The fine-grained texture of the mud silt forming the limestone is ideal for making lithographic plates for printing illustrations. Extensive quarrying in the 19th century revealed many fossil finds, as commemorated in the name "Archaeopteryx lithographica", all the specimens of which come from these deposits. The closest modern analogue to the Solnhofen conditions is said to be Orca Basin in the northern Gulf of Mexico, though that area is much deeper than the Solnhofen lagoons.