May 2008

Lafarge Quarry in Paulding

On Saturday, May 17, 2008, approximately 50 members from the Tulip City, Three Rivers, Central Michigan, Ft. Wayne, and Kalamazoo rock clubs participated in a field trip to the Lafarge Quarry in Paulding, Ohio. It was exciting to see so many families with children searching for and learning about fossils. For us, this was our first fossil trip and we learned from everyone - young and old.

The Lafarge Quarry is a large Devonian limestone quarry currently being used to make cement. The limestone appeared at a depth of about thirty-six feet. We were able to explore three new blast sites. The soft, oily shale at each of the sites yielded a variety of fossils. The fossils were plentiful and we were able to extract them with little effort. Brachiopods, favosites, and crinoids were abundant. Most people found parts of trilobites and some explorers found intact ones just sitting out in the piles of shale.

Doug and I brought back a rather large (and heavy) stone with a perfect 12" fan coral displayed on its side. We also brought back lots of fossils - none of which would be considered great finds to anyone except a "newby." The field trip was a blast (no pun intended)!