 Trilobite Powered Lightbulbs
A cache by Juicepig Hidden: 7/24/2008
Size:  (Not chosen) Difficulty:  Terrain:  (1 is easiest, 5 is hardest)
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Below your feet are millions of trilobites, which were once ground
into oil to power the village.
Trilobites are a type of animal that lived from about 550 million
years ago until 250 million years ago. Trilobites defined a
distinct class of arthropods that encompasses thousands of known
species across the world, and filled ecological niches from
plankton eater, to scavenger, to all out hunter. Because of their
hard shell, and negative boyancy (they sink when they die), they
were easily fossilized.
Shale and Fossilization go hand-in-hand. Shale is setiment that is
created when layers of setiment are compressed into rock, a fossil
occurs when a dead animal gets in the way of this process, and
becomes flattened inside the shale layer. Over time the animal
biodegrades until all that is left is mineral deposits in the shape
of its original form.
The Fossils that occur in Craigleith come from a period known as
the early Ordovician period, about 480 million years ago. Around
this time this area was a shallow equatorial sea, that was teeming
with life, most commonly Brachiopods (look like clams), Gastropods
(looks like conch shells, snails or spirals depending on the angle
they were fossilized), nautiliods (unicorn horn shaped spirals),
and trilobites. The shale is black due to the amount of organic
remenants in the rock, in exposed sections it is grey as it becomes
bleeched by the sun.
In 1859, a power plant was set up here in the black shale section
of the beach. The Shale was ground up, and refined into crude oil,
then burned or shipped out to other communities. It was an
exhaustive process. 35 Tons of shale were distilled daily to
produce 250 gallons of crude oil. Within 4 years the enterprise
went broke - It was just too much work, especially when oil could
just be pumped from the ground in the Sarnia region and shipped up
here at less cost.
There are 2 distinct areas along this beach that are good for
fossil collecting.
Oil Shale: The shale here is black, the fossils are
plentiful. The most common fossil in this area is the third lobe
(tail) of a "Pseudogygites Canadensis" Trilobite. Some of
the Fossil Trilobites in this region are highly covetted by fossil
collectors as their bodies have been replaced by Iron Sulphide
(Fools gold, or Pyrite), making them golden brown in colour against
the black shale. Other Trilobite species in this rock strata
include "Triarthrus Eatoni" and
"Flexicalymene".
Limestone Shale: At the top of Wards road, the shale here is
mixed in with limestone layers. The rocks here are a few million
years older then the oil shale and less dense with fossils, but
this is a less muggle filled area, and you are more likely to find
a pristine specimin. Species of Trilobites in this area are
identified as "Asaphus canadensis", "Isotelus
Canadensis" and "Hypodicranurotus"
Pseudogygites Canadensis and Asaphus canadensis are the species of
trilobite you will most likely find, Another species is often found
here called Triarthrus Eatoni. Older shale along the shore actually
reveals an interesting evolutionary story. Isotelus Canadensis
juvenile individuals have similar identifying features to adult
Pseudogygites Canadensis individuals, an evolutionary term applies
here called paedomorphism, where the juvenile features of the
Isotelus species were seen as "attractive" to other trilobites, and
eventually split into a seperate species that outlived its
predecessor.
Some amazing fossils found to date:
Paprika819's find
TO LOG THIS FIND:
Fossils they can be found anywhere along the shoreline within 2
kilometers** . Do not smash the rocks, please do your best
to keep the beach in tact! You will need to post with your found
log the following:
1. a picture of your team looking for fossils
2. a picture of a trilobite fossil along with a coin (even if it is
just a trilobite tail!)
3. a list and photos of any other rock creatures you might find
along the way!
**(but not within Ontario Parks
Boundaries unless you are given explicit written permission from an
Ontario Parks Superintendant, you are allowed to find fossils in
the location if you are not geocaching however.. yadda yadda yadda
wink wink...)
PLEASE do your best to make sure that the fossil is in focus, many
digital cameras have trouble with close ups!
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2 user(s) watching this cache.
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Additional Hints (Decrypt)
Oynpx funyr vf orfg! Cyndhr nern vf cebonoyl orfg cynpr gb ybbx(Decrypted Hints)
Find...
Map of Good spots to hunt
Many good shale beaches along this strech of coast
Museum Quality Find
You probably wont find one like this! Notice the tail section, you will likely find a piece of trilo-tail during your hunt. You will most likely find only the tail lobe of this species - Pseudogygites Canadensis
My various Trilobite Finds
((Top Left: Golden Trilobite)) - Some of the Trilobites on this beach mineralized into Iron Sulphide While Fossilizing (pyrite or fools gold)
((Bottom Left: Oil Trilobite)) - The Black shale of this beach was actually processed into crude oil in the 1850s for burning.
((Bottom Right: Rusty Trilobites)) - Iron has seeped into this fossil and given it a rusty tinge
((Top Right: Grey Trilobite ))- Exposed Shale will go from black to grey after prolonged exposure to the sun - the fossils wi
Oil works Plaque
A growing demand for artificial light led to the establishment, in 1859, of a firm headed by William Darley Pollard of Collingwood. He erected a plant here to obtain oil through the treatment of local bituminous shales. The process, patented by Pollard, involved the destructive distillation of fragmented shale in cast-iron retorts heated by means of wood.
The 30 to 35 tons of shale distilled daily yielded 250 gallons of crude oil, which was refined into illuminating and heavy lubricating oils.
Trilobite Species of the Area
These are the Trilobite species that have been found on this beach, while it is not necessary for you to actually identify your trilobite, you can use this to make a guess at it!
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Warning. Spoilers may be included in the descriptions or links.
Cache find counts are based on the last time the page generated.
 October 14, 2009 by Team Speed (1038 found)
Earth caches are the best! The story of the failed oil enterprise is pretty interesting. We parked at the public beach area and thought we might have a lengthy search, but we were surprised at how fast we spotted some little fossil indentations. That was lucky, because there was a pretty nippy wind coming off the bay. There was no need to break any rocks, as this area is littered with fragments of all sizes. As far as identifying the fossils is concerned we are out to lunch, but our other rock creature is an inukshoceros. Thanks very much for the cache.
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October 9, 2009 by Coureurs de Bois (233 found)
A lot of searching in the rain for this one. Interesting area. The local fisherman must have thought that we were nuts. Interesting spot. TFTC.
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September 28, 2009 by Ron & Lois (1386 found)
Found today at 11:45, our third of the day. Took required photos and will upload. Thanks for taking us to this beautiful stretch of shoreline. One of the rocks in our photos contains crinoid fossils.Ron & Lois - "Bead Masters"
Lawton, MI 49065
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September 20, 2009 by KSAcat (3016 found)
The gang and I each found one little Trilobite (partial) fossil. I have always wanted to stop and look but figured I'd do it with my family along and today I had Rose and An
drew with me and an hour to go before I had to be back at Cache Blue. Very interesting spot where we found several hundred pieces with fossil shells, some coral and such in them. Too bad we did not find one like Pat's. Awesome place. Big SMILE... KSAcat
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September 19, 2009 by bayside5 (252 found)
Wifey wasn't long finding something for a suitable pic. She's more for a SANDY beach, so we didn't venture in for a swim ;-)Awesome spot. Will bring the kids over (we were on a getaway weekend just for US for a change) Abbie would love this beach,
she's a fossil nut. (we have several buckets of special ROCKS and fossils at home from various trips. She was going nuts
when we were in the BADLANDS in Alberta last summer and couldn't take anything from there (as posted on the signs everywhere, but
we noticed a lot of people had READING PROBLEMS it seemed...sheesh!!) TFTC Bayside5 (well, bayside2, the other 3 were at home!)
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Current Time: 2/9/2010 10:15:14 PM (GMT-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada) (6:15 AM GMT)
Last Updated: 10/17/2009 9:19:54 AM Pacific Daylight Time (4:19 PM GMT)
Rendered: From Database
Coordinates are in the WGS84 datum
