Tag: Illinois
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TRIP FULL! – ESCONI Field Trip to Braceville, IL for Mazon Creek Fossils – Saturday, May 14th and Sunday May 15th, 2022
The trip is full! It filled up in just a couple of days! We are still accepting requests, which will place you on the waiting list. Please let us know if you can’t make it, as it makes room for those on the waiting list. Thanks! Braceville Field Trip Rules May 2022 The ESCONI field trips…
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Nature: Snake-like limb loss in a Carboniferous amniote
Nature Ecology & Evolution has a new paper on Mazon Creek tetrapods. This paper describes snake-like limb loss in an amniote, Nagini mazonense, found in the Mazon Creek fossil deposit. The authors are Arjan Mann of the Smithsonian Institution, Jason Pardo of the Field Museum, and Hillary Maddin of Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Arjan…
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Video for ESCONI June 2021 General Meeting – “The Glasford Structure: A Marine Target Impact Crater with a Possible Connection to the Great Ordovician Meteorite Shower”
The speaker at our June 2021 meeting was Charles Monson from ISGS. Charles recently published on the Glasford Illinois impact structure and its relation to the Ordovician meteor event. WCBU, a joint service of Bradley University and Illinois State University, interviewed Charles back in November 2019. Their program is online and available for listening. His paper was published…
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Mazon Monday #83: George Langford at the Illinois State Museum
This is Mazon Monday post #83. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. As part of the trip to the 2021 MAPS Expo in Springfield, IL this past weekend, a few ESCONI members took the opportunity to visit the Mazon Creek exhibit at the Illinois State Museum. George Langford donated a large…
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Trip Full – ESCONI Field Trip to Braceville, IL for Mazon Creek Fossils – Saturday, September 11th and Sunday, September 12th, 2021
The Braceville Field Trip is currently full, however we are taking names for the waiting list. The ESCONI field trips to Braceville for Mazon Creek fossils are set for Sept 11 and 12, 2021 from 9 AM to 3 PM. You can attend one or the other, but not both days. There is an overall…
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Cahokia: What Doomed a Sprawling City Near St. Louis 1,000 Years Ago?
The New York Times has a story about Cahokia, which was a Native American city in pre-Columbian times. Cahokia was located near Collinsville, IL across the Mississippi River from what is now St. Louis, MO. It rose around 1050 CE and reached its zenith around 1100 CE. At its apex with a population of 20,000,…
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Fossil Friday #54: Assortment of Mississippian Fossils – Anna, IL
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #54. Expect this to be a somewhat regular feature of the website. We will post any fossil pictures you send in to esconi.info@gmail.com. Please include a short description or story. Check the #FossilFriday Twitter hash tag for contributions from around the world! —————————————————– This week we have some fossils…
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Illinois Needs a State Rock!
A fifth grade class in Burr Ridge, IL says that Illinois needs a State Rock! After speaking with a group knowledgeable experts – amazing educators, rock enthusiasts, geologists and scientists, they’ve narrowed it down to three choices… Sandstone, Dolostone, and Limestone. You can help them by voting and commenting on their page. A fifth grade…
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All Dinosaurs Considered: Looking Back at Prehistoric Illinois
NPR’s All Things Considered The 21st Show has a look back at prehistoric Illinois. They interview Paleontologists Joe Devera, Senior Paleontologist at the Illinois State Geological Survey and Jingmai O’Connor, Vertebrate Paleontologist and associate curator of Fossil Reptiles at the Field Museum in Chicago about what might Illinois looked like during the time of the…
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Crystals from the Maquoketa Formation
Unfortunately, we don’t have enough mineral posts, but here’s one from ESCONI VP Dave Carlson about crystals in the Maquoketa Formation. If any has an article or information they’d like to contribute, please send us an email at esconi.info@gmail.com. I wanted to share pictures of some crystals found over the years at the Vulcan DeKalb…
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Ticks, Ticks, Ticks, Ticks, Ticks 2020!
This post is a little late as we are fast approaching the peak of tick season. But, as the weather gets warmer (and hopefully, dryer), you will probably be spending more time outside looking for fossils, minerals, etc. in the woods, fields, and quarries. One creature you may encounter is a tick. Ticks are arthropods,…
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Trilobite Tuesday #8: Trilobite State Fossils
Please note: most of the information used here came from the State Fossil page on Fossilera. It has information on all the state fossils, including state dinosaurs and state “stones”. They have nice pictures and a brief description with links for each one. All but seven states have state fossils. There are three types of trilobite that…
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Five Little Known Facts About the Field Museum
Mark Alvey, Academic Communications Manager and resident history buff, shares his favorite facts about the Museum. They are obscure, quirky, and all Field Museum—watch now! Our vast collections began in 1893 with the World’s Columbian Exposition and continue to fuel the work of our scholars.
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Roy Plotnick: Looking back, looking forward: Chicago and the Anthropocene
Our friend, Roy Plotnick has a new article over on Medium. This one is a summary of the changes to the natural geology of Chicago from the last ice age about 20,000 years ago until the present. As always, it’s a good read! About 20,000 years ago, where I am sitting in Chicago was covered…
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The Complete Story of the November 13, 1909 Cherry, Illinois Mine Disaster that killed 259 men
There’s an interesting page about the Cherry Mine Disaster over on “Digital Reseach Library of Illinois History Journal”. It has a little bit of everything, including many pictures. It was posted a few years ago on the 108th anniversary of the event. We just passed the 110th back on November 13th. The whole event is…
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ScienceMag: 300-million-year-old ‘Tully Monster’ may not be the creature scientists thought it was
Science Magazine has a story about the Tully Monster. A paper, which appeared in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, calls into question whether Tullymonstrum is a vertebrate. The new research found melanosomes in extant invertebrate eyes (Octopus and Squid). That was a key part of the previous argument as it was widely believed…
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ESCONI Field Trip to an Ordovician, Hard-rock Quarry Near Belvidere, Illinois on Saturday, Sept 21, 2019
There will be a field trip to an Ordovician, hard-rock quarry near Belvidere, Illinois on Saturday, Sept 21, 2019, from 9AM to 12 noon. We visited this quarry in April. If you like Hormotoma or Receptaculites, this is the place for you! The quarry has been active so there is new rock exposed. Rules The…
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ESCONI Field Trip To Braceville, IL for Mazon Creek Concretions – September 14th and 15th, 2019
Braceville Field Trip Rules September 2019 The ESCONI field trips to Braceville for Mazon Creek fossils are set for Sept 14 and 15, 2019 from 8 AM to 2 PM. You can attend either or both days. There is an attendance limit of 50 people each day. Meet at 8 AM at the entrance to…
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Take a historical sip back to the 1893 World Fair with the Field Museum’s new beer
The Chicago Sun Times has a story about the Field Museum’s new beer. Produced in a collaboration with Chicago Brewseum and Temperance Beer, “All the World is Here” is a new beer that is inspired by the World’s Columbian Exposition. The Columbian Exposition was held in Chicago in 1893. The Field Museum was founded on…
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Ticks, Ticks, Ticks, Ticks, Ticks!
As the weather gets warmer (and hopefully, dryer), you might be spending more time outside looking for fossils, minerals, etc. in the woods, fields, and quarries. One creature you may encounter is a tick. Ticks are arthropods, which unfortunately are vectors for a number of serious diseases. In Illinois, American Dog (Wood), Brown Dog, Lone…
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Reminder: ESCONI General Meeting on April 12th, 2019 – “Geology of the Illinois Valley”
The speaker at our April meeting will be Mike Phillips, Geology Professor at Illinois Valley Community College in Oglesby, IL. The title of his program is "Geology of the Illinois Valley".
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Roy Plotnick: A Fossil Park for Illinois
Roy Plotnick has a great post on Medium about the Fossil Park proposal for the old Lone Star Quarry in Oglesby, IL. Anyone that visited the site in the past remembers the abundant fossils to be had. Brachiopods were just spilling out of the ground. The quarry was recently acquired by the Illinois Department of…
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ESCONI Field Trip to Belvidere Quarry April 20, 2019
There will be a field trip to the Irene Quarry near Belvidere, Illinois on Saturday, April 20, 2019, from 9AM to 12 noon. The rock is Ordovician, Galena Group. This is a “hard-rock” quarry (dolomite). If you like Hormotoma or Receptaculites, this is the place for you! The quarry has been active so there is new…
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ESCONI General Meeting on April 12th, 2019 – “Geology of the Illinois Valley”
The speaker at our April meeting will be Mike Phillips, Geology Professor at Illinois Valley Community College in Oglesby, IL. The title of his program is “Geology of the Illinois Valley”.
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Update: Fossil Park Proposal For Lone Star Quarry Near Oglesby, IL
Rep. Lance Yednock has proposed a bill to convert the former Lone Star Quarry into a Fossil Park. Synopsis As IntroducedAmends the Department of Natural Resources (Conservation) Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois. Provides that the Department of Natural Resources shall designate a portion of the former Lone Star Quarry site near Oglesby…
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Reminder: ESCONI General Meeting on January 11th, 2019
The speaker at our January ESCONI general meeting will be Dr. Philip Carpenter from NIU. The topic of his talk is Northern Illinois earthquakes, and the recent induced seismicity in Oklahoma and Kansas.
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ESCONI General Meeting on January 11th, 2019
The speaker at our January ESCONI general meeting will be Dr. Philip Carpenter from NIU. The topic of his talk is Northern Illinois earthquakes, and the recent induced seismicity in Oklahoma and Kansas.
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ESCONI Field Trip: Sunday, October 7th, 2018 to the Airport Quarry in Rockford, IL 10 AM to 1 PM
There will be a joint field trip with the Rock River Valley Gem & Mineral Society RRVGMS on October 7th, 2018. There is room 15 ESCONI members. The trip will be from 10 AM to 1 PM. There is no age limit. You will need to be a member of ESCONI or RRVGMS. Hard hats are…
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ESCONI Field Trip: Sunday, September 30th, 2018 to Irene Quarry near Belvidere, Illinois 10 AM to 1 PM
There will be a field trip to the Irene Quarry near Belvidere, Illinois on Sunday, Sept 30, 2018, from 10AM to 1 PM. The rock is Ordovician, Galena Group. This is a “hard-rock” quarry (dolomite). If you like Hormotoma or Receptaculites, this is the place for you! The quarry has been active so there is…
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U-Haul Tully Monster
Just in case you’ve never seen it on their trucks and trailers, U-Haul has the Tully Monster graphic on their website. There’s also a small animation with sound. Click “Learn More“, there’s a bunch of information about our State Fossi. Enjoy!
