From owner-rockhounds-digest@drizzle.com Sun Mar 4 12:12:52 2001 Date: Mon, 29 Jan 2001 23:49:01 -0800 From: rockhounds-digest Reply-To: rockhounds@drizzle.com To: rockhounds-digest@drizzle.com Subject: rockhounds-digest V1 #783 rockhounds-digest Monday, January 29 2001 Volume 01 : Number 783 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 29 Jan 2001 06:38:21 -0800 (PST) From: Aaron Fox Subject: [BOUNCE] Santa Barbara Area Collecting Message-Id: Date: Sun, 28 Jan 2001 21:41:17 -0800 To: rockhounds@drizzle.com From: Walter Mroch Subject: Santa Barbara Area Collecting What are some of the better and accessible sites around Santa Maria and Santa Barbara to collect? Is Point Sal one of them? Gem and Mineral Exploration Company PMB 373 4141 Ball Road Cypress, CA 90630 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Jan 2001 09:06:59 -0800 From: Art Berggreen Subject: Re: [BOUNCE] Santa Barbara Area Collecting > Message-Id: > Date: Sun, 28 Jan 2001 21:41:17 -0800 > To: rockhounds@drizzle.com > From: Walter Mroch > Subject: Santa Barbara Area Collecting > What are some of the better and accessible sites around Santa Maria and > Santa Barbara to collect? Is Point Sal one of them? It partially depends on what you are looking for. Most of the rocks in the southern 1/2 of Santa Barbara County are marine sediments and recent alluvium. For collecting, it is mostly marine inverterbrate fossils. But whale bone, fish fossils and sharks teeth are sometimes found along the beaches. The San Raphael Mountains in the north-east part of the county have exposures of the Franciscan formation. The Fransciscan is an accretionary wedge from subduction in the Jurassic and contains a jumble of interesting rocks. The area around the town of Nipomo (nort of Santa Maria) is famous for its sagenitic agate, but you need to have the right contacts to get permission to get onto private lands to find it. The road out to Point Sal was damaged in past winter rains. I'd also be interested in hearing about itss condition. I've found some nice jasper at Jalama Beach (south-west of Lompoc). Now is a good time of year at the beaches, as the winter storms churn up the rocks. Art ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Jan 2001 10:59:06 -0800 From: "Lanny R. Ream" Subject: Re: diaoyudaoite revisited Hi Pete, and list, No problem with your skepticism of what was published in the Mineral News about the diaoyudaoite. If it wasn't for skepticism, few mistakes would be recognized and corrected. I can understand the skepticism and considering you are many times more of a mineralogist than I am, I also respect it. It's just that after reading of so many new finds that have completely outclassed and upstaged what was previously known of any particular mineral, much of my skepticism has become more of a "take it in stride and wait and see" feeling. You probably saw Don's message which mentioned that the diaoyudaoite may have been dredged from the harbor. Perhaps the harbor sediments would be more inline with the type locality conditions. And I believe it was Jeff who mentioned that a Russian occurrence is of larger crystals than the type locality. Hopefully we will get some answers, meanwhile, skepticism is welcome. Lanny >Hi to the list and esp. to Lanny Ream, > >I can't resist commenting again on diaoyudaoite, which is this time the >subject of the lead item in Josef Vajdak's column in the latest issue (Jan. >2001) of Mineral News. I was going to just write this note by email to >Lanny, but what the heck, I'll share it with the rest of the list. > >I guess I'm still very skeptical of the origin of this material as a natural >mineral. Diaoyudaoite, Na Al 11 O 17, originally reported as >sub-millimeter size loose crystals in deep-sea mud off Taiwan, presumably as >grains eroded out of alkali basalts, has now been found as inch-or-more size >specimens of solid masses with 1/2-inch platy crystals. Also, the mineral >is fluorescent (brilliant magenta pink, SW), which should attract a lot of >attention from fluorescent collectors. Also, although the original brief >description which was noted and commented on here in "Rockhounds" said that >the mineral was found near Port Elizabeth, which is in the coastal plain >near the southern tip of New Jersey, the description in Mineral News now >says the material was found "on a road-cut in the vicinity of the Jersey >Gardens Mall in Elizabeth, Union County, New Jersey", which is in the urban >area bordering New York City, in northeastern N.J. > >I always consider myself to have an open mind and I certainly do not want to >reject anyone's find of something "really new", but I'm really skeptical of >this occurrence. Because of the location, and large size and evident purity >of the crystal masses, and the unusual nature & composition of this mineral, >my first reaction is still to think that this material is much more likely >to be some kind of industrial mineral by-product, buried in a roadside or >landfill. This part of New Jersey is certainly an source area for both of >the above! (Hey, I'm not knocking New Jersey, I'm a native of New >Brunswick, NJ!) I think it might be worthwhile to look up this chemical >compound in some of the chemical indices, and see what information is >reported or published about the possible synthesis or industrial preparation >of Na Al 11 O 17 > >Josef states in the MN article that material has been sent to Dr. Hatten >Yoder of the Geophysical Laboratory in Wash. D.C. to examine, and that is >great, Hatten Yoder is a superb authority on mineralogy and petrology, and >should be a perfect person to examine this material (yoderite, an Mg-Fe-Al >silicate, is named after him). (I know Dr. Yoder personally; I worked with >him at the Geophys. Lab. for part of a year, while I was finishing my Ph.D. >thesis.) However, it seems rather unlikely that Dr. Yoder will be able to >"determine the age of the specimen" as suggested in MN, because not every >mineral can readily be age-dated (most cannot). And of course, simply >verifying the identity of a mineral does not necessarily confirm that it is >a natural mineral and not a man-made product; but I'm sure Dr. Yoder would >have some educated opinion on that, once he has examined it. > >Well, there is your "skeptical scientist" comment for the day! Please know >that I intend no disrespect or anything like that to anyone involved in the >finding and study of this mineral; I am just voicing a valid query as to how >the material actually originated and came to be in the roadcut in which it >was found. > >Sincerely, Pete Modreski, pjmodreski@worldnet.att.net >and U.S. Geological Survey, Denver CO, pmodresk@usgs.gov > > > >################################################################# ># Rockhounds@drizzle Mailing Alias: rockhounds@drizzle.com # ># Web: http://www.drizzle.com/~afox/rockhounds/ # ># Subscription Services: majordomo@drizzle.com # >################################################################# ********************************************* Lanny R. Ream - lanny@mineralnews.com Owner/Publisher - LR Ream Publishing Publisher of gem & mineral references and guides, Mineral News - printed and online, Mineral software: The Mineral Database and the Mineral-Periodical Index Visit our Web pages at http://www.mineralnews.com ****** ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Jan 2001 13:18:47 -0800 From: Art Berggreen Subject: Death Valley's Sliding Rocks For those of us that have been to Racetrack Playa or anyone else interested in the sliding rocks of Death Valley, there is some great information from Dr. Paula Messina who did her dissertation on the subject. For the summary, visit: http://www.geosun.sjsu.edu/paula/rtp/intro.html For all the technical detail in her dissertation: http://www.geosun.sjsu.edu/paula/rtp/dissertation/title.html Art ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Jan 2001 16:45:00 -0500 From: Rollins Subject: tektites Does anyone on the list know what counties of Georgia might have tektites? James A. Rollins [mailto:willows@rose.net] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Jan 2001 18:55:09 -0500 From: Kreigh Tomaszewski Subject: Kernite Does anyone know how big the largest kernite crystal collected from Kern County is? Does anyone know of locations other than Kern County, CA were it can be found? Kreigh Tomaszewski Mailto:Kreigh@Tomaszewski.net Please visit our family web pages at http://Tomaszewski.net ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Jan 2001 16:43:54 -0800 From: Wes Lingerfelt Subject: Re: [BOUNCE] Santa Barbara Area Collecting Just to add to the note from Art: Be careful about picking up whale bone on the beach. Not long ago my friend had his vehicle searched by a uniformed Ranger (Wild Life Service arm of the BLM) who said they are strictly enforcing the ban on vertibrate fossil collecting at the beach. Luckily we didn't have any Whale bone at the time but did have some petrified wood in concretions loaded in the truck. He didn't seem to mind that at all. Also, the fact that we now have a National Monument on the Central Coast seashore has made collecting very risky along the shore line. I'm not even sure that the opening of Jade Cove just north of Hearst Castle is still valid. It may be closed also as soon as they have the resources to enforce the Monument rules. You can collect in the Nipomo Creek by entering the water below the Tefft Street bridge but you'll need knee high waders. Everything else in Nipomo is private and posted. The mountains East of Santa Barbara located within the Los Padres Forest (Adventure Pass Required) has Serpentine, Soapstone, Brecciated Jasper, an occasional geode and low temperature quartz veins, some of which have carneilian and other colorful chalcedony in them. Look around the Fiquoroa Mountain area accessible via Los Olivos off CA154. There's a lot of good rock on the Central Coast, unfortunately you have to know some one to get to it. Cheers! Art Berggreen wrote: > > Message-Id: > > Date: Sun, 28 Jan 2001 21:41:17 -0800 > > To: rockhounds@drizzle.com > > From: Walter Mroch > > Subject: Santa Barbara Area Collecting > > > What are some of the better and accessible sites around Santa Maria and > > Santa Barbara to collect? Is Point Sal one of them? > > It partially depends on what you are looking for. Most of the rocks in the > southern 1/2 of Santa Barbara County are marine sediments and recent > alluvium. For collecting, it is mostly marine inverterbrate fossils. But > whale bone, fish fossils and sharks teeth are sometimes found along the > beaches. The San Raphael Mountains in the north-east part of the county > have exposures of the Franciscan formation. The Fransciscan is an > accretionary wedge from subduction in the Jurassic and contains a jumble of > interesting rocks. The area around the town of Nipomo (nort of Santa > Maria) is famous for its sagenitic agate, but you need to have the right > contacts to get permission to get onto private lands to find it. The road > out to Point Sal was damaged in past winter rains. I'd also be interested > in hearing about itss condition. I've found some nice jasper at Jalama > Beach (south-west of Lompoc). Now is a good time of year at the beaches, > as the winter storms churn up the rocks. > > Art > ################################################################# > # Rockhounds@drizzle Mailing Alias: rockhounds@drizzle.com # > # Web: http://www.drizzle.com/~afox/rockhounds/ # > # Subscription Services: majordomo@drizzle.com # > ################################################################# - -- Wes Lingerfelt, '99/'00/2001 Treasurer Orcutt Mineral Society Nipomo, CA. visit http://www.cfmsinc.org ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Jan 2001 20:08:30 -0500 From: "Frederick L. Olmstead" Subject: New dino and GIANT Sapphire HI I saw partial (reports) on tv news... What have your heard, seen about the HUGE! blue sapphire?? What have you heard / seen about the SAVAGE dino discovered - protruding fang / teeth?? GeorgiaO ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Jan 2001 20:54:24 -0500 From: Jack Nelson Subject: Re: New dino and GIANT Sapphire Hi. Haven't heard of the sapphire. The dinosaur was in today's Washington Post front section under science news. Jack At 08:08 PM 1/29/2001 -0500, you wrote: >HI >I saw partial (reports) on tv news... > >What have your heard, seen about the HUGE! blue sapphire?? > >What have you heard / seen about the SAVAGE dino discovered - >protruding fang / teeth?? > >GeorgiaO >################################################################# ># Rockhounds@drizzle Mailing Alias: rockhounds@drizzle.com # ># Web: http://www.drizzle.com/~afox/rockhounds/ # ># Subscription Services: majordomo@drizzle.com # >################################################################# ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Jan 2001 20:33:05 -0700 From: Steven C Kaminski Subject: Himalaya Mine, California If you have collected at the Himalaya Mine, I would appreciate an email to me off-list. I'm considering going there in about a week and would like to get input from a few people first-hand. I'd appreciate helpful hints, recommended tools/techniques? Weather, Road Conditions to watch out for? What was your group size and entry fee per person? Thanks Steve K. ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Jan 2001 22:58:39 -0700 From: "Peter J. Modreski" Subject: Re: diaoyudaoite revisited One more comment to Lanny, Jeff, Don, et al. & the list, > You probably saw Don's message which mentioned that the diaoyudaoite may > have been dredged from the harbor. Perhaps the harbor sediments would be > more inline with the type locality conditions. And I believe it was Jeff > who mentioned that a Russian occurrence is of larger crystals than the type > locality. Now although the type locality off Taiwan was in marine sediments, the inference by the discoverers was that these were detrital grains, eroded from some (site unknown) basalt outcrop along with the associated hornblende, epidote, and biotite, and that the mineral itself was of magmatic origin, having crystallized in the parent igneous rock. Thus, it is probably not something that formed IN the marine sediments, so finding it in harbor sediments (if that's where it came from) somewhere else would be unrelated, and coincidental. Also, Nor'ilsk, Russia is a large metal ore deposit associated with mafic igneous rock, so this would be a type of occurrence consistent with the mineral's first suggested source, in basalt. Now yes, I know that there are lots of basalts in New Jersey and certainly their eroded detritus is in the sediments, but that doesn't prove the mineral came from them. Obviously, no one has ever observed this mineral in NJ basalts, and if it occurred as veins or whatever of these large platy crystals, I think someone would have noticed it! I guess we'll just wait for more "hard" information! sincerely, Pete Modreski ------------------------------ End of rockhounds-digest V1 #783 ******************************** ################################################################# # To subscribe or unsubscribe to the Rockhoundz List, send mail # # to with the following keys: # # subscribe rockhounds (or) unsubscribe rockhounds # # rockhounds@drizzle.com | http://callisto.golder.com/rockhoundz# #################################################################