stone love: a story of rocks, fossils and money

there is a Phylum of sea critters known as Echinoderms. They include: sea urchins, sand dollars, starfish, cystoids, blastoids, brittle stars and sea cucumbers.
A sub-group or Class of Echinoderms are the Crinoids (cry-ah-noids).

they exist today in the Caribbean, Pacific and Indian Oceans -- all have five-fold radial symmetry but vary in shape -- their presence seems to indicate shallow seas ( with exceptions ) - they dine on diatoms; protozoans and micro-crustaceans -- are attached to sea floor ( sessile ) but some are free swimming
called "sea lillies" these animals have plant-like stems/roots with a flower-like crown or head. The stems keep their head ( food collection part ) off the ocean floor. Their heads are delicate and easily broken, so complete fossil Crinoids are rare.
the most common remains are round, flat discs ( like fossilized Cheerie-0's ? ) that are pieces of the stem [ 60-l00 cm ], so one stem could be represented by many small discs.

The quarry rocks are limestone ( LS ) made from the chemical, calcium carbonate ( CaC03 ) which is call Calcite in the mineral form. It has many chemical 'rock-relatives' ... including marble.

This LS is called the Livingston and Millersville LS ( probably two names for the same rock ), and is about l4ft thick. The rock layers dip to the west meaning there is more soil over them as you leave this exposure / outcropping. This is the bedrock of the area. It is sold for use as a concrete aggregate and road base. LS is a major component of cement.

A LS with magnesium in it is called dolomite. The Lockport ( NY ) Dolomite is the rock over with Niagara 'Falls.' Dolomites do not fizz as easily as LS do in an acid environment. Rock strata are often named for places where they were first studied: lockport, n.y.; livingston and millersville could be illinois or indiana locations ( ? ). carbonic acid (acid rain) + LS = calcium bicarbonate (water soluble)
H20 + C02 + CaC03 = Ca [ HC03] 2

When it is warm, the above reaction 'goes backwards' and deposits of CaC03 are formed ( cave formations / stalactites / stalagmites ). The acid part breaks down into water and carbon dioxide [ just like a cold Pepsi does when it warms up ].

Quarry Facts:( as of ~1992 ? )

about 40 employees
permits: $25/acre to mine; $l400 / acre reclamation bond
federal fines (EPA) for too much dust in the air
ton costs: $8 concretre aggregate; $7 road base; $4 sand
$600,000 reclamation vehicle

ruff notes these are a 7 +/- years old so i don't how how vaild the data is

began as a W.P.A. project in the l940's
25% ag lime and 75% road lime
+ diamond set bit ... 5' core ... $500 to recycle and sharpen
+ assay its value
+ $l00,000 corer
+ A & H of CMI will drill your core at $l,000 per hole
+ permit: 3yr in advance
+ open meeting: tho they own the land a public meeting must be held
+ bonding: $l500/acre (l0 acre permit this year)
+ l.5' x depth, with a l0 ft high wall on edge of property
+ l5 degree slope big gullys to start with
+ 30 degree slope inside the pit
+ state tells the type of grass and fertilizer to use
+ 3 bush and 2 bush life badesia (?) $60 per pound .. plant formula
+ machine: stripping turnaples $500,000 and back hoe
+ 5 cu yd bite to 50 ft ... 44 cu yd = capapcity of truck .. two of them
+ tires $6,000
+ pH coal mines: left acid on top
+ catapiller built in england 2/5 truck in usa are here for grading the land
+ LS = 4000 ton per yard and 2700 ton per yard for sand
+ drag bit: l00 holes 3" in five hours
+ ammonia nitrate diesel fuel l00# and 0.8 gallon fuel mixture
+ ignite: deda-prime little finger size and e-cap 3ft from the top
+ LS has the denisty of concrete
+ sequential time: l2v battery they use 300 v l0 millisec apart --- "long sequectial shot"
+ tile square analogy: holes in sq ... l0ft apart control the flow of the rx to make the pile fall one way or the other
+ rotor (l5 tons) in a box with 2 x 500 # hammers
+ $l00,000 repair when one exploded
+ 60 ton encloded rotor: breaks rx with fine chip rx = cheapest because the larger blocks are hard on conveyers and truck (vs. dust)
+ 3/8" = oil and road asphalt -- l/8" underneath ag lime
+ crush and screen process
+ run thru the 'impactor" sell big
+ 54" x 60" = hole on the big impactor
+ 50,000 ton of rx per acre
+ 40,000 ton for 4th street project
+ l/3 sand 2/3 crushed stone and 5% oil
+ 40 employees at $l0-$l5 per hour
+ 2000 gallon diesel fuel per day
+ elect: $8000 per month
+ end loader vs scrape shovel $l,500,000 x 8 machines
+ scales: every day graduation (setting) state quality vs farmer quality l4 agencies watch over
+ ne co asphalt. ...
+ ohm meter tests the re-shoot duds in the hole
+ explosive: very stable == very hot fire to set off because you can burned it on stove
+ blast every day and twice a day
+ concrete plant == erosion control
+ bentonite seal on the lake and LS floor
+ shale to make their roads but it is slick in the rain
+ horse shoe pits ... blue shale sticky pits ...stops the shoe
+ enuff LS for the next 20 years
+ tarble family: Nathan Lang did own it
+ branch quarry: tuscola; casey; and marshall; casey: run out of rx
+ marshall: l000 acres owner leases
+ $l0 + per hour benefits l.5 sat and 98 hrs
+ 'shinney club' rib bone of elephant ??
+ year round work: tons: 200 ton/hr for each of the two plants is their goal
+ snow atop prevents screening
+ safety: quarry pays: mask; hard hats and l/3 cost of shoes
+ workers are fined for not wearing hats ... not management
+ hi detergent soap and air and water shaving cream hold down dust; 5 x 55 gal is $500 per drum ( this used per day? )
+ truck: 7 yr life span l5 yr for hauling truck l7yr old one was just replaced
+ 2 drown and l broken neck swimming
+ no swimming sign: yes = you provide for safety no sign: you must keep them out ...
+ 640 acre/mi l.5. sq miles (l.56) l.25 mi on side