Moline is known for being the home of Kansas' oldest swinging bridge, built in 1904. The bridge spans over a lower portion of a local stream, Wildcat Creek. Immediately to the west of the famous Swinging Bridge, a limestone waterfall formation flows with water through much of the rainy season in late winter and early spring.
Moline is located on a slightly elevated plateau in the valley of Wildcat Creek, named so by the indigenous Native Americans because of the prominent number of wildcats (Bobcats) that lived along the stream.
As you walk along the creek (or in the creek bed when it is dry), you should be able to see several types of fossils in the limestone shelf and in the creek bed. I could see Fusulinids, Coral, Crinoids, Bryozoans, Brachiopods, and Gastropods.
Fusulinids were small marine organisms that were common inhabitants of the world's seas during the Pennsylvanian and Permian periods, from about 323 to 252 million years ago. They are single-celled organisms, about the size and shape of a grain of wheat. Some forms were more than 2 inches long, which is amazing for a single-celled organism.
FUSULINIDS
Coral are simple animals that secrete skeletons made of calcium carbonate. They can be found in Pennyslvanian and Permian rocks deposited from about 323 to 252 million years ago. A common characteristic is the wrinkled appearance of their outer surface.
CORAL
Crinoids resemble flowers, with their cluster of waving arms atop a long stem. However, they are not plants. They are echinoderms, animals with rough, spiny surfaces and a special kind of radial symmetry based on five or multiples of five. These fossils are common in Pennsylvanian and Permian rocks in the eastern part of the state. Individual stem pieces are common fossils in Kansas limestone. Crinoids are also known as Indian Beads.
CRINOID PIECES
CRINOID STEMS
Bryozoans are some of the most abundant fossils in the world. In Kansas, fossil bryozoans are common in the Pennsylvanian and Permian rocks of the eastern part of the state. Bryozoans are small animals (just large enough to be seen with the naked eye) that live exclusively in colonies. They are sometimes called moss animals because some colonies resemble mosses. They are sometimes confused with corals, another colonial group of animals. Like corals, most bryozoans secrete external skeletons made of calcium carbonate, which form the framework of the colony.
BRYOZOANS
Brachiopods are marine animals that secrete a shell consisting of two parts called valves. These fossils are common in the Pennsylvanian and Permian limestones. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Sometimes the bottom valve is convex like the top valve, but in many species the bottom valve is concave or occasionally conical. The outer surface of the valves may be marked by concentric wrinkles or radial ribs. Some have prominent spines, but usually these are broken off and are found as separate fossils.
BRACHIOPODS
Gastropods are the most diverse and abundant type of mollusks. The group includes snails, slugs, conchs, whelks, and limpets. Like the familiar snail, most gastropods have a single coiled shell. A variety of fossil gastropods occur in the Pennsylvanian and Permian rocks of eastern Kansas. The outer surface of the shells may be ornamented with ridges,grooves, bumps, spines, or other markings.
GASTROPODS
In order to log this cache, please answer the following questions:
1. How many are in your geocaching group.
2. Choose 2 different fossils. Tell me the fossil name, the approximate size of the fossil, and where you located the fossil (example: near the falls, directly under the bridge, etc.
3. Of the two fossils you chose, which is your favorite and why.
4. This is optional, but it does prove you were at this location, please take a picture of yourself &/or your gps on the bridge with your log. Please do not post a picture of the fossils you found. You will need to message me your answers.
Please use caution if there is running water in the creek. There are fossils along the walkway up near the bridge that you may observe if you cannot get along the creek bed. Just make a note of where you observed the fossils.