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2024 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show!
Read more: 2024 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show!Today is the day! Today is the day! Earth Science Club of Northern Illinois ESCONI 2024 Gem, Mineral and Fossil Show March 16th and 17th, 2024 Dealers, Demonstrators, Displays, Live and Silent Auctions,Book Sales, Kid’s Korner, Geode Splitting Free Parking! Free Admission! DuPage County Fairgrounds2015 Manchester Rd.Wheaton, IllinoisSaturday 10 AM to 5 PMSunday 10 AM to 4 PMwww.esconi.org Download Show Poster 2024 Dealer List Exclusive InspirationsFossil Hut>GrabYourRocksLavin’s GemsRock StarsRock’s RocksMineral MinerRockhound Mike MineralsSouthwest TreasuresMichael’s Mineral Exchange Yesterday, was setup day… here are a few photos. Auction displays Vendors were setting up their tables… The junior table is ready! We have…
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2024 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #22!
Read more: 2024 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #22!This is the preview post #22 for the 2024 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction. The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2024 will be held on March 16th and 17th at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year. All details can be found here. Here is a nice specimen of Marcasite on sphalerite from Galena, IL. This will be part of the second Saturday auction.
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2024 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #21!
Read more: 2024 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #21!This is the preview post #21 for the 2024 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction. The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2024 will be held on March 16th and 17th at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year. All details can be found here. We have an awesome Neuropteris vermicularis from Pit 4, which is the Shadow Lakes area in Braidwood, IL. This one is a good size, 2 halves, but just half the frond.
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2024 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #20
Read more: 2024 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #20This is the preview post #20 for the 2024 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction. The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2024 will be held on March 16th and 17th at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year. All details can be found here. Next is a nice Alethopteris lesquereuxii collected back in the 1960’s. It’s had a little repair, but is still a very nice specimen with great detail. Come on out and have a look!
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2024 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #19!
Read more: 2024 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #19!This is the preview post #19 for the 2024 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction. The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2024 will be held on March 16th and 17th at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year. All details can be found here. We have more Mazon Creek than we’ve shown in these previews. Here is a large Cyathocarpus hemiteloides from Dresden, IL. It was collected back in the 1960’s by Jim and Sylvia Konecny.
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2024 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #18!
Read more: 2024 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #18!This is the preview post #18 for the 2024 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction. The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2024 will be held on March 16th and 17th at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year. All details can be found here. This stunning chunk of amethyst will be at the first Saturday auction… lot #130. This is a large beautiful piece that has to be seen in person!
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Fossil Friday #204: Annularia inflata
Read more: Fossil Friday #204: Annularia inflataThis is Mazon Monday post #204. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. Thanks! Fossil Friday is here with a beautiful Annularia inflata. A. inflata is the foliage for Calamites, a genus of extinct horsetail “trees”. They lived in the coal swamps of the Carboniferous and Permian periods and provide much of the organic material in the coal from those time periods. You can learn more about A. inflata in Mazon Monday #60 and Calamites in Mazon Monday #94. This gorgeous specimen was found in the Mazon River by long-time ESCONI member Marie Angkuw. She collected the concretion…
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2024 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #17!
Read more: 2024 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #17!This is the preview post #17 for the 2024 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction. The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2024 will be held on March 16th and 17th at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year. All details can be found here. Time for another auction preview… this one is a very nice reproduction of an actual Mazon Creek fossil roachoid found by Earl and Mary Crornwall, old time ESCONI members. This is a cast of a Promylacris rigida roach found at Dresden Lakes. There is quite…
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Throwback Thursday #205: 2013 ESCONI Show
Read more: Throwback Thursday #205: 2013 ESCONI ShowThis is Throwback Thursday #205. In these, we look back into the past at ESCONI specifically and Earth Science in general. If you have any contributions, (science, pictures, stories, etc …), please send them to esconi.info@gmail.com. Thanks! Here is the announcement for the 2013 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show. It was held in the same building at the Dupage County Fairgrounds as our 2024 show. And, look at that… also March 16th and 17th. No confusion here! Scenes from the show…. Geode splitting Book table, with a younger versions of Andy Jansen, Bob Masek, and Gary Abrell The Junior…
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2024 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #16!
Read more: 2024 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #16!This is the preview post #16 for the 2024 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction. The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2024 will be held on March 16th and 17th at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year. All details can be found here. This beautiful specimen of Aragonite is very clean. It has very nice color. Aragonite makes up most of the mineral content in pearls. It is a common form of calcium carbonate.
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2024 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #15!
Read more: 2024 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #15!This is the preview post #15 for the 2024 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction. The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2024 will be held on March 16th and 17th at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year. All details can be found here. Preview #15 for the 2024 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction is a nice, detailed lob finned fish scale. The photos don’t do this one any favors. This is a beautiful piece!
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2024 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #14!
Read more: 2024 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #14!This is the preview post #14 for the 2024 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction. The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2024 will be held on March 16th and 17th at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year. All details can be found here. We have multiple pieces of native copper from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. These were collected quite a while ago, unfortunately we don’t know the locality. They are nice examples of native copper. A little cleanup will bring out the shine!
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2024 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #13!
Read more: 2024 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #13!This is the preview post #13 for the 2024 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction. The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2024 will be held on March 16th and 17th at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year. All details can be found here. Lucky specimen 13 is a nice partial Tullymonster. This one includes the eye bar, some eye pigment, a good portion of the “neck”, and mid-body. Tullymonster gregarium is the state fossil of Illinois… I bet you already knew that!
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Mazon Monday #207: Spiropteris sp.
Read more: Mazon Monday #207: Spiropteris sp.This is Mazon Monday post #207. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. Spiropteris sp. are immature fern fronds. They are also called fiddleheads. The name Spiropteris was established in 1869 by Wilhelm Philippe Schimper (1808-1880), who was an Alsatian botanist. From 1862 until 1879, he was a professor of geology and natural history at the University of Strasbourg. Schimper made significant contributions to bryology and paleobotany. His biggest contribution was proposing a new division for the geological time scale. He called the new epoch the “Paleocene Era”, which was based on paleobotanical findings from the Paris…
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2024 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #12!
Read more: 2024 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #12!This is the preview post #12 for the 2024 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction. The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2024 will be held on March 16th and 17th at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year. All details can be found here. How about a nice Mazon Creek worm… Esconites zelus. This a nice specimen collected by a long time ESCONI member – Dick Ade.
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2024 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #11!
Read more: 2024 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #11!This is the preview post #11 for the 2024 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction. The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2024 will be held on March 16th and 17th at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year. All details can be found here. We have something different for this preview…. a mineral, a large heavy mineral. Galena is the natural mineral form for lead sulfide (PbS). It crystallizes in cubic shapes, sometimes showing octohedral forms. This is a large chunk of galena. It’s gorgeous as is, but add…
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2024 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #10!
Read more: 2024 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #10!This is the preview post #10 for the 2024 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction. The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2024 will be held on March 16th and 17th at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year. All details can be found here. Pecopteris notata is one of the rarer fern species from Mazon Creek. This is a very nice example with quite a bit of detail. Come out and see it next week!
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2024 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #9!
Read more: 2024 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #9!This is the preview post #9 for the 2024 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction. The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2024 will be held on March 16th and 17th at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year. All details can be found here. Another day, another Mazon Creek fossil for the 2024 ESCONI show. This one is a gorgeous Crenulopteris acadica, which was a fern. This one was collected by the Konecnys at the Dresden locality near Morris, IL. That site is now unavailable for collecting. This specimen…
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Fossil Friday #203: Alethopteris serlii from the Mazon River
Read more: Fossil Friday #203: Alethopteris serlii from the Mazon RiverThis is Mazon Monday post #203. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. Thanks! For Fossil Friday this week, we have an absolutely stunning Alethopteris serlii from the Mazon River. This specimen was collected by long time ESCONI member Marie Angkuw. This one was opened via freeze/thaw after being plucked from the river last August. Congratulations and thanks for sharing, Marie!
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2024 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #8: Stilbite!
Read more: 2024 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #8: Stilbite!This is the preview post #8 for the 2024 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction. The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2024 will be held on March 16th and 17th at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year. All details can be found here. Today’s preview is a nice Stilbite crystal from India. Stilbite is a series of tectosilicate minerals in the zeolite group.
ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show
Most Recent Post
- Mazon Monday #316: Sublepidophloios protuberans
Today, we have Sublepidophloios protuberans, which is a species of lycopsid branch. It’s very common, actually the most common form of lycopsid bark in the Mazon Creek fossil flora.
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Field trips require membership, but visitors are welcome at all meetings!
| Friday, April 10th | General Meeting – 8:00 PM via Zoom. Jessica Hull will present “Life in the Devonian Period, The Age of Fishes.” |
| Saturday, April 11th | Junior Study Group Meeting – 2:00 PM, in person at the College of DuPage Technical Education Center (TEC) Building – Room 1038A (Map). Katherine Howard will present on Sand and Sediment Collecting. Specifics of this meeting are available from Scott Galloway, 630-670-2591, gallowayscottf@gmail.com. |
| Saturday, April 18th | Paleontology Study Group – 7:30 PM via Zoom and in person at the College of DuPage, TEC, Room 1038B (Map). Keith Robitschek will present “Digging the Marl of the Lance Formation.” |
| Friday, April 24th | MAPS Expo XLVII – Springfield, IL. |
| Saturday, April 25th | MAPS Expo XLVII – Springfield, IL. |
| Sunday, April 26th | MAPS Expo XLVII – Springfield, IL. |
| No meeting this month | Mineralogy Study Group |