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Strata Gem April 2003
President’s Message
At our meeting we talked about our show. We ought to start getting some Wheel Prizes made or bought and thinking about our Door Prizes. I hope everyone can come up with some good ideas.
We welcomed Jay home he looks good. I understand some of the rest will be home in April.
I think we will have a Fieldtrip in April for Honey Onyx. Date pending waiting for our Fieldtrip Chairman to get home.
I hope this finds everyone in good health.
Good Luck Always Ruth S. Smith President
Tooele Gem & Mineral Tooele Senior Citizens Center March 11 2003
The meeting was called to order by president Ruth Smith, every one was welcomed. The minutes of the last meeting were read and approved. The treasurer’s report was read and approved. Henry reported that we will have the Dow James building for our show. The activities that we will have at our steak fry were discussed, should we do crafts at this time, Ruth said maybe we should start at around 11AM with crafts and have our dinner somewhere around two PM, we decided to talk about it some more later when we have more people at our meeting. Erla Woods was operated on, she is home now.
Selma Jockish is home and learning how to live with her new hip. Debbie Hitesman had a brain tumor removed a while back she is home and doing fine she went back to work on March 11th. Matthey Hitesman went in the hospital on the 7th of February for surgery, he is still in the hospital. It was reported that Lida Chapman is in the hospital in Arizona. It was reported that Jim May passed away he was one of our charter members. Ruth Smith will have surgery to remove a tumor removed from her spine. We received a thank you note from Leona Adams for the lifetime membership plaque. The club bought a combination TV, and VCR, and we watched a video. The door prize was won by Ardith Higley. We were reminded that every member should donate door prizes and wheel prizes for our show. Jay Woods will bring the treats next month. The meeting was adjourned.
Minutes submitted by Larry Wilson Secretary
Sunshine Report
Selma is home after 2 weeks in the hospital, she is doing better.
Debbie Hitesman was operated on in January, she had a brain tumor. Her husband Matt Hitesman was put in the Hospital the 7th of February to have a track put in. He is still in the hospital, he had another operation on the 11th of March for Cellutites.
Lida Chapman was in the hospital with congestion in her lung & low oxygen, but is home now.
Erla had surgery on an out patient on the 11th of February.
Hope everyone gets well soon
Ruth Smith Sunshine Chairman Honey Onyx Fieldtrip Date Pending Led by Byron Scott
I hope this is the April Fieldtrip J This is from an old newsletter, please come to the next meeting for complete details.
4-wheel Dr. is recommended, but there should be enough vehicles for rides to the site if you need. Camping can be done between meeting place and the turn off to the digs.
If you wish to go you need to get on the list. Remember last year this fieldtrip was called off due to weather conditions. If you are on the list we will call you if that happens again.
The Garnet Group by Mary Fraser The garnet group is made up of silicate minerals with similar crystal structure. They have a hardness of 6.5 - 7.5, streak white, a luster vitreous, greasy, or resinous, and are transparent to opaque, coming in all colors except blue.
They occur in gneiss mica schists, dolomitic metamorphic rocks, and frequently in sands. They are rare in igneous rocks. Their occurrence is worldwide. Garnets are used as grinding and polishing agents and as gemstones.
The garnet groups are divided into two series of minerals: pyralspite series named after its three members pyrope, almandine, spessartite, and the ugrandite series named after uvarovite, grossularite, and andradite.
Garnets are among the commonest minerals. They crystallize in the cubic system as 12 sided dodecahedrons or 24 sided trapezohedrons or a combination of both.
In ancient times garnets were called carbuncles. Ancient Egyptians valued them as ornamental stones and were considered to be the bearers of well being and family harmony. Greek and Roman citizens believed the bearer to be favored with inheritance.
Garnets are found on the Breastplate of Aaron. It is said these "stones of health" extract negative energy from the chakras and transmit it to the beneficial state. Also known as the "stone of commitment" garnets monitor and adjust the flow of energy around the physical body and align the emotional and intellectual bodies. Garnet is also reported to enhance the assimilation of iodine, calcium, magnesium and vitamins A, D, & E into the body.
Illustrations (top) adapted from James D. Dana's Manual Of Geology 1875. Illustrations (crystal outlines) adapted from James D. Dana's Manual Of Mineralogy And Petrology 1889.
From Rockin’ Around, 3/02 Via The RockCollector 1/03
Field Trip Field Trip By Margaret Good
Went out rock hunting The other day; Found some called stigmaria.
Not pretty at all; And yet we know ‘Twas the root of a tree.
Took some home, of course, Three buckets full! More than needed, for sure.
That’s what it is like When rocks are bait, Any found are a lure.
Our shed is piled high, Like the old woman Who once lived in a shoe,
We’ve so many rocks, Really don’t know Exactly what to do.
From SCFMS Newsletter November/December 2002Via Rocky Mountain Federation News 1/03
World’s Oldest Fossil Fern
A small piece of black rock which bore the tag “unknown fossil plant” at the Queensland Museum for 10 years has been catapulted into the spotlight.
The 375 million year old specimen has been confirmed as the world’s oldest fossil fern - predating all others known by 20 million years. To put that into perspective, that’s 150 million years before dinosaurs and 40 million years after the first land plants appeared.
The fern, of which only an 8 cm stem section remains, was found in a dried-up creek bed, among limestones, near Charters Towers in north Queensland. Queensland paleontologist Alex Cook, who found the fern in 1989, said it was one of the great discoveries of the past 50 years, although “to look at, it’s not much”.
“It’s like having the Red Baron’s propeller or Julius Caesar’s sword,” he said. “I was actually looking for fossil sponges and corals when I saw this unusual stone. It had funny looking circular marks, so I knew it was a fossil wood of some sort, and thought it was significant enough to keep and put away until someone could work out what it was.” Professor Clifford, a botanist specializing in fossils at the museum, uncovered its true origins after consulting scientific literature.
Dr. Cook said the fern would have only been about 25 cm across and 15 cm high and had small stems compared to its modern cousins. “We believe the fern was a cushion-like plant so it’s not a tree fern or anything sort of large you’d find in your garden ... It sort of looked like a funny-looking moss with sprouts coming out of it. Now, each of these shoots was about between two and five millimeters across, so it wasn’t the hugest fern known to man, but it’s still important nonetheless.”
“The fern is associated with the world’s first forest plants which were just developing. It was a pretty barren looking landscape and the first insects were about to appear. There were a few pretty crummy looking amphibians, but plenty of fish in the water.”
-The Pegmatite-San Diego 10/0 1 via the Queensland Courier Mail, no date given, via Geolap News 3/00; similar news archived on 8/4/99 on abc.net.au/pni/s4l599.htm)
Via Hy Grader 1/02
Buying and Cutting Opal
When buying precious opal, you should check for several things.
Pick a piece with as wide a band of color as possible. Check color by drying the stone. Water simulates the polish of the cut stone but also tends to magnify the color. If you can still see the flash of color well when dry, you know you will see it in the finished stone. Make sure as many colors as possible are showing. Hold the opal up to a strong light to determine if the opal has “potch,” fractures, discoloration or the depth of this.
To start your stone, use epoxy on your dop stick to hold the stone. Use a 220 grit wheel to start your grind, with plenty of water as coolant, using a light pressure. Grind your stone until the fire in it starts to show, being careful not to go through the fire line. Flatten out the back side of the stone and cut to the desired size. It is best to free-form opals to make good use of the stone-less waste.
Prepolish is an easy but important step. Use 200 grit sanding paper wet to take your stone down to the fire line. Then use a worn out 600 grit paper wet, for finishing your prepolish.
For a grand final polish, you can use either a leather or felt buff. Linde A, Cerium Aluminum Oxide, or Raybright B are among the best polishes to use. Go slowly with lots of patience and you will find your finished stone very satisfactory.
From CFMS Newsletter, Gaila Ries, Editor via The Mountain Gem October 1993 Via THE RockCollector 10/02
Brain Buster By Ernston Barnhart
How many rocks and minerals can you find hidden in the following paragraph?
In his latest crime bulletin, Police Inspectro Litescal cites current problems: "We need new legal enactments to stop all these hoodlums who plead innocent. Some of them are real cool items who insult cop persons. I have been called to skinflint and a gyp, summing up their opinion of me. I think I'm a fair one, but after being called a spineless serpent, I nearly am berserk. It's no whodunit, even now I am in total control. However, we're having a crime epidemic and I have less ardor for the job. I'm getting old and I am on duty too much. It's time for me to retire with a soda, lite beer, etc. and go fishing. Maybe I'll catch a marlin that will make you rub your eyes.
From Grit and Sand September 1990 via The Quarrry, 1/03 Via The RockCollector 2/03
Answer to Brain Buster Slate, tin, spectrolite, calcite, galena, opal, lead, oolite, copper, flint, gypsum, iron, spinel, serpentine, amber, dunite, talc, mica, sardo, gold, diamond, sodalite, marl, ruby.
Newsletter Correction
The Logan show has been canceled this year due to a rent increase. If they can find a cheaper place they may reschedule
"But ... The Rocks Are All Wrong" by Richard Busch (FGMS Member)
Lithosphere (September 1993); Fallbrook Gem and Mineral Society, Inc.; Fallbrook, CA
[Ed. Note: This article won second place in the adult article competition in the American Federation of Mineralogical Societies in 1993.]
The next time you go to the movies, watch the reactions of the moviegoers to what appears on the screen. You'll notice that while the cat burglar deftly twirls the dial of the hidden wall safe and quickly opens it to reveal the priceless jewels within, all of the locksmiths in the movie theater shake their heads in disbelief. As the movie doctor operates to save the life of his dying "patient," the movie going real doctors in the audience roll their eyes to the ceiling.
Well, locksmiths and doctors are not the only people to have their fields of expertise misrepresented by the entertainment industry. Geologists and gemologists, too, frequently grit their teeth at the silent indignities perpetrated on the movie or television screen. True, a geological inaccuracy rarely contradicts the central plot of the drama; but to those people properly attuned, a geological error of fact can undermine the basic premise of the story.
Some errors are so egregious that the situation is laughable. Remember the old Superman series on TV? To this day, I remember an episode in which the Man of Steel takes a lump of coal in his hand and squeezes it with such force that it changes into a diamond. That's ok if you accept the basic premise upon which Superman is based; but when Superman opens his hand to reveal the newly created gem, we see that it is complete with facets -- round brilliant, as I recall.
Some geological errors are not so obvious. Lisa Rossbacher points out several in the February 1993 issue of Geotimes. If you saw the relatively recent movie The Last of the Mohicans, you'll remember the beautiful scenery -- rugged peaks and granitic rocks. The only problem was that the movie was supposed to take place in upstate New York where the Paleozoic sediments have been thoroughly glaciated to form rolling hills. The film was actually made in the Carolinas where the rocks are all wrong.
Ms. Rossbacher cites other examples of geological errors in films. Here are some: The Battle of the Bulge features an exciting tank battle that is supposed to take place in the snowy Ardennes region of Belgium; halfway through the battle, we see the tanks rumbling through the Mojave Desert. Rooster Cogburn and True Grit are supposed to be set in Oklahoma and Arkansas. Unfortunately, the glaciated mountains in the background were set in Oregon and Colorado long before any movie makers set up cameras; glaciers never quite made it to either Oklahoma or Arkansas. The movie Revolution featured the Battle of Yorktown being fought, not on the gentle southeastern coast of Virginia, but rather on some high, white cliffs that bore a striking resemblance to the famous ones located on the southern coast of England. Continental drift? Hardly.
Geological errors are not restricted just to movies and television shows. In 1969, a novel written by Michael Avallone and based upon a screenplay written by Clifford Gould hit the bookstores. The name of the novel, chosen by someone other than Mr. Avallone, was Krakatoa, East of Java. The true location of Krakatoa--southeast of Sumatra and west of Java--was not lost upon Mr. Avallone. In fact, he contacted the publishers and informed them of inaccuracy. Unfortunately, it appears that in some publishing and entertainment circles marketing takes precedence over geographical reality and, despite Mr. Avallone's efforts, the title of the book was not changed to reflect the truth. [Note: The original version of this article incorrectly stated that the book's title was the responsibility of Mr. Avallone. In fact, Mr. Avallone worked to correct the erroneous title that was created by another individual. I am pleased to set the record straight and apologize for previously questioning Mr. Avallone's diligence in researching his novel. -- RAB (1999)]
This brings us to the summer's megahit, Jurassic Park. Yes, we all know that Jurassic Park is a science fiction fantasy-adventure film. But here's the way that science fiction is supposed to work: One or two (currently nonexistent) scientific developments are assumed to have been made. Given those assumptions, the remainder of the film is supposed to operate logically and consistently within the framework of current knowledge and reality.
In Jurassic Park , the assumption is that science has discovered a way to recreate living organisms solely from a sample of their DNA. Fine, we'll accept that as the premise of the movie. The rest of the story should conform to established scientific fact. Too bad that it doesn't.
The most obvious scientific errors in Jurassic Park have to do with the sizes of the various 'saurs. Apparently Steven Spielberg likes his dinosaurs big. Both the gentle, vegetarian, Brachiosauri and the nasty ol' Velociraptors are depicted at about two to three times their real size. Not only that, but in one scene Spielberg has an especially plump brachiosaurus standing on its hind legs to munch veggies from a treetop. Impressive but, given the size of the creature, it probably should have collapsed into a heap due to the relative weakness of its leg bones.
But not all of the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park are portrayed as larger than life. The Dilophosauri are presented at about one-third of their real size, presumably to make this insidiously dangerous dinosaur look cute. Further, neither the Dilophosauri neck frills nor their toxic spit have been documented. As depicted in the movie, the Dilophosauri look more like "gremlins" than dinosaurs.
All of the above notwithstanding, the real error in Jurassic Park is that the rocks are all wrong. In the movie, the scientists get their dinosaur DNA from the belly of an insect that was found inside of a piece of amber. Ok – no problem so far. But the movie goes out of its way to tell us that the amber came from the Dominican Republic; and this is where the error lies. Dominican amber has been dated at 20 to 40 million years. The dinosaurs died out 65 million years ago. Thus, the amber in the movie is at least 25 million years too young to contain remnants of dinosaur DNA.
Spielberg could have chosen Lebanese amber (115 to 135 million years old) or Siberian amber (80 to 115 million years) or New Jersey amber (90 million years) or Alaskan amber (80 million years) or Canadian amber (70 million years). But, no; he chose Dominican amber -- and got it wrong.
Well, don't let the above comments deter you from seeing Jurassic Park. The special effects are terrific and the action is heart-pounding. Go see it if you haven't done so already. Enjoy it, if you can. Just try not to think about the fact that the rocks are all wrong.
Copyright © 1993 by Fallbrook Gem and Mineral Society, Inc.
The preceding article was originally published in the September 1993 issue of Lithosphere, the official bulletin of the Fallbrook [California] Gem and Mineral Society, Inc; Richard Busch (Editor).
Permission to reproduce and distribute this material, in whole or in part, for non-commercial purposes, is hereby granted provided the sense or meaning of the material is not changed and the author's notice of copyright is retained.
Via The RockCollector 3/03
Color Enhancement Of Gemstones by Dean Johnston
Many gemstones are routinely subjected to heat or radiation to enhance the natural color of the stones. In most cases, treating is considered to be an acceptable practice because both heat and radiation commonly play a part in the coloration of natural gemstones. However enhanced coloration of stones should never be misrepresented as natural coloration.
Heat Treated Stones Subjecting stones to sophisticated heating procedures is the most commonly used method of changing or enhancing a gem’s color. Heat treatment is routinely applied to the following: AMBER - to deepen the color
Radiated Stones Radiation techniques are now in common use. Sometimes radiation is used in combination with heat treatment. As long as the radiation produces stable results, color enhancement by radiation techniques is not considered fraudulent. Radiation os routinely applied as follows:
Enhancement of gemstones through radiation and heat treating has become commonplace, yet often dealers are elusive (or unknowing) as to whether a particular gemstone has been treated. It is a question that should be asked of the dealer prior to buying an expensive colorful gem.
In Victoria G & M Via The Glacial Drifter 1/03 & others
A Club Is A Living Thing
The club is the body. The president it tongue, the membership its brain, the secretary its circulatory system, the vice president its eyes, the treasurer its heart, the historian its memory, the editor its arms, the board its reflexes and committee chairmen and their helpers are the nervous system.
From HyGrader Via Northside Gem and Hobby News11/02
Shop hints
When cutting irregular shaped cabochons such as a heart that can’t be fully cut or polished at the wheel, finish cutting with a carborundum stick. Sand with silicon carbide cloth wrapped around a popsicle stick. Unless the crevasse is too deep it will polish on a leather buff. From Rock Rollers
Test for Topaz Quartz and topaz are not always easy to separate by eye especially if the quartz is topaz colored (like smoky quartz and smoky topaz). There is a big difference in price between the two and anyone describing quartz as topaz, however innocently, may be in trouble. Topaz is quite a different mineral, which is harder than quartz. Because of this a drop of water will not spread on topaz but will spread on quartz. Clean a stone as effectively as possible with a cloth to remove all traces of grease. It must be dry before the test. Then place a spot of clean water on it with a thin glass or metal rod. On stones with a hardness of less than 7 on the Mohs scale, the water is dispersed. On harder stones it will remain a globule. The harder the stone the more rounded will be the globule. From Rock Chipper.
TRIM SAW When cutting a slab on the trim saw turn the trim saw around so that you stand behind the saw and pull the slab towards you. This eliminates getting oil or water splattered all over you which you get if you try to push the slab toward the saw. You can also see what you are doing better when your glasses are not all oil splattered. from NFMS Newsletter
Via Northside Gem and Hobby News 11/02
Did’ Ja Know?
Alaska’s huge Bering Glacier, which had been surging southward toward the Pacific Ocean, has stopped? At one point the Glacier was moving as much as 300 feet per day!
The Glacier, the largest surging glacier on earth, advanced more than 6 miles between October 1993 and July 1994. The surges are caused by water pressure which builds up under the ice. This is the fifth time this glacier has surged forward this century.
Stretching 125 miles in length and covering more than 2300 square miles, the glacier is larger than the state of Rhode Island. The ice mass os often thicker than 1/2 mile.
(From The Sun, Baltimore, MD 12/6/94 Via T-Town Rockhound 6/ 02 & others
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