in hopes someone here will be able to help me identify it. In general, though, please let me know if you recognize any of the material, as I sure won't (apart from broad classifications, of course) - didn't find any marine reptile (yet)!

 

First up is the Hemipneustes sp. echinoid I found with beautiful epifauna. It isn't entirely complete being mostly damaged to one side and at the bottom. However, overall I'm not dissatisfied with it

 

 

 

Then I've got some fish finds from the Nekum Chalk. No idea yet what species the sharks' teeth are from, but my best guess for the vertebra is Enchodus sp. (treated with a bit of Paraloid for stabilisation).

 

 

 

And, finally, there's a shell I found in the Laumont Horizon. Also haven't identified it yet and the wing on the outside is gone. However, the wing is still present on the inside of it.

 

[pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon]

29 minutes ago, Jasperfossils said:

@ziggycardon @pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon

 

Here an atriculated fish from the same layer as the urchin spines mentioned above. The spinal colome is nicely visible

 

 

Very cool, Jasper!

[ziggycardon]

32 minutes ago, Jasperfossils said:

@ziggycardon @pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon

 

Here an atriculated fish from the same layer as the urchin spines mentioned above. The spinal colome is nicely visible

 

Nice fish, always cool to see those!

 

3 minutes ago, pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon said:

 

Unfortunately, I'm not sure whether it's easy to make out due to the lighting I had to deal with. This seemed the best I could do at the time, but the contrast is quite low. Anyway, this is the nest with seven echinoids...

 

 

 

 

I've been doing a bit of prep over these past few days, but still have some pieces to go through and haven't really identified any of the material I've found yet. Worked on a very interesting and mysterious (for me) find today, which I'll post some photographs of here later, in hopes someone here will be able to help me identify it. In general, though, please let me know if you recognize any of the material, as I sure won't (apart from broad classifications, of course) - didn't find any marine reptile (yet)!

 

First up is the Hemipneustes sp. echinoid I found with beautiful epifauna. It isn't entirely complete being mostly damaged to one side and at the bottom. However, overall I'm not dissatisfied with it

 

 

 

Then I've got some fish finds from the Nekum Chalk. No idea yet what species the sharks' teeth are from, but my best guess for the vertebra is Enchodus sp. (treated with a bit of Paraloid for stabilisation).

 

 

 

And, finally, there's a shell I found in the Laumont Horizon. Also haven't identified it yet and the wing on the outside is gone. However, the wing is still present on the inside of it.

 

Also very nice finds!
I always love the ones full with other organisms

Nice vert and teeth as well!
As for the bivalve I believ that is a Neithea regularis and a nice one at that!

[Jasperfossils]

Indeed a Neithea regularis. The convex shells are less common than the flat ones, Probably because they are more fragile

[Echinoid Express]

Very cool, those sea urchins are wonderful, and the Mesostylus faujasi claw is gorgeous! Nice finds!

[pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon]

Two more of my finds are up in these identification topics, as I have no idea what to make of them...

 

 

 

[ziggycardon]

Last sunday (15/10/2023) was our last trip of the year to the Romontbos quarry in Eben Emael.

 

As always quite a few people showed up for another day of hunting, though not as much as usual due to the bad weather forcast.

 

 

We had no the best weather for most of the day, we had quite a few rainshowers and even hail. and to top it all off it was rather cold as well.
But closer to the afternoon it cleared up and I had a fun time nonetheless with some cool fossil finds.

 

 

Near the end of the day I saw the top of an Hemipneustes striatoradiatus sticking out of the path.
I thought i might have been a fragment of one that rolled out due to some recent works in the quarry.
But to my surprise it was an in-situ urchin and the path (which was very recently excavated) was still the top of the layer in which this urchin rested for the past 68 million years.
So with knife and brush I gently removed the urchin from it's limestone tomb. To my surprise it was relatively in tact, just missing a little bit of the backside.

Unfortunately because the inner matrix of the urchin got soaked due to the rain, a bit more fragmented and broke off afterward before the paraloid could do it's job, but all and all I am quite happy with this one

 

As for the rest of the finds, I dind't manage to bring much home, though I found a couple of new species which I hadn't found in the quarry yet.

 

My best find of the day is this "Gauthieria pseudoradiata" which is the first time finding one of these as they are quite rare finds.
This block lay on the side of the path and the many gastropods quickly grabbed my attention, but after picking it up my eye fell on the urchin and I knew I hit jackpot

 

 

I also found my first ever Crinoïd from this quarry (Dunnicrinus aequalis) which is also super rare in this quarry.
They show up quite a lot in the ENCI in Maastricht and other nearby quarries, but usually not in Eben Emael so this was a very cool find for me.

 

 

I also find a new bivalve specie for my collection, either a Rastellum or a Hyotissa semiplana

 

I also found a partial fish tooth and a silicified gastropod from a flint block (which is quite rare too)

 

 

Unfortunately we couldn't locate the layer with the Temnocidaris spines and with the many forarms, it probably was already excavated away.
But I did find some blocks from other layers which seemed interesting for micro's

 

A block with nice Bryozoans

 

 

A block which I will pulverise for micro fossils, quite a lot of bryozoans present already

 

 

 

 

[pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon]

1 hour ago, ziggycardon said:

 

Hold on, that's me in orange and jeans in the foreground there! Great photograph of me "in action"! I don't actually have too many of those!

 

1 hour ago, ziggycardon said:

 

What a beauty! Great job in getting it out the way you did too! I did find a couple, but all fell entirely apart on extraction

 

I, too, didn't bring back too much from that outing, though I still have some rather sub-par shrimp bits to work on (sub-par, except for the one I got from you, of course! ), as well as block full of bryozoa. On the latter I think we counted three different types in the field, visible from both top and bottom, including traces of epibiota. So, while that's not a particularly spectacular piece to look at, it's certainly very interesting...

[Manticocerasman]

The idea was to join that field trip of the BVP last weekend, but I spent the weekend out of action due to illness.  :/ 

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Great thread.

Love the fossils you found.

And you have a very nice smile.