The recent Denver Show was fabulous.  There was so much to see and lots of neat things to spend my money on.  I want to thank Charlotte Morrison for planning our club display, Bill Hutchinson for setting up the club showcase, and all of the club members who volunteered their time to make this year's show such a success.

October is the time that we elect officers for next year.  You will find a slate of nominees for these positions elsewhere in this newsletter.  Also, you will notice that there are a few slots without a nominee.  Please consider serving the club as an officer or co-officer.  There are lots of people in the club who will help you be successful.  To volunteer or to find our more, please contact me.

November is our annual club show.  Last year's show was one of the best FMC shows that I have ever attended, and this year's show promises to be even better.  Its success will depend on lot of help from club members, so be sure to sign up to help at the next meeting or contact Alex Cook, our show chairman.

I hope each of you had a successful summer rockhounding.  See you at the October meeting.

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Club Meeting

Thursday, October 14, 7:15 PM
West Boulder Senior Center, 9th & Arapahoe

For this month's club meeting, we are fortunate to have club member Bill Harrison give us a presentation on "How to present your display in a showcase."  He will give us an expert's advice on how to select specimens from your collection for display, and how to show them off to their best advantage in the showcase.

And don't forget that Mike Trafton's Rhodochrosite mining documentary DVD will be on sale at the October meeting for $20 to club members!

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Jr. Geologist Program

During the past three months, the Jr. Geologists have been studying the geology around Boulder.  We are fortunate to live in an area that has rocks ranging from the Precambrian at 1.5 billion years old through the 80 million year old Cretaceous formations.  During our outings, the Jr. Geologists collected mica, feldspar, and quartz from pegmatite dikes, fossilized mud cracks, and marine clams and other fossils.  Pictured are Addison Starn, Stefan Codrescu, and Joel Hyde examining the Jurassic-age Canyon Springs Formation.

Beginning in October, the Jr. Geologist will begin working on Future Rockhounds of America badges, featured by the American Federation of Mineralogical Societies.  Participants can earn badges on rocks and minerals, earth resources, fossils, lapidary arts, collecting, showmanship, communication, field trips, and leadership.  Each month, our activities will help you earn these badges.

The next meeting will be on Thursday, October 28th at 7 p.m.  We will be learning about how to identify minerals.  Participants, along with their parents, are encouraged to bring their mineral specimens to try and identify.  Please contact Dennis Gertenbach for the location of the meeting.

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September Field Trip to McCoy

On Saturday, September 11th, 23 FMC members spent the day at McCoy hunting for fossils.  About half the group returned to hunt in other locations on Sunday.  The weather was beautiful and everyone found lots of fossils.  

McCoy is famous for Pennsylvanian-age marine fossils.  The area abounds with many species of crinoids and brachiopods, as well as bryozoans, horn corals, shark teeth, bivalves, and other sea creatures from 300 million years ago.  We visited several BLM areas, plus were able to visit Crinoid City.  Some of the best finds were a complete crinoid calyx, several complete horn corals, and a beautiful echinoid (sea urchin).  And, everyone brought home as many crinoid stems as they wanted.

 The group looked for fossils that have washed out of the shales and limestones.  Many nice fossils were found just laying on the surface of the area. One specimen, found by one of our junior members at Crinoid City, has four large crinoid stems, plus many smaller ones.

Brief Geology of the McCoy Area 

About 300 million years ago, the sediments that make up the rocks around McCoy, the Minturn Formation, were deposited.  During this time, known as the Pennsylvanian period, global temperatures were dropping and an ice age had begun in the northern and southern parts of the world.  North America was centered over the equator and experienced a tropical climate, as evidenced by the corals found in some Pennsylvanian formations.   

In Colorado during this time, much of the state was under the ocean.  However, two large islands, plus other smaller ones, were present.  McCoy sat at the western edge of one of these islands known as the Ancestral Front Range Uplift.  The Denver area was also under water, near the eastern edge of the same island.  The Fountain Formation, which makes up the sandstones of Red Rocks and the Flatirons, were deposited at the same time from sands and gravels washed down the eastern edge of this island.

The rocks of the Minturn Formation in the McCoy area are two basic types.  Much of the rock is red conglomerates, sandstones, and mudstones that contain very few fossils, except for occasional land plants.  Alternating with these are dark gray and grayish green mudstones and limestones, usually containing abundant marine fossils.  The alternating layers indicate that the area around McCoy was sometimes above sea level, when the red sediments were deposited, and sometimes under the ocean, when the gray sediments were deposited.  The species of fossil animals found in the mudstones and limestones indicate that the sea was very shallow in this area. 

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An Elephant Never Forgets!

A friendly reminder that the annual dues to the FMC become due on October 1st, 2004. They are still only $15 per individual/or/family.  You can pay in two ways:

          SEND A CHECK TO:
               "Flatirons Mineral Club" (or)  "FMC"
               P.O. Box 3331
               Boulder, CO    80307

(Or) pay only Gerry Naugle, Treasurer (or) Trick Runions, the Membership Chair at any FMC monthly meeting.  One of them is at the sign-in table upon entering the meeting room.

If you pay by CASH at a meeting, your receipt will be your 2004-05 FMC membership card issued to you by Gerry Naugle. Please do not send cash to the Club P.O. Box by the USPS mail. Remember you receive monthly newsletters, monthly meetings, guided field trip information, annual show opportunities and an annual club summer picnic when you are a member of the Flatirons Mineral Club.

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Club Officers for 2005

We all enjoy the great field trips, monthly programs, outstanding newsletters, our club show, and other club activities each year.  All of these are planned and run by volunteers - people just like you.  We are now looking for club members who will serve the club as officers.  As you look at the list below, you will notice that there are several positions that have not been filled.  Consider offering your time to fill one of these positions.  Or, consider co-chairing an office with someone else.  For more information or to volunteer, please contact Dennis Gertenbach at gertenbach1@worldnet.att.net or 303-462-3522. 

Nominees for 2005 FMC Officers

President: Dennis Gertenbach
VP--Program: Terry O'Donnell, Ray Horton
VP--Field Trips: Open
VP--Club Show: Open
Secretary: Open
Treasurer: Gerry Naugle
Board of Directors (3): Paul Boni, Shirley Mehta, Alex Cook

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Club Show Case At  Boulder Public Library
Gerry Naugle

We have made arrangements with the Boulder Public Library to place a display case in the bridge walkway over the creek.  It will be there starting on Monday, Oct 31 through the end of November.

This is a major publicity coup for our club.  Club members are strongly encouraged to bring favorite and interesting specimens to the Library for display in this case on the afternoon of Sunday, Oct 31. If possible, make your own display labels, but we may be able to have Microsoft Word on a diskette so that we can do some labeling on site.

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Flatirons Mineral Show

Alex Cook, Show Chairman

Only a few more short weeks to go until our annual mineral show is upon us. I am happy to report that the show committee is working hard to put all the pieces in place, and we are expecting another "big shew" when November comes. Jim Armitage is contacting the schools and expects to have several hundred school children attending the show at its opening on Friday. Parents and teachers who bring the kids get in free of course. The children will be coming in two batches, the first from noon until 1:15 and the second from 1:15 to 2:30. Once again we will have plenty of activities for the youngsters, including the kid's wheel, the dig site and of course grab bags which were prepared by the willing hands of our members. There will be many demonstrations in progress, including gold panning in which panners will be permitted to keep the gold that they find.

Emily Epstein, who is in charge of publicity and education has informed us that she has obtained two outstanding speakers to give talks: Pete Modreski of USGS and Bob Bakker the well-known paleontologist. The fluorescent room, organized by Charlotte Morrison will be one of the features of the show.

There are still a few show cases available, so if you would like one please call Paul Ralston as soon as possible, because they are going fast. Every exhibitor will receive a ribbon for participating, and in addition this year the public will be asked to vote on the best and second best exhibit at the show, for which awards will be provided. In addition there will be an award for the best junior exhibit, a junior being anyone sixteen or under.

Visitors attending the show will get a chance to win some special prizes, including a gorgeous amethyst cathedral geode and another similar geode of citrine. The winner may have their choice of either one, second place getting the other. Door prizes will be given away at regular intervals for those who are on the floor at the time.

We have over one hundred members in the Flatirons Mineral club at present, and we are hoping that everyone will turn out to make the show a success as it was last year. Assistance is needed for selling tickets, helping with the kid's activities, and setting up and taking down the tables among other things. Sign up sheets will be provided at the remaining meetings of the club, and we ask that everyone sign up for something. Let's make this show the best ever.

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FMC Fall Show Committee Meeting

The next SHOW COMMITTEE MEETING for  our November 19, 20 & 21 show will be held will be held at Charlotte Morrison's house Tuesday, October 12 at 7p.m.

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Hands of Spirit Gallery 

Hands of Spirit announces the opening of their crystal and mineral gallery in Boulder, located just 10 minutes west of Pearl Street Mall up Canyon Blvd.  Beginning October 5th, the Gallery will be open for business on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday from 10 AM to 2 PM.  The only exceptions will be during workshops, buying trips, and holidays. Following are those dates for the next 7 months:

            Oct. 16, 23, Dec. 25, 2004

            Jan. 1, Feb. 1, 2, 8, 9, April 30, 2005

As always, we will be available for private appointments for those who are unable to shop during regular hours.  Call 303-541-9727 with any questions or for directions or visit http://www.handsofspirit.com.

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The Restless Earth!

Peter Modreski, of the USGS, has supplied us with some tips on viewing the on-going events at Mt St Helens, and the recent Parkfield, CA earthquake:

Mount St. Helens:  The current activity at Mount St. Helens (who knows what will happen?) can be monitored "live" or near-live, through websites of the Pacific Northwest Seismograph Network (PNSN), USGS, and Mt. St. Helens National Monument.  Of particular interest are the real-time and past week "Webicorder" seismograms, on which you can view all the recorded tremors as they take place.   Also, there's a live volcano cam, and the Time-Depth Map of earthquakes at MSH for the last decade, is really fascinating too.

Check them out at: PNSN home page: http://www.pnsn.org/welcome.html 
PNSN's "Webicorders": http://www.pnsn.org/WEBICORDER/GREEN/welcome.html 

The bottom of the page contains a list of all the stations in their Cascades area network.  I've been looking at the Mount St. Helens Dome station, "SEP EHZ UW", but the other MSH station shows a similar pattern. Compare the seismic activity before the current swarm started (9/26) vs. now, it's awesome!  (Be sure to look at the "before" patterns, before they get deleted after 5 days.)

Live Mount St. Helens Volcanocam: http://www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/volcanocams/msh/
Time-Depth Earthquake Map: http://www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/volcanocams/msh/
USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory: http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/News/framework.html.

Parkfield, CA:  The site of the Sept 28 mag. 6 earthquake, is a place where magnitude 6 earthquakes have occurred on the San Andreas Fault periodically, approx. once every 25 years; the last was in 1966, and another such earthquake has been predicted but has been overdue.  It has been considered, and was being used as, a prime place to study an expected strong earthquake.  You can read all about it on this USGS website, http://quake.usgs.gov/research/parkfield/. 

And if you go to this page
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/recenteqsww/Quakes/nc51147892.htm and scroll down and click on "Shakemap" you'll see the predicted pattern of intensity of shaking/damage from this quake, and right above it, click on "Did You Feel It" to see the citizen-reported (over the internet) pattern of actual reported intensity of shaking.  Pretty neat!  The same is available for any other recently recorded significant quake in the U.S.

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Upcoming Events, Nearby & Elsewhere

Earth Science Week is Oct. 10-16, the 2004 theme is "Living on a Restless Earth"; see http://www.earthsciweek.org/FYI, schools and educators: the American Geological Institute sponsors an essay, poster, and photograph contest for Earth Science Week.  Essays (entrants from grades 5-8, deadline Oct. 8, $300 first prize) are to be of 500 words on "Studying the Restless Earth".  For details about this and all about Earth Science Week, see http://www.earthsciweek.org and http://www.earthsciweek.org/contests.

Thursdays, October 7-21, 7-9 p.m. Classroom 303, Denver Museum of Nature and Science. $60 member, $75 nonmember. Regional Geology of Western Europe. Dr. Bob Raynolds, research associate, Earth Sciences Department. Dive deep into the geological wonders of Western Europe with this insightful geologist.

Tues., Oct. 12, North Table Mountain Geology & Natural History Hike, 4 p.m. USGS Geologist Pete Modreski will lead a hike for the public up the west side of North Table Mountain, Golden, 4-7 p.m. (until dusk). Anyone is invited; we'll see and talk about volcanic rocks, local geology, mining and quarrying history, Open Space, local plants, animals, and ecology, and how the present landscape developed.  No registration is necessary, but for courtesy if expecting to come please email Pete or  leave a message at 303-202-4766.   Meet at 4 p.m. at the trailhead parking lot off Wyoming Circle (about 1 block from the intersection of Ford Street and Highway 93 at Pine Ridge Road).  Going north from Golden on Highway 93 or on Ford St., turn right on Pine Ridge Road, then left on Wyoming Circle, and the parking area is about a block further, on the left.  This will be an easy, uphill hike up a dirt trail and dirt road to the top of the mesa--64 million-year-old lava flows.  Inclement weather alternate date, Wed, Oct 13 or Fri. Oct 15--call or email me to confirm.

Thursday, October 14--DAYTIME: 11:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m. $7 member, $10 nonmember; EVENING: 7:00-9:00 p.m. Denver Museum of Nature and Science. $10 member, $13 nonmember. Geology of the World: Morocco. Dr. Bob Raynolds, research associate, Earth Sciences Department. The intrepid Raynolds will discuss the geological wonders underneath the modern landscape of Morocco.

Thursday Oct. 14, Dinosaur Ridge "Fireside Chat", Geology of Golden's Table Mountains 7:00 p.m., at the Morrison Town Hall.  Dr. Harald Drewes, USGS (retired) and a Dinosaur Ridge volunteer and leader of frequent field trips to the Morrison-Golden area, will present this talk about his new and revealing studies of the geology of these lava-capped mesas.  See http://www.dinoridge.org for more info on this and all Dinosaur Ridge events.

Oct 30-31 - Tulsa (Oklahoma) Rock & Mineral Society Gem & Mineral Show, featuring Working Demonstrations, Continuous silent auction, Hourly door prizes, Adult & children's programs, Competitive and exceptional special exhibits, Children's games and scientific experiments, Select national dealers. Tulsa Event Center, 2625 South Memorial Drive, Tulsa, Oklahoma.  Contact Peggy Stewart at mailto:peggy22@cox.net.

 Check our own web site for additional events, and further details: http://bcn.boulder.co.us/community/fmc/fmctk.htm

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Coal: The Mineral of Progress
By HH "Tom" Odiorne (From Tips & Chips, Summer 2004)

It seems to me like it was just a few years ago (around the 1930's) that coal was the major source of energy in this country. Of course, this was after firewood, whale oil, and other materials came and went. Back in New England, ships entered every harbor to unload tons and tons of black coal on docks. It piled up as high as small mountains awaiting delivery by wagons and (later) dump trucks to businesses and residences all winter and all summer long. In those days, the major sources of coal were limited to the northern Appalachians, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Illinois, and Kentucky. That was then, but now, coal has been found and mined for many years out of sedimentary-layered beds in numerous states all over the US. I got to thinking about this recently as I counted nearly 100 rail cars on a coal train as they made the trip from Wyoming to some unknown destination to the south.

My personal experience with coal harks back to when I was perhaps eight or ten years old. I remember the black, smelly dust that was created by clods of bituminous coal as it crashed down a chute through a side window into our basement. Every house had a "coal bin" and it was there that it was my job to clean up and sweep up the mess after the deliveryman left. But it was also there that I found my first fossils from ancient swamps millions of years old. Inter-bedded shale and ultra-hardened coal layers revealed beautifully pressed ferns, calamites, and intricately patterned lepidodendron tree bark. Many years later as a field geologist, I was always intrigued by outcroppings of coal and its many variations whenever they could be observed.

Technically, mineral coal is a hydrocarbon, a fossil fuel formed by the transformation of plant material of ancient swamps into peat, then into lignite, into bituminous ("soft") coal and finally into anthracite ("hard coal"). The mineral now known as Jet is actually a dense, black form of lignite. It takes a remarkably good polish and used to be used for "mourning jewelry". Identification of true Jet is iffy at best today and it is now considered to be a collector's item.

Lightning frequently set fire to peat bogs along the shores of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Early-day immigrants from Europe dug for lignite to heat their homes, just as they had done in France, Italy, and Ireland.

When I used to conduct field studies in northern Pennsylvania and New York, it was not unusual to enter a town such as Scranton or Pittston and see the streets lined with huge tailings piles of coal and mine debris. At Wilkes Barre, I remember seeing gift shop displays of attractive coal statuary and even large flat ashtrays. Unfortunately, I never purchased any, and I have not seen any for many years.

The use of coal to generate electricity and to convert into "coke" with its extremely valuable byproducts such as gas, ammonia, light oils, coal tar, etc. has been phenomenal over the last one hundred years. Without coal, the iron and steel industries as they exist today would not have been possible. Plastics, detergents, and a host of other items that we use every day owe their existence to coal.

So, mineral collectors, look over your displays of gems, crystals, micro-mounts, and fossils. Do you have even one sample of a mineral that has been more valuable to the human race than coal?

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Wednesdays at Charlotte's

Don't forget that every Wednesday evening (except for the Wednesday just before our monthly Thursday club meeting) club members are invited to Charlotte Morrison's house (290 Seminole Dr) to use the club's collection of lapidary equipment, or to otherwise participate in club activities, such as preparing grab bag specimens.  It is always a friendly and lively get-together, so come join us! 

And finally, Charlotte wishes to send thanks to all who stopped by to spell her at the club table at the Denver show, so she could wander about and enjoy the show. Thank you all!

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Updated 10/11/04