We had some great news at our last meeting. The Scholarship fund has reached a point where it will be generating approximately $1,100.00 of interest annually. That money will then be used to provide two scholarships to students at the Colorado School of Mines. This has been a long time coming, thanks to the hard work and vision of Paul Ralston and all those who gave their time and energy to this worthy cause.  And thanks to treasurer Gerry Naugle who found a favorable interest rate, and made this good news happen.

Near and dear to my heart, there’s a resurgent interest in lapidary crafts among many of our club members. Very cool!  Our May monthly meeting will be devoted to demonstrations of gem cutting and other crafts. The Flatirons Mineral Club has a selection of tools and machines that club members are welcome to use. We also have a few skilled craftsmen who are happy to teach our skills to others. Wednesday evenings (excluding the week of our monthly meeting) are open house nights at Charlotte Morrison’s home. Most of the club’s lapidary equipment is in her basement.  If you’d like to learn the art of gem cutting, give me a call and arrange to meet me, or another of our gem cutters at Charlotte’s.

Rock on!

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2009 Meeting Schedule

March 12:  Ed Raines will be giving a talk in March on Iron Mines of the Mesabi/Vermilion Ranges of Minnesota.

April 9: Spring Silent Auction. See article below.

May 14: Gem Cutting and lapidary arts demos—many different skills and types of equipment will be demonstrated—don’t’ miss it!

June 11: Dr. Pete Modreski, USGS on the topic of Gems of Colorado (tentative).

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Our April 2009 Silent Auction

IThe FMC will hold a silent auction on April 9, 2009 at the Boulder Senior Center on West Arapaho St. No applications will be required for sellers. There will be a limited number of tables so space will be available on a first-come first-serve basis. Sellers are asked to limit their items to about 1/4th of a table. Sellers need to set their “starting bid” at or above the lowest price they are willing to sell their item for.

Volunteers are needed for tasks as setting up and moving tables, managing the “Last Chance” table (shuttling items from the sale tables), managing the sign-in table, and checking out buyers and collecting the proceeds. Contact Gerry Naugle if you would like to help.

Our Silent Auctions have always been very popular and we expect that this one will be no exception. There is always a good variety of items to buy. So bring your rock related items to sell, and be sure to bring plenty of money to cover those treasures that you are sure to find. See you at the auction!

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Junior Geologists Study Space

The juniors began working on a new badge in February – Earth in Space. This past month, we learned about the planets in our solar system, including their relative sizes, how far they are from the sun, and how they differ from one another. At the next meeting on March 19, we’ll be studying meteorites, including looking at the micrometeorites that we’ll be collecting this month.

The Jr. Geologists program is open to all Flatirons Mineral Club families. We meet on the third Thursday of each month at 6:30, plus have special weekend activities from time to time. For more information about the Jr. Geologists program, please contact Dennis Gertenbach.

Katie Runions, Nico Caballero, and Maxwell Rosenboom making planets with Dennis Gertenbach

 

Jahalia Coleman looking at Venus through a telescope.
 

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Upcoming Club Field Trips

North Table Mountain for Zeolites
Date: Saturday, April 11 (snow date April 25). Trip Leader: Dennis Gertenbach. North Table Mountain, outside of Golden, is a world-famous locality for zeolites, a series of alumina-silicate minerals. You are sure to find thomsonite, analcime, and chabazite, plus the possibility of less common minerals. This is a great place for kids, because everyone will find great specimens. The trip involves a hike of about 3/4 mile with a 700-foot elevation climb. We have also invited the CSMS-Colorado Springs Mineral Society to join us on this trip.

Book Cliffs for Barite, Calcite
Date: Saturday and Sunday May 2 & 3. Trip Leader: NJGMC. Contact Shaula Lee-FMC. Book Cliffs, outside of Grand Junction. We have been invited to join the North Jeffco Gem & Mineral Club on this trip. You will be digging for barite crystals and calcite. Shovel, rock pick, rock hammer, pry bar, chisels, scratcher and something to hold your collected specimens. Barite crystals are very heat-sensitive, so they should be kept cool and moist so they don't fracture. Then let them gradually dry at home. A 2-wheel drive vehicle is sufficient for the road to the digging area as long as the road is dry. If the roads become wet, the clay roads will become EXTREMELY slippery and impassable even for a 4-wheel drive vehicle.

McCoy for Fossils
Date: Saturday and Sunday, June 6-7. Trip Leader: Dennis Gertenbach. This site, located along the Colorado River between Vail and Steamboat Springs, has Pennsylvanian fossils, including crinoids, brachiopods, snails, and even an occasional shark tooth. We will be collecting both Saturday and Sunday at several spots in the area. The fossils are abundant, making this a great place for kids to collect.

Hartsel for Peridot
Date: Saturday. September 12
Trip Leader: Ronald “Yam” Yamiolkoski CSMS, RSVP to Shaula Lee.


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Club Renews Henderson Museum Membership

The FMC Board has approved a renewal of the club annual membership to the Univ. of Colo. Henderson Museum on the CU Boulder campus as a sponsor. There is never an admission fee to the museum during weekday and weekend open-hours (open to the public). The entrance of the museum is located adjacent to the Mary Rippon Outdoor Theater for the Shakespeare buffs and is approx. 300 feet west and 50 feet north of the western most Univ. Memorial Center (UMC) Building at 16th and Euclid Ave [80302, for MapQuest] and has Museum signs visible.

The board encourages all FMC members to stop by there from time to time (they change their displays) and to get on their mailing list and view the various anthropology, paleontology and geology open-exhibits and display cases. While there, mention to the clerk at the gift shop counter that you are a FMC member and you can get 10% off of their merchandise and books for sale which can be a tidy savings.
 

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Show Committee Meeting
Ray Gilbert

We are having a show committee meeting at John Hurst's Home on April 13 at 7:15 pm.  All are invited. We will be critiquing last year’s show and making changes if necessary. We will be asking for volunteers to head sub-committees, if you are interested and cannot attend meeting contact Ray Gilbert.

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Denver Gem & Mineral Show Scholarship Recipient Thank You

Remember all those grab bags that your club worked so hard to provide for the Denver Gem & Mineral Show? The ones with the ten separately bagged and labeled specimens in them. The proceeds from the sale of the grab bags provide a scholarship to a Colorado School of Mines geology student. Following is the thank you that was recently received from one of the recipients.

Greater Denver Area Gem & Mineral Council, August 11, 2008
Thank you for your financial support for this year’s field camp. Your generosity really helped to off-set many of the expenses this spring from tuition and fees to gas. It all adds up. I really appreciate your efforts to make this experience more affordable. Thanks again. Tyler Benton, CSM Senior.
 

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Trackways Museum Tour

For our first field trip of the year, we visited the Dinosaur Trackways Museum on the Auraria campus in Denver on Saturday, February 21. Part of CU-Denver, the museum is a center for the study of trackways of all sorts, including not only dinosaurs, but also reptiles, birds, mammals, insects, and other invertebrates. Martin Lockley, curator of the museum and world expert on tracks, was our host and tour guide. He described some of the tracks in the museum, telling us about how scientists use tracks to learn more about the animals and their environment. Martin and his staff and students have published dozens of papers describing tracks found all over the world. The museum contains the largest collection of tracks in the United States, with over 22,000 specimens in their collection.
 

Martin Lockley discussing dinosaur tracks with Anita Landess, Jim Siegwarth, Jude Burton, and Trick Runions



Cretaceous bird tracks from Golden, Colorado
 

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Denver Museum of Nature and Science Tours
 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Thursday, March 26 at 3:00 p.m. Significant research is happening in Boulder that could lead to a better understanding of global climate change. Go inside NOAA to visit the David Skaggs Research Center, with stops at the Space Weather Prediction Center, the National Weather Service, and a Greenhouse Gases Monitoring Lab. Your final stop will be “Science on a Sphere,” an animated 3-D visualization of a globe that dramatically shows dynamic images of the atmosphere, oceans, and land of a planet.

National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC) Thursday, April 23 at 1:00 p.m. Right in our own backyard, in Golden, is the National Earthquake Information Center. NEIC determines the location and size of all significant earthquakes that occur in the world, immediately disseminating information to concerned national and international agencies, scientists, critical facilities, and the general public. Tour the facility where it all happens and also learn about a research program aimed at locating and understanding earthquakes to reduce their risk.

Cost for each of these tours is $12 member, $15 nonmember. Registration is required; call the reservations department at 303-322-7009. For more information, see the museum website.



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Symposium on Paleoclimates: Exploring Past Environments
 

The Western Interior Paleontological Society (WIPS) will hold a symposium about paleoclimates on March 14-15, 2009. This two-day event is designed for anyone interested in the earth sciences, from professional and avocational paleontologists to educators. On Saturday, twelve speakers will cover topics ranging from climate modeling to using paleontological data in climatic interpretations. Saturday’s activities will be at the American Mountaineering Center in Golden. Sunday’s activities will be tours of NOAA and NCAR in Boulder. Preregistration for the two-day event is $75 or $40 for Saturday only. Details about the symposium and registration information can be found at http://wipsppc.com/symposium.php.

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Tucson 2009
John and Jeanne Hurst

What’s new in 2009? If you asked Village Originals, they replied “Petrified wood” is our biggest seller, probably because they had several ton trunks of petrified trees from Indonesia that had been polished and greeted visitors and serious buyers out front of their tent at Tucson Electric Park. One buyer plunked down $40,000.00 for their petrified wood.

Vendors were saying that business was off about 20% from 2008 sales and some prices had dropped a little from a year ago. For dealers that haggle, you could definitely bargain them down, especially the last weekend. By buying four flats of Australian halite from Mt. Gunson –that great orangish-gold shortwave U-V material, the dealer pitched a price too good to walk away from. All you had to do was look for dealers wringing their hands. One Russian dealer offered to lower the price of his Siberian jade ring from $10 to $4—surprising!

Some dealer spaces were empty, even at the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show put on by the local club. The theme for 2009 was Mineral oddities. Admission went up to $9.25 this year.

Overall though, there were still 45 to 50 venues, some with familiar faces, some adding some new faces. There were many new styles of beads, some outrageous, yet quite a few bargains. Overall there was some great opal at moderate prices, the Ocean jasper keeps getting scarcer, lots of jewelry—No place in the world but here can you find a seemingly endless variety of the best that Mother Nature has to offer. Save your vacation leave and your bucks—the trip is the ultimate experience! Best food: Hot sandwiches at Beyond Bread. Best fun: a Russian Folk Orchestra Concert. Biggest Surprise: Scorpions and Rattlesnakes and Tucson Police were out in January & February.

In the Rough. The nicest surprise was a new Outback jasper from Western Australia. The dealer sold out of the rough in the first two weeks at Quartzite. Rainforest Jasper has made a re-appearance, after being off the market for a few years. Green Petrified Wood from Hampton Butte, OR was another nice surprise. Digging agate near Brenda, AZ for two days was genuine fun. Fluorite south of Lordsburg, NM had two color U-V specimens. You might want to watch for these!

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Mineral Evolution on a Living Planet
from Sky and Telescope, March 2009

Earth's evolving biosphere has shaped the makeup of not just our atmosphere, but the planet's complement of minerals as well. Researchers at the Carnegie Institution find that the mineral kingdom has "co-evolved" with life, and that up to two-thirds of the 4000 known minerals on Earth today can be directly or indirectly linked to biological activity.

Most of these life-related "rock species" resulted from Earth gaining an oxygen-rich atmosphere starting about 2.5 billion years ago, originally due to photosynthesis by blue-green algae. Without on-going photosynthesis, free oxygen could not persist. The group's work suggests new ways that extrasolar planets might show spectral evidence for life that exists in the present or that existed in the distant past.
 

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Geological Discoveries

For well over a century, geologists have realized that throughout earth’s history, there have been a number of mass extinctions, during which a large percentage of animal and plant species disappeared. The causes of these mass extinctions have long puzzled geologists and many theories have been advanced to explain these. A number of recent studies have suggested new possible causes of these mass extinctions. Needless to say, all of them controversial and there are plenty of skeptics.

The Galactic Orbit Model has been advanced by Paul Janke to explain mass extinctions seem to take place at fairly regular intervals. This theory is based on the 186 million years it takes our solar system to travel around the Milky Way galaxy. It is postulated that our solar system experiences changes in the gravitational pull or possible shockwaves every time we circle the galaxy. These disturbances disrupt the Oort clouds circling our solar system, which are the home of the comets that occasionally venture into the solar system. This disturbance causes large numbers of comets to stream into the inner solar system. Collisions between the earth and one or more of these comets are responsible for mass extinctions.

Galactic cosmic rays are another explanation being forwarded by researchers at the University of Kansas. Their theory relates to how our solar system moves up and down through the galactic plane. The complete up-and-down cycle takes 64 million years; suspiciously close to the Earth's biodiversity cycle. As the solar system travels through the Milky Way, it is periodically exposed to massive cluster of galaxies, known as the Virgo Cluster. The galactic shock wave from the Virgo Cluster is only present on the north side of the Milky Way's galactic plane, thus the solar system is only exposed to them when above of the galactic plane. This shock wave disrupts the magnetic fields within our solar system, allowing a much higher exposure to cosmic rays. This increased exposure to cosmic rays is responsible for the periodic mass extinctions.

Another theory advanced by Yukio Isozaki of the University of Tokyo also blames cosmic rays for the Permian-Triassic mass extinction, in which 90% of life on earth was snuffed out. However, he blames an upset in earth’s magnetic field for allowing a massive increase in cosmic rays reaching the earth, coupled with a large cooling of the earth’s climate. This new theory suggests that the extinction was set in motion 15 million years earlier, deep in the Earth at the edge of the molten core. It is theorized that a plume of super-hot material began rising through the mantle, disrupting the earth’s protective magnetic field, allowing excessive cosmic rays to reach the earth. Five million years later, the plume of super-hot material reached the surface, erupting as three successive super volcanoes and blotting out the sun with a massive blanket of dust and fumes, which cooled the earth. This one-two punch of cosmic rays and climate cooling killed off most life on earth.

The demise of woolly mammoths and early humans in North America may also be due to space impacts. Nano-sized diamonds, an indication of an impact, have been unearthed in thin sediments dated at 13,000 years old by researchers at the University of California, Santa Barbara. This time corresponds with the archeological record, which shows that many large animals vanished at this time. These tiny diamonds have been unearthed at four different Clovis paleo-Indian sites across North America and are formed under intense temperature and pressure, such as from an impact event. Because no impact crater has been found, the researchers theorize that a meteorite exploded above ground, forming the nano-diamonds and triggering colder temperatures and an abrupt change in vegetation. These changes made it impossible for both large mammals and Clovis hunters to survive.
 

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Fossils in the News

Fossil Spiders. Two spider discoveries have been recently announced. The world’s oldest spider web, complete with captured prey, has been preserved in 110-million-year-old amber from Spain. David Grimaldi of the American Museum of Natural History reported that the web contained a mite, a fly, a beetle, and a wasp. The find shows that spiders had evolved to spinning webs well over a hundred million years ago, about the same time that flowering plants and flying insects attracted to flowers evolved.

Paul Selden at Kansas University has discovered a missing link between spiders and their ancestors, “pre-spiders” called Attercopus fimbriunguis that wove broad sheets of silk from plates attached to the undersides of their bellies. And, the animals also had a tail. It is not known what the silk sheets were used for. At the time that this creature lived, 380 million years ago, there no flying insects, so the silk was not used to make webs. These fossil animals, found in New York, are the oldest known land animals in North America.

Why did Birds Outlive Dinosaurs? A new study suggests that it was superior brainpower. Researchers from the Natural History Museum in London studied two 55-million-year-old bird skulls, which suggested that the ancestors of modern birds developed larger, more complex brains earlier than previously thought. A greater brain size may have given birds the ability to adapt after the Cretaceous-Tertiary mass extinction, around 65 million years ago. Because some ancient groups of birds went extinct with the dinosaurs, feathers or warm-bloodedness were not responsible for birds surviving the extinction. Bigger brains may have been the reason that birds are around today.

World's Largest Snake. In the rainforests of South America, world's biggest snake slithered around 60 million years ago. Excavations in Colombia by the Smithsonian Institute unearthed the fossils of a 42-foot snake, named Titanoboa cerrejonensis, along with fossilized rain-forest plant material. Researchers estimate that the snake weighed over a ton. This compares with the modern anaconda, which reaches 18 feet in length.
 

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Upcoming Events, Nearby & Elsewhere

Feb 27-Mar 1, Denver Gem and Mineral Guild, Jewelry, Gem & Mineral Show. Jefferson County Fairgrounds, 15200 W. 6th Ave, Golden (W. 6th Ave & Indiana). Fri 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Sat. 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Sun. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Free admission.

Monday, Mar. 2, Plankton, and Plants, and Tectonics! Oh, my! The role of the long-term carbon cycle in Earth’s climate, by Ian Miller, Denver Museum of Nature & Science; speaker at the monthly meeting of WIPS (Western Interior Paleontology Society), 7:00 p.m. "Come get a sneak preview of the great talks you’ll hear at the upcoming Founders Symposium. Denver Museum of Nature & Science curator and paleobotanist Ian Miller is unable to be at the symposium, but has graciously agreed to share his planned talk with us on March 2 at the general meeting. What better way to gear up for learning about the fossil record and the latest research on its relationship to climate change? Same time (7 p.m.), same place (Ricketson Auditorium, Denver Museum of Nature & Science). All are welcome, and no charge to attend. For more info see: http://www.wipsppc.com.

March 14-15 (Saturday and Sunday). The Western Interior Paleontological Society's Founders' Symposium, Paleoclimates: Exploring Past Environments is this weekend. Lectures will be on Saturday at the American Mountaineering Center in Golden and field trips to NOAA and NCAR in Boulder will be on Sunday. For more info see http://wipsppc.com/symposium.php.

Mar 27-29, Fort Collins Rockhounds’ 48th Annual Gem & Mineral Show, featuring Nature’s Treasures. Fri 4-8 p.m., Sat 9 a.m.-6 p.m., Sun 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Gem & mineral dealers, exhibits, door prizes, silent auction, demonstrations, grab bags. Admission $3 daily or $5 for 3-day pass (adults), $1 for students age 12-18 with ID, or children under 12 free when accompanied by adult. Lincoln Center, 419 W. Magnolia, Ft. Collins. For details, see www.fortcollinsrockhounds.org.

Sat. & Sun. March 28 & 29, Hands of Spirit Gallery 12th Annual Spring Mineral and Jewelry Open House from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm. You’re sure to find an incredible selection of the finest crystal and mineral specimens and a lovely selection of jewelry. Call 303-541-9727 for directions and further information. www.handsofspirit.com

April 10, North Jeffco Gem and Mineral Club Silent Auction. North Jeffco Community Recreation Center, 6842 Wadsworth Blvd. Setup begins at 5:30 pm; Auction begins at 6:45 pm. Mineral specimens, gems, jewelry, crafts, equipment, and bake sale. Check out begins immediately after the auction. No early checkout. Free parking, free admission, and free refreshments. Public invited. Sellers and buyers welcome. For additional information about bid sheets, buyer numbers, seller requirements, etc, call Ron Knoshaug at 303-423-2923 or email at jrknoshaug@comcast.net

April 24-26, Colorado Mineral & Fossil Show (Martin Zinn Expositions), Holiday Inn 4849 Bannock Street, Denver. Free Admission – Free Parking – Open to the Public. Minerals, fossils, gems, jewelry and lapidary. See www.mzexpos.com for details.


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CSM Geology Museum 2009 Spring Clear-Outs

Your club members are invited to the Colorado School of Mines Geology Museum’s first “Garage Sale.” This event will occur on April 18, 2009 from 9 A.M. until 4 P.M. in our Museum at 1310 Maple Street (southwest corner of 13th and Maple Streets), on our campus in Golden, CO. There will be a wide assortment of rocks, lapidary equipment, furniture, and miscellaneous items that were excavated during spring cleaning of one of our warehouses. Our Gift Shop will have a 20% off sale on our entire stock that day. Additionally, we will be dedicating our newest treasure, a fabulous mineral donation from the Oreck family. Weekend parking is usually never a problem.

This is one way that our Museum recognizes the philanthropy that the Denver area mineral clubs extend to our students in the form of various scholarships, from the proceeds of the Denver Gem and Mineral Show. Don’t miss the fun. For further information, please phone Bruce Geller at 303-273-3823.
 

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Private Sales

John Hebrew is selling several used equipment items that belonged to his father, including: Highland Park Rock saw Model # 18SSP; Highland Park 6" oil cooled trim saw; Dual Arbor sander, Loritone Lapidary 2.5x18 belt; Highland Park wet belt sander Model # 626; Two dual polishing wheel arbors, 1 for flats, and 1 for cabs; Dual wheel, water cooled grinding arbor for cabs with pump. All have motors and stands. Also available is lost wax casting equipment, a centrifugal casting machine, and a vacucast table, plus slabbed rough material and uncut rough material. The slabbed material is varied and the uncut material is mainly petrified woods, agates and Brazilian agates. John can be reached at jands1@wyomail.com, or 307-331-5151 (Chugwater, Wyoming).

March 14-15, Mineral Sale Bill Hayward, a long-time mineral collector, especially in the Pikes Peak area, is having a spring sale at his house. Lots of crystals and minerals for sale. Items from Red Feathers Lake and Crystal peak. Some new stuff. Address: 3286 Quitman, Denver, CO; Time: both days, 10 am - 5 pm; for more information, call Bill at 303-455-1977.

Equipment Sale Chuck Allen: Equipment very clean and really good condition: Highland Park A-50 combination unit mounted on bench with motor and many peripherals $800; Highland Park 10" Trim Saw mounted on bench with motor $150; Raytech Gem Saw L-65 mounted but not on a bench with motor $50; Diamond Pacific Genie Unit model 77-863 $800; 10" x 1-1/2" 100 grit grinding wheels for $25 each; 1" black 100 grit wheels for $20 each. 1000 grit at $5 per pound.
If interested: Call Chuck Allen at 720-922-2906.
 

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Calendar of Events

March 12 - FMC Club Meeting, 7:00 PM, West Boulder Senior Center, 9th & Arapahoe, Boulder. Ed Raines on Minnesota Iron Mines
March 19 - Junior Geologists Meeting, 6:30 PM, Charlotte Morrison’s house, Boulder. Topic: Meteorites.
March 27-29 - Fort Collins Gem & Mineral Show, Lincoln Center, Fort Collins. 48th Annual Show.
March 30 - FMC Board Meeting, 7:15 p.m., Paul Boni’s house, Boulder.
April 9 - FMC Club Meeting, 7:00 PM, West Boulder Senior Center, 9th & Arapahoe, Boulder. Annual Spring Silent Auction.
April 13 - FMC Show Committee Meeting, 7:15 PM, John Hurst’s house, Boulder.
April 16  - Junior Geologists Meeting, 6:30 PM, Charlotte Morrison’s house, Boulder.
April 27 - FMC Board Meeting, 7:15 p.m., Charlotte Morrison’s house, Boulder.
May 14  - FMC Club Meeting, 7:00 PM, West Boulder Senior Center, 9th & Arapahoe, Boulder. Gem cutting and lapidary arts demos.

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Updated 3/2/09