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The Club will
provide cups and napkins for the refreshments. Those
volunteering to provide refreshments need only provide sufficient
drinks, ice, and snacks, such as, cookies, cakes, crackers, or donuts.
If you enjoy the refreshments, please be prepared to take a turn in furnishing them. See Diane Roby to sign up. NOTE: if you volunteer to bring refreshments, please do so. If, however, you are unable to attend for whatever reason, call Diane Roby, Lowell Baker or Arvil Marion.
Hospitality Chair It has just been learned that Diane Roby (hospitality Chairperson) will be moving to the state of Arkansas by the end of June. Therefore, we are asking for a volunteer to work with Diane for the remaining time she is here and to step in to fill her position through the end of the year. We will miss Diane, but wish her well in her new rock collecting areas. If you would be willing to fill this very important position, please let Lowell or Diane know at the next meeting.
August 16, Picnic- 4:00 pm until dark, Annual Club picnic and grab bag making event. Hathaway Park.
37th Annual Gem and Mineral Show Dealer List
Annual Rummage Pre-Sale By Jim Stroud Several members of the Forsyth Gem & Mineral Club, Lowell Baker, Willann Baker, Anna Baker, Ernie Hughes, David Goode, Hazel Goode, and Jim Stroud, attended the Junior League’s 34th Annual Rummage presale. The presale is held the night before the actual Rummaged Sale, which lasts all weekend. The Junior League of Winston-Salem is a volunteer organization of women who donate their time and monetary donations made by fundraising. Every spring the Annual Rummage Sale has been the largest annual fundraiser for the JLWS. The event offers community members the opportunity to purchase good quality donated clothing and household items at reasonable prices. Junior League members, friends, family, community members, and local retailers donate items for the sale.
The Rummage is held at the Lawrence Joel Coliseum Annex and the adjacent Education Building of the Dixie Classic Fairgrounds. A fossil dig donated by Vulcan was set up for children attendees of the Rummage Sale. Vulcan's feed trough from its Earth Science Museum was used to hold the fossil dig material which was from PCFS Phosphate in Aurora, NC. Sharks teeth and numerous other invertebrate fossils were found by kids as well as adults. The kids had a great time! Every child left with several sharks’ teeth and other fossils. This was a great opportunity for Vulcan to partner with FGMC members on community relations and an educational event.
By David Goode Putting geologic time in perspective is difficult. To start, the earth is about 4.5 billion years old. The oldest surviving rocks that have been found are 3.8 billion years old, and the oldest North American rocks are 3.5 billion years old (both pretty near as old as the planet). About 2 billion years ago the land area that became what is now the North American continent has been termed Laurentia. This name comes from the St. Laurence River, which cuts through some of these oldest rocks in the Canadian Shield (or Laurentian Shield). Some of these ancient rocks are exposed in the US around the northern great lakes. Most of North Carolina, as we know it today, did not exist 2 billion years ago and has been subsequently added on. Continental drift was active during this period of the earth’s development. About 1.2 billion years ago, Laurentia was involved in a collision with another land mass (what would later become South America), forming a supercontinent called Rodinia. This is not Pangea, the second supercontinent, which formed later, about 300 million years ago. There was massive mountain building (or orogeny) in the North Carolina area, comparable to the present day Himalayan Mountains. This has been termed the Grenville Orogeny. The geologic stresses of this orogeny melted and reset the ages of most of the Laurentian rocks in this area, so they mostly end up with measured ages of about 1.2 billion years (the time of melting). These oldest rocks are variously termed Grenville rocks or Basement rocks. Where are these oldest rocks found in present day NC? The answer is mainly in the far western part of the state. They form the core rocks of the Appalachians, and are exposed after erosion of the highest peaks. See map below. Examples of these Grenville rocks are: the Elk Park Plutonic Suite (including the Cranberry Gneiss, Blowing Rock Gneiss, and Wilson Creek Gneiss) found in Ashe, Alleghany, Wautaga, Avery, Mitchell, and Yancey Counties; the Roan Mountain Gneiss in the Roan Mountain peak area; further south, the Max Patch granite in Madison County, part of which is a pretty unakite (orange & green) that makes great cabochons: and the Toxaway gneiss even further south. You’ll recognize the areas from the place names. Further east, exposures occur in “windows”, the Wilson Creek gneiss is found in the Grandfather Mountain window. Closer to home, the Pilot Mountain Gneiss occurs in the Sauratown Mountain Window. All of these rocks have been dated to about 1.2 billion years of age. Figure is from Timothy Clark: The Geology of North Carolina – or how the heck did all these rocks get to where they are today? presented at the 42nd Forum on the Geology of Industrial Minerals, 2006. During the final years of the supercontinent Rodinia it is likely the entire earth was covered with glaciers. This has been termed “the snowball earth”. Some geologists have speculated that the large continent interfered with ocean circulation, restricting tropical waters, thus markedly reducing global temperature. About 750 million years ago, the supercontinent Rodinia began to break apart. This was a relatively slow process – about 200 million years. The rifting produced large rift valleys, which subsequently filled with sediment and a large inland sea over much of the interior of the continent. This produced the sedimentary rocks of the Great Smoky Mountains and other areas of western NC. Rifting also produces volcanism. The Mt. Rogers area in the extreme northwest corner of NC contains volcanic rocks of this vintage. Other volcanic intrusions, such as the Bakersville gabbro, also date from this period. The continent finally broke apart about 550 million years ago, producing the Iapetus Ocean along the eastern shore of Laurentia. Where was the beach along the coast of what is now NC? Beach sand produces quartzite after it is buried and subjected to heat and pressure. The quartzite, which forms the caps of Hanging Rock, Sauratown and Pilot Mountains, was derived from the Iapetus beach sands. The Linville quartzite, exposed at Linville Falls, was also derived from this same beach sand. This gives you an idea of where the beach was, and how much of NC has been added on subsequently. I should add that recently some rocks from the Mars Hill area have been dated at 1.8 billion years of age. It may be that these older rocks were appended to Laurentia from another land mass. Review of terms:
Review of the
Hillsborough Pyrophyllite/Andalusite
Mine Field TripBy David Goode On Saturday, April 26, the club visited the Resco Mine at Hillsboro, NC. The mine has been closed to collectors for many years due to insurance problems, but we were allowed an exception due to the good graces of Mr. Bob Atz, the chief geologist. The mine is a large open pit covering most of a small mountain overlooking the city of Hillsborough. At present the chief recovery mineral is andalusite, which is ground and used for high temperature ceramics. The trip was well attended by over a dozen members, who returned heavily loaded with specimens. There were massive amounts of andalusite, a mineral with the same chemical composition as kyanite & sillimanite, but formed at lower temperatures and pressures. At this site the Andalusite is blue but naturally occurs in a variety of colors. Pyrophyllite crystals were the primary target. There were tons of massive pyrophyllite but few crystals, until several veins of crystalline material were found in a bank by the mine road. The surrounding rocks were fairly soft, so a bit of digging yielded specimens for everyone. Unfortunately, the material is very fragile and would probably not stand up to the bagging procedures for grab bags. Also found was iridescent hematite, quartz, very small amounts of pyrite, chlorite, and jasper. There was a lot to pick up. Hopefully we can repeat the trip in the future. What we were looking for Ken Reed finds new way to break rock
The good spot Team work If you attended this field trip and left a bucket containing several specimens, you may claim it at the next meeting from Arvil.
Thermal City Gold Mine, Union Mills, NC Saturday, June 28, 2008, 9:00 a.m.
An Official Field Trip of The Augusta
Gem & Mineral Society and The Forsyth Gem and mineral Club. FEE AREA: $5 to pan all day,$30 for front-end load SPECIAL CONDITIONS: Camping facilities with full hookups to primitive are available on a first come basis. Call 828-286-3016 for rates. No drugs, alcohol, or firearms are allowed. The grounds are almost level and a short distance from panning to camping and restrooms. Children: Welcome with Adult Supervision; Pets allowed on leash Shovels and pans are furnished or you can bring your own. Other equipment is for rent/purchase. DIRECTIONS AND WHERE TO MEET: Where we will meet: At the mine. 9 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time. Northern edge of Thermal City, NC. The mine is located on the right side of Rt. 221 about 12 miles north of Rutherfordton near the Rutherford/McDowell county line. CONTACT NUMBERS: phone: 828-286-3016, e-mail: info@thermalcitygoldmine.com Website: http://www.thermalcitygoldmine.com/ TRIP: This is an unsalted site and we have had success finding gold here. The mine’s aim is to provide an authentic experience. This mine is located on the actual site of the earliest placers of Rutherford County. It opened in 1830 and has produced gold ever since then. "Field trips are open to all members of associated clubs of the DMC program of the SFMS Field Trip Committee and to all members of SFMS member clubs who have provided their membership with liability insurance. Because of insurance requirements, members of the GENERAL PUBLIC are NOT invited on this or any DMC program field trips!"
June 13-15--ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA: Show, "Asheville Gem Fest"; Colburn Earth Science Museum; Pack Place Education, Arts & Science Center, 2 S. Pack Square; Fri. 10-6, Sat. 10-6, Sun. 11-5; free admission; kids' activities, free museum admission; contact Felicity Green, Colburn Earth Science Museum, 2 S. Pack Square at Pack Place, Asheville, NC 28801, (828) 254-7162; e-mail: museum.colburn@gmail.com; Web site: www.colburnmuseum.org
The Forsyth Gem &
Mineral Club met April 17th, 2008 at 7:30pm at the Vulcan's main
division office conference room of Vulcan Materials in
Winston-Salem. Lowell Baker presided with 34 members & visitors
present. Our own Jim Stroud had his moment of fame talking about argillite and how it’s “slatey in appearance and very hard”. The door prize was won by Jeannie Ogburn who chose Petrified conifer, Elko Co, Nevada. Refreshments were provided by the Robys and Myers. Respectfully
Submitted,
Nature’s Treasures: the monthly newsletter of the Forsyth Gem and Mineral
Club.
Return address: First Class Mail FGMC P. O. Box 21414 Winston-Salem, NC 27120
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Dates
To Remember:
