The Devil’s Punch Bowl, Hamilton

[JUAN EMMANUEL]

After going around in Hamilton, Ontario looking for a river/creek to check out the iconic Niagara Escarpment of the city, I decided to check out the Devil’s Punch Bowl which is located in Stoney Creek, Hamilton. Most of the waterfalls located in the old city of Hamilton are out of reach/barricaded/no-go zones with fines for trespassing because of safety reasons. 

Nearby Albion Falls and other waterfalls like Tiffany and Chedoke in the old city of Hamilton cannot be explored close up because of the tourists and locals that have died and severely injured themselves from falling while on the cascading waterfall.

Today I was surprised to realize that the bottom of the Devil’s Punch Bowl was unbarricaded and so off I went to explore it. It seems the only place that tourists and people go to when visiting the Devil’s Punch Bowl is the observation deck at the top of the falls which offers a nice view of the falls. This is evident as I noticed that there was barely any trash at the bottom of the gorge and down river. 

The height of this falls is 37 metres. 

Today the fall is dry with no water. Theres a large Timmy’s cup on the bottom right for size comparison (it isn’t mine though!).

There are various formation in this rock exposure of the falls and assigning loose rocks from the ground to the right formation can be a hassle. 

[JUAN EMMANUEL]

A trail that led me to the gorge. This place is definitely not a safe place to explore as the ravine is deep and the trails have uneven ground.

The stream which has no water. 

The lower falls of the Devil’s Punch Bowl. This is a remarkable contact of the Whirlpool formation (the top white limestone) and the Queenston formation (lower red shale). This is where the late Ordovician (Hirnantian) meets the early Silurian (Rhuddanian).

Again the fall is dry.  

 

[JUAN EMMANUEL]

I was surprised at some of the fossiliferous rocks I came across. Some hash plates were abundant in certain rocks, like the one above which likely belongs to the Manitoulin formation. This rock has some Cornulites sp, bryozoans and brachiopods like Leptaena sp. There is also a trilobite tail at the top edge of the rock which I cannot identify. 

An unidentified coral I found on the Manitoulin formation. It is squished on what I believe is shale of a different nature from the Georgian Bay formation. 

 

Finding these fossils are a treat for me considering the Queenston formation in the city does not contain any fossils at all. 

[JUAN EMMANUEL]

A block of rock with a nickel. There are burrows on it and I cannot determine what formation it came from. 

Some trace fossils on a boulder that I believe came from the Whirlpool formation. The Whirlpool is mostly unfossiliferous however there are reports of trace fossils on the formation. 

[JUAN EMMANUEL]

This is the site where most of the fauna fossils in the pics above came from. The rocks with animals came from certain layers of the Manitoulin formation of the Cataract Group. Apparently the Manitoulin formation has corals and it is the Manitoulin formation that comes after the Whirlpool formation. 

The Manitoulin formation here is shown below the slopes of eroded shale. 

[JUAN EMMANUEL]

After making my way up the dry stream I come across the bottom of the falls. There  are loose rocks from different formations at the bottom and most collect at the sides of the falls. 

The rock exposure itself is assigned to multiple formations. 

The Rochester formation is exposed here and I hope one day I could come across some of its rocks on the bottom.

[JUAN EMMANUEL]

The shale of the Cabot Head formation.

Wave rippled boulder, formation unknown. 

Hmm, I wonder what this could be? Not sure of the formation with this one. 

A mix of loose rocks on the sides of the falls. I couldn’t find any fossils from this jumble compared to the Manitoulin formation down stream.

 

I hope to come again another time. Though this is my first time on the Devil’s Punch Bowl and have not found anything spectacular like I did in the Georgian Bay formation of Toronto, I believe this location has potential to yield nice fossils from the early to Mid Silurian which I’d like to add to my collection. 

 

 

[doushantuo]

Awesome report.

Kudo's,JE.

 

[Innocentx]

Beautiful area with exceptional exposures. You made some nice finds and I enjoyed your report.

 

Patty

[Nimravis]

Love the ripple marks.

[Wrangellian]

Good report. I like those Conulites especially.

Do you think some of those trace fossils might be mud cracks instead?

[JUAN EMMANUEL]

2 minutes ago, Wrangellian said:

Good report. I like those Conulites especially.

Do you think some of those trace fossils might be mud cracks instead?

Could be. I believe it depends on the environment of the deposition and this varies with each of the formation shown in the rock exposure. 

[Wrangellian]

Yes, it must be hard to sort that out in a place like that.

[TheRealWiwaxia]

Really unique place, stay safe on the trail.

[ynot]

Nice report on a beautiful location with some nice finds.

Thanks for sharing.

[Bobby Rico]

Brilliant report thank you. I liked your photos too and beautiful ripple marks. 

[Ludwigia]

I didn't realize until now that you've moved to Hamilton. Thanks for the informative and entertaining report! Looks like a great area to explore. I'll have to get down there next time I come over. Be nice to team up with you. Are you game?

[Monica]

Hi Juan!

 

I'm glad to hear that you've found an area close to your new home that may yield some fossil goodies for you - I look forward to seeing all of your future fossil finds!  (And I love the hash plate with Cornulites, by the way!)

 

Monica

[Kane]

The trilobite pygidium in the hash plate might be Flexicalymene sp. If Ordovician, it may be F. senaria; if Silurian, there are a number of very nice calymenids reported in the Lockport, Eramosa, and possibly the Amabel Fms (although finding more than partials can be challenging). 

[Fossildude19]

Excellent report!   

Thanks for the virtual Field Trip!

Regards,

[JUAN EMMANUEL]

5 hours ago, Kane said:

The trilobite pygidium in the hash plate might be Flexicalymene sp. If Ordovician, it may be F. senaria; if Silurian, there are a number of very nice calymenids reported in the Lockport, Eramosa, and possibly the Amabel Fms (although finding more than partials can be challenging). 

The fossiliferous rocks are mostly Silurian. Go below the Whirlpool formation and you’ll find that the Queenston formation is all late Ordovician red shales with no fossils. The rocks that go above the Whirlpool are all Silurian. 

Can Dalmanites be found in the beginning of the Silurian?

 

[Kane]

23 minutes ago, JUAN EMMANUEL said:

The fossiliferous rocks are mostly Silurian. Go below the Whirlpool formation, where the Silurian stratas start, and the Queenston is all late Ordovician red shales with no fossils. The rocks that go above the Whirlpool are all Silurian. 

Can Dalmanites be found in the beginning of the Silurian?

 

WRT to Dalmanites, according to Ludvigsen: "This dalmanitid trilobite is relatively common in a number of Lower and Middle Silurian formations in southern Ontario, but complete specimens are essentially confined to the shales of the Rochester Formation." (Ludvigsen, R. (1979) Fossils of Ontario: Part 1 The Trilobites, ROM, p. 65). Dalmanites fragments are reported in the Cataract, which is the lowermost Silurian strata in your area (although the stratigraphic nomenclature may have changed  ). 

 

Although, in this case, the pygidium doesn't quite look like Dalmanites (as those usually will have evidence of a pygidial terminal spike, and a narrower pygidial axis than your fragment, which puts me more in mind of a calymenid). A closer image may or may not confirm this better.

 

For comparison, here is Dalmanites limulurus from Middleport, NY.  

 

Image from:

Lawrance and Stammers (2014). Trilobites of the World. Manchester: SSP. 

[FossilDAWG]

Excellent report!  I never visited that site, thought I had read about it in Tom Bolton's GSC publication on the Silurian of the Niagra Escarpment.  I recall that there is a species of calceocrinoid that was described from that locality.  Interesting that the site is still accessible.

 

Don

[piranha]

The mystery pygidium is: Encrinurus sp.

 

 

 

figure from:

 

Gon, S.M. 2009

A Pictorial Guide to the Orders of Trilobites.

[Archie]

Great report really enjoyed the beautiful location shots!