Mazon Creek Hunt 6/7/14...and The Results.

[Stocksdale]

I wonder if that redish fern isn't Alethopteris sullivantii. Those are a bit less common than the A. serlii, I think. Hopefully one with a more expert eye can weigh in.

I wish I could have joined Charlie on today's (June 28) hunt but looking forward to seeing what he finds.

Edited June 28, 2014 by Stocksdale

[fossilized6s]

Thanks for the help and nice comments!

I was going to do a while trip report and all, but it's pretty hard because there aren't any "results" until weeks if not months later.

Well this was my second time going down to Mazon, and I've learned a few helpful hints.

1. A second change of clothes would have been nice. Not only for my car seats' sake, but also to get that mud coated feeling gone for the ride home.

2. A second pair of shoes, boots, flip-flops, high heels, whatever....

3. A very strong backpack or cart to haul your nods back. Carrying a 70-90 pound bucket-o-nods through the woods, under trees, around bushes, up and down hills, it's just not fun. And a knee injury long thought to be gone reappeared because of the new found stress! Awesome.....

4. A spray bottle of water to wash you and some in the field finds.

5. Gloves. There is a lot of digging, so if you're not use to it gloves do prevent blistering (to an extent)

6. Pick-Axe, rock hammer, shovel. Pick your poison. I just brought all of them.

7. A pair of clippers may help with the pesky roots, but i just used my rock hammer.

8. Bug spray, bug spray, bug spray. It's really not all that bad where we were, but there's nothing worse than the dim buzzing of mosquitos in your ear. And not to mention the fact of them spreading disease while trying to suck your blood out.

9. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate.

10. Buckets if you want to go that route. Bring two, not thinking that you're going to fill them, but evening out your load is nice.

Im sure over time I'll think of more things, but for now that's it.

So it was only my girlfriend and i, and then Rob met us down there at the last minute. It was nice to get away for the day and to spend it with good people doing what i love! I feel as though ive been run over by a truck, but you've got to pay to play. I collected about a 5gl. bucket and three quarters of another (i tripled my last haul). My girlfriend collected about a half to three quarters of a 5gl. bucket. All in all she did pretty good! There's nothing better then having a significant other that enjoys the hunt as much as you do!

I collected at two different piles, and i will freeze/thaw them separately to see which pile produces what. There is definitely a texture and color difference from each spoil pile, so im interested to see what happens. I'll be posting my/our finds in a different thread.

And sorry for no pics.

[digit]

Will those commandments be chiseled into a couple of stone tablets--they should. I'd say that with the exception of a pack of mules to help carry the tools and nodules you've pretty well covered all the tips to making the trip successful. When I made my second trip to the dig site a week after my first I remembered gloves (which helped a lot). I also brought a lot more drinks to keep hydrated as it is surprisingly easy to overheat while moving mountains of clay/shale in search of the treasured nodules. Gloves can also go a ways to keeping your hands (relatively) clean though if it is at all muddy an old hand towel or "wet wipes" can be helpful in cleaning up a bit if you want to stop for a snack. I tend to prefer snacking on dried fruits and salty snacks like nuts rather than having a heavy meal midway through the dig. Too much food in you at once and you'll end up napping rather than returning to your shovel/pick. I also agree that two buckets are the way to go as it is much easier and more comfortable to divvy-up your load and keep yourself balanced for the walk out.

Doesn't matter what the nodules that you collected this weekend contain, your true treasure sat in the seat next to you on your drive back home. A significant other who enjoys going out on hunts with you to share the experience is more valuable than a bucket of tully monsters.

I found the second spot (next to Andrew) that I dug for just a short time on my second trip out there did produce a lot more large size nodules so the nodules do not seem to be uniformly shaped and distributed throughout the site. Not a bad idea to try a few spots per outing to test the variation. I wouldn't suggest buzzing all around the site like a humming bird digging a little here and there but a balance between a bit of sampling and digging a cavern (as I did) would seem wise.

Charlie, it sounds like you are well hooked on this new passion so we expect to see good results from your nodules in the future.

Cheers.

-Ken

[old bones]

"2. A second pair of shoes, boots, flip-flops, high heels, whatever...."

Hahaha! You made me laugh out loud (at work!) Charlie.

Looking forward to more photos!

[PFOOLEY]

[fossilized6s]

Well a few hundred from my second haul are the freezer now. I'll post a new thread with more details and some helpful hints while doing the process of freeze/thaw. Also i may have found two worms that i need ID'd, but they're looking more and more like solitary pinnules........ugh.

Ken, anything yet?

[digit]

Lot of flaking off of outer "egg shells" getting down to the nodule proper.

One of the broken nodules I collected that seemed to have a fossil plane on the exposed end succumbed to a little tugging pressure this morning and revealed the tip of a fern frond. Not great condition but when it dries out a bit I'll attempt some photos.

Finally received my Mazon Creek fossil flora/fauna books (after they seemed to go AWOL for a couple of days while being transported by Fedex). Just starting to read the flora book and appreciating the difficulty of taxonomy from fragmentary bits of foliage. It makes sense (but I find it odd nonetheless) that various parts of possibly the same species (fertile fronds, sterile fronds, seeds, bark, etc.) may have been given a separate scientific (binomial) name. I also saw the nice map at the beginning of the book showing the delineation of the Essex and Braidwood Biota. The Braidwood is essentially terrestrial (and fresh water) while the Essex is basically marine. This map shows that where I previously collected in the Mazonia Fish & Wildlife Area the biota is Essex which explains the few Essexella jellyfish that I have. Where we collected on my birthday outing was at the edge of the Braidwood Biota which makes sense given the truckloads of fern fossils Charlie has been salvaging from the overburden piles.

Photo soon.

Cheers.

-Ken

[Stocksdale]

At one point last year, I adapted the map that you are referring to and superimposed it on a Google Earth image. Here is the result.

[digit]

Sweet! Good work there.

Cheers.

-Ken

[fossilized6s]

At one point last year, I adapted the map that you are referring to and superimposed it on a Google Earth image. Here is the result.

That's cool. Thanks Paul

[digit]

Nothing special but here is the tip of a fern frond that popped out from a busted nodule fragment this morning. Looks like lots of calcium carbonate leaked in through the broken end to whitewash the fossil. As this is not a particularly high quality impression to start with, I may use it as an experiment to see the effects of some diluted acid (vinegar) as a method of trying to enhance the look.

Cheers.

-Ken

P.S.: Charlie, now that I've posted something you can now reply with more of your treasures.

[fossilized6s]

Ken, soaking it in a pickling vinegar for a day will help with that. And a dental pick, pin and patience will help you clean that up nicely.

[digit]

In your neuropteris specimen, you can see the tiny hairs of the leaf very nicely...

I've been reading through the Mazon Creek flora book in the evenings before bed (so I can dream of fossils). I've finally gotten to the page with Macroneuropteris scheuchzeri. (forma decipens apparently) on pp. 57-58. The book mentions two things which made sense: (1) this "species" is stated as: "very common, being the most abundant taxon found in the Mazon Creek flora"; and (2) a feature of this taxon: "when lower surface is preserved, stiff, widely spread hairs are seen".

After reading the descriptions of several of the taxa that are listed as being uncommon to rare it only makes sense that the odds were in my favor to have the first nice fern fossil from my collecting trip be something common (in fact THE MOST COMMON). Also, stocksdale had mentioned the hairs but I had no context for what I was looking at. I thought possibly that the fine venation was what was being referred to by those who were quick to make this ID. The light bulb went on last night when I saw Figure 3 on page 58. There is an inset (Fig. 3a) showing a scaled-up view of the "hairs" which almost appear as short fine scratches. I had to go to my office and retrieve my nodule and my photographer's loupe for a closer look. Sure enough the same tell-tale hairs were evident in my example of this taxon.

As this appears to be a dead give away to the ID when present it now makes sense how quickly and confidently this fossil was identified. Here is a slightly more detailed view of my nodule showing the fine little hair markings--you learn something everyday (which is a necessity given how many things I forget on a daily basis).

Cheers.

-Ken

[Stocksdale]

Yes, looks like a 'text book' example of the so-called hairs. There's some more interesting info on Macroneuropteris scheuchzeri and examples on this Fossil Forum topic.

Toward the end of that topic is a link to a very recent paper by Dr. Zodrow, an individual who has written a lot on the species. His recent analysis of the 'hairs' demonstrate that they are not directly a part of the plant and may be some independent molecular formation due to the wax on the leaves. Here's that PDF 2014 Zod Molecular self-assembly.pdf

In my spare time, I've started working on a wikipedia entry for Macroneuropteris scheuchzeri and so am absorbing all the minutia on this little tree.

[digit]

In my spare time, I've started working on a wikipedia entry for Macroneuropteris scheuchzeri and so am absorbing all the minutia on this little tree.

Members on this forum do such fun things in their spare time.....

Cheers.

-Ken

[digit]

BTW: My nodules are taking a rest from the freezer and having a nice relaxing soak in a couple of buckets in my garage. Freezer space has recently become in short supply. I finished picking my mangos for this year, ripened them up over the last week on my dining room table, and spent the last couple of days putting them up in quart size zip top plastic bags in my freezer. I'll be digging into this cache for the next year, having it over ice cream, blended with vanilla yogurt for a scrumptious mango lassi, or as part of mango bread or salsa.

Till I work through some of the 140+ (now packetized) mangos, my freezer has barely enough room in it to grow a bit of frost. I'm hoping an extended soak in the buckets might help the water to penetrate deeply into the nodules which have by this time shed most of their thin outer "egg shells". Fingers crossed that once I've cleared some space for a box of rocks in my freezer that I will be rewarded with some popped nodules.

Meanwhile, off to go stock up on vanilla yogurt--a 50/50 blend with diced frozen mango in a blender for a minute makes for a delectable treat.

Cheers.

-Ken

P.S.: That leaves the rest of you all who were on this trip to post some more of your finds.

[Auspex]

"I think we need a bigger freezer..."

[digit]

Don't think that didn't cross my mind....

-Ken

[Stocksdale]

In my spare time, I've started working on a wikipedia entry for Macroneuropteris scheuchzeri and so am absorbing all the minutia on this little tree.

Finally got my Macroneuropteris wikipedia page finished.... for now anyway.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macroneuropteris

[digit]

Way cool--that looks like it took more than just a few moments of your spare time. That's a perfect example of how Wikipedia should work.

Cheers.

-Ken

[fossilized6s]

Very cool Paul!

[digit]

I've carved out a little space in the freezer (though it is still rather packed to the gills with frozen mango-yum) and I've got a box of rocks back on a shelf so I can start the freeze/thaw process again on some of the nodules. Many continue to develop cracks which when poked at with a jeweler's screwdriver reveal themselves as cracks in yet another 'eggshell' layer around the concretion within. These nodules are truly from northern Illinois as they have learned the importance of layering for the cold weather (and cold weather is what they are getting on my freezer shelf). I had one tiny little one develop a nice medial crack along its circumference and pop with just a bit of prodding. It revealed a nice little pinna about an inch long or so. I've had a quick flip through the Mazon Creek flora bible and while some of the more common species of Pecopteris (unita?) seems to show some similarities with this I'm sure I'm way off base and just shooting in the dark. I think probably what I'm going to have to do is to get a highlighter and mark the relative abundance as mentioned in the Remarks section. That way I can zero in on the more common species while I'm learning and not get distracted by the ones that are categorized as 'rare' which are unlikely to be found in my miniscule (but ever so slowly growing) collection of ferny bits.

It had a bit of calcium obscuring the positive impression (more so on the concave negative half). Without resorting to soaking in vinegar I found that this white powdery build-up was really pretty soft and not well attached. I little light brushing with a very soft toothbrush seemed to remove enough to let the character of the fossil show through. I'm actually a bit hesitant to remove the rest as it almost provides a bit of contrast to the fossil.

Not much but all I scored from today. Anyway, here is the little dickens:

Cheers.

-Ken

[fossilized6s]

This one just popped. I had to break it into pieces to help uncover most of it, because the fossil is preserved on two plains about a half inch apart. Then while it was apart i had to cut and prep a few pieces. Then i glued it back together the best i could. Then the tedious process of Calcite scraping began. I soaked it in vinegar for day then slowly scraped off the Calcite with a needle (i still have about an hour to go). But it's a cool piece so far.

[Auspex]

This one just popped. I had to break it into pieces to help uncover most of it, because the fossil is preserved on two plains about a half inch apart. Then while it was apart i had to cut and prep a few pieces. Then i glued it back together the best i could. Then the tedious process of Calcite scraping began. I soaked it in vinegar for day then slowly scraped off the Calcite with a needle (i still have about an hour to go). But it's a cool piece so far.

IMG_20140801_195621.jpg

IMG_20140801_195918.jpg

IMG_20140801_195824.jpg

This nodule is a work of art!

[fossilized6s]

Thank you sir!

It's my biggest to date. Not my most detailed, but it's a nice "showy" piece.

Hopefully my Shrimp is in my newest batch.....