This is Mazon Monday post #42.  What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil?  Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com.

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Another Mazon Creek book that belongs in the collection of any serious collector is “Mazon Creek Fossils” edited by Matthew Nitecki.  It was first published in 1979, and is a collection of most of the papers presented at the Mazon Creek Symposium held at the University of Michigan during the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America on May 1st, 1978.  The book is dedicated to Dr. Eugene S. Richardson, Jr., who was the Curator of Invertebrate Paleontology at the Field Museum of Natural History from the 1950s until 1983.  Although much more is known some 40 years later, this book is still relevant. These papers have been referenced many times over the years and will help you understand some of the background and history surrounding Mazon Creek research.  One of my favorites is an early picture of the Braceville spoil pile… too bad it’s small.

The list of contributors is quite the list.  It includes papers by many of the research giants into Mazon Creek and its incredible biota. 

• GORDON C. BAIRD (41), Department of Geology, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, Illinois 60605
• DAVID BARDACK (501), Department of Biological Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago Circle, Chicago, Illinois 60680, and Department of Geology, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, Illinois 60605
• JOHN R. BOLT (529), Department of Geology, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, Illinois 60605
• DANIEL C. FISHER (379), Department of Geological Sciences, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627 and Department of Geology, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, Illinois 60605
• MERRILL W. FOSTER (191, 269), Department of Geological Sciences, Bradley University, Peoria, Illinois 61625
• ALAN STANLEY HOROWITZ (143), Department of Geology, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana 47401
• PETER MÜNDEL (361), Department of Zoology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706
• MATTHEW H. NITECKI (1), Department of Geology, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, Illinois 60605
• HERMANN W. PFEFFERKORN (129), Department of Geology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104
• EUGENE S. RICHARDSON, JR. (321,333), Department of Geology, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, Illinois 60605
• W. BRUCE SAUNDERS (333), Department of Geology, Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania 19010
• DAVID E. SCHINDEL (303), Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520
• JAMES M. SCHOPF* (105), Department of Geology and Mineralogy, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210
• FREDERICK R. SCHRÄM (159), Department of Paleontology, Natural History Museum, San Diego, California 92112 and Department of Geology, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, Illinois 60605
• CHARLES WRIGHT SHABICA (13), Department of Earth Sciences, Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago, Illinois 60625
• RICHARD C. STENSTROM (69), Department of Geology, Beloit College, Beloit, Wisconsin 53511
• BERTRAM G. WOODLAND (69), Department of Geology, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, Illinois 60605
• ELLIS L YOCHELSON (303, 321), United States Geological Survey, and United States National Museum, Washington, D.C. 20560
• RAINER ZANGERL (449), Department of Geology, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, Illinois 60605

The preface to the book speaks to the contents.

he Symposium on Mazon Creek Fossils was held on the campus of the University of Michigan during the annual meeting of the North-Central section of the Geological Society of America on May 1, 1978. More than 300 geologists attended. The present volume contains most of the papers presented at that meeting, and two contributions prepared for it but not delivered in Ann Arbor.

The present volume is divided into four sections: I. Introduction and papers on sedimentation, fossil distribution, and the origin of the concretions; II. Paleobotany; III. Invertebrate paleontology; and IV. Vertebrate paleontology.

Not all groups of Mazon Creek organisms have been studied. Relatively little research is presently being done on fossil plants, and the need for the revision of the Mazon Creek flora is as great as ever. Unfortunately, the death of Professor James M. Schopf deprived Carboniferous paleobotany of one of its leaders. Fossil invertebrates represent such a major portion of the biota that not all groups could be included. Fossil vertebrates, the smallest component of the fauna, are also the best known and have thus received relatively complete coverage. To complement the present book, the editor hopes to prepare a second volume that will provide reprints of some of the more significant previously published papers on Mazon Creek and will include an up-to-date faunal list and bibliography.

The Field Museum has been involved with the study of Mazon Creek fossils for more than thirty years. Museum research has been directed to three goals: First, enlargement of the existing collection; second, cooperation with other institutions and individuals by providing specimens for study and by making the expertise of the Museum staff available; and third, support for the research of its own staff. The symposium and the present volume reflect the second and third aspects of this program. Half of the contributors are either staff
members or research associates of the Museum. The rest of the authors represent some of our many colleagues who have benefited from these Museum policies.

Table of Contents

• MAZON CREEK FAUNA AND FLORA–A HUNDRED YEARS OF INVESTIGATION
  Matthew H. Nitecki
  Pages 1-11

• PENNSYLVANIAN SEDIMENTATION IN NORTHERN ILLINOIS: EXAMINATION OF DELTA MODELS
  Charles Wright Shabica
  Pages 13-40

• LITHOLOGY AND FOSSIL DISTRIBUTION, FRANCIS CREEK SHALE IN NORTHEASTERN ILLINOIS
  Gordon C. Baird
  Pages 41-67

• THE OCCURRENCE AND ORIGIN OF SIDERITE CONCRETIONS IN THE FRANCIS CREEK SHALE (PENNSYLVANIAN) OF NORTHEASTERN ILLINOIS
  Bertram G. Woodland and Richard C. Stenstrom
  Pages 69-103

• EVIDENCE OF SOFT-SEDIMENT CEMENTATION ENCLOSING MAZON PLANT FOSSILS
  James M. Schopf
  Pages 105-128

• HIGH DIVERSITY AND STRATIGRAPHIC AGE OF THE MAZON CREEK FLORA
  Hermann W. Pfefferkorn
  Pages 129-142

• THE MAZON CREEK FLORA: REVIEW OF RESEARCH AND BIBLIOGRAPHY
  Alan Stanley Horowitz
  Pages 143-158

• THE MAZON CREEK BIOTAS IN THE CONTEXT OF A CARBONIFEROUS FAUNAL CONTINUUM
  Frederick R. Schram
  Pages 159-190

• SOFT-BODIED COELENTERATES IN THE PENNSYLVANIAN OF ILLINOIS
  Merrill W. Foster
  Pages 191-267

• A REAPPRAISAL OF TULLIMONSTRUM GREGARIUM
  Merrill W. Foster
  Pages 269-301

• GASTROPODA OF THE ESSEX FAUNA, FRANCIS CREEK SHALE (MIDDLE PENNSYLVANIAN), NORTHEASTERN ILLINOIS
  David E. Schindel and Ellis L. Yochelson
  Pages 303-319

• POLYPLACOPHORAN MOLLUSCS OF THE ESSEX FAUNA (MIDDLE PENNSYLVANIAN, ILLINOIS)
  Ellis L. Yochelson and Eugene S. Richardson
  Pages 321-332

• MIDDLE PENNSYLVANIAN (DESMOINESEAN) CEPHALOPODA OF THE MAZON CREEK FAUNA, NORTHEASTERN ILLINOIS
  W. Bruce Saunders and Eugene S. Richardson
  Pages 333-359

• THE CENTIPEDES (CHILOPODA) OF THE MAZON CREEK
  Peter Mundel
  Pages 361-378

• EVIDENCE FOR SUBAERIAL ACTIVITY OF EUPROOPS DANAE (MEROSTOMATA, XIPHOSURIDA)
  Daniel C. Fisher
  Pages 379-447

• NEW CHONDRICHTHYES FROM THE MAZON CREEK FAUNA (PENNSYLVANIAN) OF ILLINOIS
  Rainer Zangerl
  Pages 449-500

• FISHES OF THE MAZON CREEK FAUNA
  David Bardack
  Pages 501-528

• Amphibamus grandiceps AS A JUVENILE DISSOROPHID: EVIDENCE AND IMPLICATIONS
  John R. Bolt
  Pages 529-563

While copies can be found for sale at times online or at sales, you can find individual papers are available for purchase at Science Direct.  The best way to obtain a pdf of the book is at Google Books.