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President’s Corner
Evan D. Elliott
Hi all! I hope everyone has had a happy Independence Day. Remember when you
are out collecting, we can always use some specimens for the club. We give
away a lot of material every year. As Charlotte Morrison used to say
"we need good diggers". My hat's off to all of you who collect in
the field so avidly.
On Thursday July 12th we will be
bagging specimens at the Boulder County Fairgrounds. In August on Saturday
the 18th we will have our annual club picnic. I hope to see you there. Read
on for details on these and other club activities.
Wishing you all the best,
****************
Our Annual Club Picnic
Gerry
Naugle
The
annual club picnic is Sat, Aug 18th at the North Boulder Park main
pavilion. Start at 11:00 am, come a bit early if
you can.
Same
time & location as last year; approx. 300 yards NW of the corner of 9th
Street and Balsam Ave [corner at Boulder Community Hospital].
We
will bag up some grab-bags and then eat lunch. Club provides the entree and
beverages. Folks with last name A-M please bring an appetizer or side dish.
Folks with last name N-Z please bring a dessert, watermelon or side dish.
Please
RSVP to Gerry Naugle
by 5:00pm on Aug. 17th so we know how much sandwich-entree to purchase.
****************
Summer Field Trips
Gabi Accatino,
Co-Chairperson, Programs
During
the summer months we don’t hold regular club meetings, but have field trips
and our annual picnic instead. Here are the outings planned for the
remainder of the summer. Contact Gabi or Anita for the latest
information on, and to sign
up for, any of these trips.
Sat.,
July 21, Mt Antero (w/CMS)
Sat.,
August 4, Missouri Hill (w/CMS)
Sun.,
August 5, Gold Panning in Clear Creek (w/CMS)
Thur.,
August 9, Contin-tail in Buena Vista 4 days 9-12
Sat.,
August 11, Arnold Gulch (w/CMS)
Sat.,
August 18, FMC Picnic
Sat.,
August 25, Creede (maybe, if CMS has space)
Sat.,
September 1, Crawford Nebraska Rock Swap
Sat.,
September 15, Denver Show
Sat.,
September 22, DIA (additional date)
****************
Specimen Bagging and Show Committee Meeting
Club
members are invited to get together and bag specimens with labels at the
Clover Basin meeting room at the Boulder County Fair Grounds on Thursday,
July 12 at 7 p.m. This is where the hundreds of individual specimens in
tiny plastic bags are prepared for our big grab-bag stuffing production
line at the picnic on Aug.18.
The
club Show Committee will also hold its meeting during the bagging session,
so this is also an opportunity to learn what the Show Committee does, and
how you might be able to help them.
****************
Jr. Geologist Wins
First Place for Newsletter Article
Wesley
Cassidy, one of our Jr. Geologists, won first place in this year’s Rocky
Mountain Federation of Mineral Societies’ newsletter contest in the junior
(under 12) division. In the May-June 2011 Flatiron Facets, Wesley wrote
about how to grow bismuth crystals, an activity the older Jr. Geologists
did as one of their requirements for the Rocks and Minerals badge. We
congratulate Wesley on his achievement.
Wesley
Cassidy with his first place awards for his Flatirons Facets article about
growing bismuth crystals
****************
Jr. Geologists Activities
The
Jr. Geologists spent several months working on the Lapidary Arts and Maps
badges. The juniors learned about lapidary techniques, different types of
rocks to work with, and how to safely use the equipment. Then, they each
made their own cabochons. They also brought rocks to polish in the club’s
rock tumbler, learning how tumblers polish rocks. For the Maps badge, they
learned about different types of maps, including how to read topographical
maps and how to use geological maps. They also learned how to use a GPS
unit with a topographical map to find special sites in Boulder. Eight of
the juniors earned both awards and they were the first in the country to
earn the new Maps award.
Miu Iwabuchi
and Katherine Codrescu working on their lapidary projects
Anita
Colin unloading the rock tumbler with the Jr. Geologists
In
June, we visited the Triceratops Trail in Golden. Along the trail is a geocache,
a hidden treasure that can only be located using a GPS unit. Once the
geocache was found, everyone could trade one small object they brought with
one in the treasure chest. Everyone also learned about the environment in
our area during the Cretaceous Period, shortly before the end of the Age of
Dinosaurs. Along the trail are tracks of hadrosaurs,
therapods, and triceratops dinosaurs, plus bird
and insect tracks. Fossil palm fronds and other tropical leaves
indicate that Colorado had a warm, tropical climate 65 million years ago.
Gavin
Morrison at the geocache along the Triceratops Trail in Golden
The
Jr. Geologists program is open to all Flatirons Mineral Club families. Each
month we learn more about geology, plus earn badges for different earth
science activities. For information about the Jr. Geologists program,
please contact Dennis Gertenbach.
****************
FMC Booth at Boulder Creek Festival
For
the first time, the Flatirons Mineral Club had a booth at the Boulder Creek
Festival, Memorial Day weekend. We had posters and specimen displays
advertising our club, as well as some activities for children. We will also
sold grab bags and individual specimens with the proceeds going to
educational activities. There was a lot of interest, and the club made a
number of new friends.
Cory
Olin and Jr. customer cutting geodes at the Boulder Creek Festival
****************
Denver Gem & Mineral
Show Mini Report May 2012
Judy Knoshaug,
Show Secretary
The
Denver Gem & Mineral Show will be here before you know it. Don’t forget
the dates – September 14 – 16, 2012. The theme this year is copper
minerals, which will undoubtedly result in some very colorful, spectacular
displays. Who could forget Les Presmyk’s exhibit
at the 2011 show of copper minerals? It was beautifully done and
wonderfully colorful with all the azurites, malachites
and other copper minerals. Perhaps it was a practice run for the 2012 show.
There
is so much to do before the show and so little time. Have you planned your or
your club’s exhibit for the show? The exhibit application forms are out,
both the competitive and non-competitive forms. Your club representative
should have them. Have you decided in which capacity you will volunteer to
help put on the show? Your club representative has the signup sheets and
can answer any questions you may have. Every year 400 plus volunteers are
needed.
The
speaker list for this year is quite impressive. It includes Les Presmyk (Arizona and copper minerals), Tom Rosemeyer (Michigan copper), Peter Knudsen (Butte,
Montana copper, etc.), Virgil Lueth (New Mexico
copper minerals), Evan Jones (topic not confirmed), Pete Modreski (starting a mineral collection), Ed Raines
(topic to be determined), and a fluorescent mineral talk.
This
year the Saturday night event will be limited to music, food, awards and
the featured speaker. There will be no silent auction. This should make for
a shorter and more relaxing evening, a chance for people to visit with each
other and enjoy the music and the speaker’s presentation. And you will be
able to go home early for a good night’s sleep because there is still one
more day of the show!
****************
Kemmerer Wyoming Field
Trip
by Dennis Gertenbach
On
the weekend of June 22-24 club members were off to Southwestern Wyoming to
collect at several fossil locations. The weather was sunny and warm (and
cooler than the 100+ degree temperatures in Colorado that weekend). Here’s
a rundown of where we went and
what we found.
Stop
1: Wamsutter Snails On Friday, we traveled south of
Wamsutter for our first collecting stop. This
site is known for the turritella agate prized by lapidarists for the fossil snails exposed when the
agate is cut and polished. The site is within the Green River Formation,
formed
from three large fresh-water lakes
during the Eocene epoch about 50 million years ago. This site has millions and
millions of fossil snails, both loose individuals and outcrops containing
layers of snails in black agate. Although they’ve been called “turritella” snails by
rockhounds for years, this
is a misnomer. Turritella snails live in salt
water, not fresh water, as were these snails. The species was known to
collectors as Goniobasis tenera
for many years, but were reclassified as Elimia tenera in the early 2000s after further study.
Looking
at the triceratops tracks along the Triceratops Trail
Fossilized
snails exposed on the surface of a layer of turritella
agate from Wamsutter
Wamsutter turritella agate cut to expose the fossil snails within
the layer
Nicholas
Erickson with several turritella agate specimens
he found
Stop
2: Wamsutter Stromatolites
A few miles from the first stop is an area that contains agatized stromatolites. Stromatolites are fossilized algae mounds formed in the
shallow Eocene lake in which the snails also lived. The mounds were formed
as layer after layer of algae built
up. The stromatolites
at Wamsutter have been agatized
and show the banding of these multiple algae layers.
Wamsutter stromatolites, showing the mound structure on the left
and the internal banding of the algae layers on the right.
Stop
3: Kemmerer Fossil Fish Quarry Saturday saw us collecting fossil fish at
the Warfield Quarry, outside of Kemmerer. This is a pay site at which you
split the limestone layers to expose the fossils of Eocene-age fish that
swam in what is now known as Fossil Lake 50 million years ago. The quarry
provides piles of rock to split, as well as the splitting tools you need
and personnel to help you find great specimens. Many club members also
visited the nearby Fossil Buttes National Monument to learn more about the
Green River Formation geology and the spectacular fossils finds from the
area.
Club
members splitting limestone seeking fossil fish
New
member Fletcher Gunderson with one of his great fossil fish finds
Stop
4: Evanston Snails and Clams On Sunday we traveled south of Evanston to
collect snails and other shells from the Bear River Formation. These
deposits are Cretaceous age, about 100 million years old. They were laid
down in brackish to fresh water in a restricted bay or estuary environment.
The most unique, although common, fossil found at the site is Pyrgulifera humerosa. We also
found several different species of other snails, clams, and oysters at this
location.
The
Bear River Formation south of Evanston. Note that the layers are bent at
the top of this outcrop.
Several
specimens of Pyrgulifera humerosa,
a beautiful fossil snail found at the Evanston site.
****************
Bill Reid
Longtime
FMC club member Bill Reid has died. Bill
worked for Micromotion in Gunbarrel,
and had a lot of technical expertise—he re-hab’d
much of the FMC lapidary equipment before he and his wife moved to South
Carolina in 2008. Here is a link to
his obituary in the Daily
Camera.
****************
Fossils in the News
Dennis
Gertenbach
Bilateral
Echinoderm Found
Echinoderms,
such as starfish, sea urchins, and crinoids, are unique in the animal
kingdom, as they have 5-sided symmetry. All other animals are bilateral,
having just two sides - a right and left side. Many living echinoderms pass
through a bilateral larval stage and a few, such as some sea urchins and
sand dollars, have both 5-sided symmetry and two-sided symmetry. But no fossil
echinoderm has ever been found that has true bilateral symmetry until now.
Samuel Zamora, of The Natural History Museum in London, and colleagues have recently described Ctenoimbricata spinosa,
a new echinoderm species from northeastern Spain that dates to the middle
Cambrian Period, about 535 million years old. This animal shows true
bilateral symmetry and no 5-sided symmetry is apparent in the fossil. In
addition the fossil also confirms that the earliest echinoderms were
deposit feeders like sea cucumbers, rather than suspension feeders like
crinoids.
Reconstruction
of Ctenoimbricata spinosa,
a bilateral echinoderm (from PLOS One)
More
Evidence for Warm-Blooded Dinosaurs
One
piece of evidence some paleontologists have used to argue against warm
blooded dinosaurs is that dinosaur bones show annual growth lines that were
missing in warm-blooded mammal bones. They argue that annual growth lines,
such as found in dinosaur and modern reptile bones, are an indicator of
cold-blooded animals that grow in warm weather when food is abundant. These
growth lines are missing in warm-blooded animals, because they grow at a
fairly constant rate all year round.
A
team led by author Meike Köhler,
a paleontologist at the University of Barcelona in Spain, has debunked this
argument. They analyzed very thin bone slices from 41 species of ruminants,
including giraffes, reindeer and gazelles mammals, from 23 different
climate zones ranging from the polar tundra to the humid subtropics. They
found that every one of these modern mammal bones showed cyclical growth:
fast when food was plentiful and slow when resources were scant. What’s more,
the rest lines from their specimens looked just like those seen in dinosaur
bones. This will not end the debate about warm-blooded vs. cold-blooded
dinosaurs, but does remove one more argument against dinosaur warm
bloodedness.
Just
like dinosaur fossils, thin, dark growth lines are found in the bones of
modern mammals, like this European red deer (from Meike
Köhler)
What
Happened to the Ancient Huge Insects?
Beginning
about 300 million years ago up to about 150 million years ago, insects grew
much larger than modern ones. The beginning of these large insects has been
attributed to elevated oxygen levels in the air. However, the reason for
the demise of the giants has been in question, even though the oxygen
levels were rising at that time. In a report in a recent
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Matthew Clapham and Jered Karr,
researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, provided a
possible answer – ancient birds ate them. At this time (150 million years
ago), birds were evolving with smaller tails, specialized wing bones, and
giant breastbones. This provided much greater maneuverability, allowing
these ancient birds to catch and devour large insects out of the air,
including grasshopper-like animals called titanopterans
that had a wingspan of up to 14 inches.
When
atmospheric oxygen levels were higher, dragonflies sported 7½ inch wings,
like this fossil. After the rise of birds, dragonfly wings were less than 3
inches, as shown in the upper left drawing for comparison. (from Wolfgang Zessin)
Dinosaurs
Much Lighter Than Previously Thought
Scientists
have developed a new technique to accurately measure the weight of
dinosaurs and discovered they are not as heavy as previously thought.
Biologists from the University of Manchester used lasers to measure the minimum
amount of skin required to wrap around the skeletons of modern-day mammals,
including reindeer, polar bears, giraffes and elephants. They found that
all these animals weighed 21% more than would be predicted from the
measured minimum skin requirement. As they reported in the journal Biology
Letters, this method reduces previous estimates of the weight of a full-grown
brachiosaur from as high as 80 tons to only 23 tons – still quite large,
but much less than previously thought. The authors report that this method
can also be used for other dinosaurs to give a much better estimate of
their weights when they roamed the earth.
****************
Chocolate and
Diamonds: Why Volcanoes Could Be 'a Girl's Best Friend'
ScienceDaily (May 16, 2012) —
Scientists from the University of Southampton have discovered a previously
unrecognized volcanic process, similar to one that is used in chocolate
manufacturing, which gives important new insights into the dynamics of
volcanic eruptions.
The
scientists investigated how a process called 'fluidized spray granulation'
can occur during kimberlite eruptions to produce
well-rounded particles containing fragments from Earth's mantle, most
notably diamonds. This physical process is similar to the gas injection and
spraying process used to form smooth coatings on confectionary, and layered
and delayed-release coatings in the manufacture of pharmaceuticals and
fertilizers.
Kimberlite volcanoes are
the primary source of diamonds on Earth, and are formed by gas-rich magmas from
mantle depths of over 150 km. Kimberlite volcanism
involves high-intensity explosive eruptions, forming diverging pipes or 'diatremes', which can be several hundred meters wide
and several kilometers deep. A conspicuous and previously mysterious
feature of these pipes are 'pelletal lapilli ' --
well-rounded magma coated fragments of rock consisting of an inner 'seed'
particle with a complex rim, thought to represent quenched magma.
These
pelletal lapilli form by spray granulation when kimberlite magma intrudes into earlier volcaniclastic infill close to the diatreme
root zone. Intensive degassing produces a gas jet in which the seed
particles are simultaneously fluidized and coated by a spray of low-viscosity
melt. In the kimberlites, the occurrence of pelletal lapilli is linked to diamond grade (carats per
ton), size and quality, and therefore has economic as well as academic
significance.
Dr Thomas Gernon,
Lecturer in Earth Science at the University of Southampton, says: "The
origin of pelletal lapilli is important for
understanding how magmatic pyroclasts are
transported to the surface during explosive eruptions, offering fundamental
new insights into eruption dynamics and constraints on vent conditions, notably
gas velocity. The ability to tightly constrain gas velocities is
significant, as it enables estimation of the maximum diamond size
transported in the flow. Gas fluidization and magma-coating processes are
also likely to affect the diamond surface properties."
Dr Gernon
and colleagues studied two of the world's largest diamond mines in South
Africa and Lesotho. In the Letseng pipe in
Lesotho, pelletal lapilli have been found in
association with concentrations of large diamonds (up to 215 carat), which
individually can fetch up to tens of millions of pounds. Knowledge of flow dynamics
will inform models of mineral transport, and ultimately could improve
resource assessments.
****************
Upcoming Events
Sat.,
July 14, 9 a.m.-3 p.m., Dinosaur Discovery Day at Dinosaur Ridge.
Sat.,
July 14, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Western Museum of Mining and Industry 30th
Anniversary & Membership Celebration. Opened in 1982, we are still the
‘Museum that Works!’ and visitors to the July 14th anniversary celebration
will experience it all--our steam engines will rumble to life; our trammer will speed down the rail; and a ‘top down’ tour
of the Museum’s Stamp Mill Gold Refinery will be offered. Complete with a piece
of anniversary cake and a special admission rate of only $3.00 per person
(that’s just $0.10 per year!), this will be a special, interactive
celebration for the whole family. The Museum is located at 225 North Gate
Blvd., Colorado Springs, Colorado (I-25 at Exit 156A, just east of the Air
Force Academy). Call (719) 488-0880, or email at info@wmmi.org for
additional information. Thank you for your support of the museum!
July
26-29, A Celebration of Agates. Seminars on Thursday: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Event hours: Friday, noon to 7 p.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, 10
a.m. to 4 p.m. Lindbergh Center at Hopkins High School, 2400 Lindbergh
Drive, Minnetonka, Minnesota. The Minnesota Mineral Club is hosting a
four-day agate show, in conjunction with the American Federation of Mineralogical
Societies and the Midwest Federation of Mineralogical and Geological
Societies. Sign up for more information at www.minnesotamineralclub.org
Sat.,
Aug. 11, 9 a.m. - 3 p.m., monthly Dinosaur Discovery Day at Dinosaur Ridge,
Morrison CO.
Aug.
9-12, Contin-Tail outdoor Rock Show, Rodeo Grounds,
Buena Vista, CO; see www.coloradorocks.org
Aug.
17-19, Lake George (outdoor) Gem & Mineral Show, Lake George, Park
County, CO; see http://www.lggmclub.org/
Sat.,
Sep. 8, 9 a.m. - 3 p.m., monthly Dinosaur Discovery Day at Dinosaur Ridge,
Morrison CO.
Wed.,
Sept. 12, CSM Geology Museum Annual Open House, Reception, and Silent
Auction held during the week of the Denver Gem and Mineral Show; 6 to 9
p.m. at the Colorado School of Mines Geology Museum, 13th and Maple
Streets, Golden. All are invited!
Sept
12-16, Colorado Mineral and Fossil Show, at the Ramada Plaza Hotel
(formerly the Holiday Inn), 4849 Bannock St, Denver (frontage road on west
side of I-25, north of I-70); free parking and admission, many mineral dealers;
see http://www.mzexpos.com/colorado_fall.htm Many of the dealers will be
open as early as Sept. 8. This and several other "satellite
shows" take place during the week of the Denver Gem and Mineral Show.
Sept.
8-16, Denver Coliseum Mineral Show; another "satellite" show of
dealers in "minerals, fossils, dinosaurs, gems, jewelry, gold,
meteorites"; free admission and parking; 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily; 4600 Humboldt
St., Denver CO 80216; from I-70, exit 275B at Brighton Blvd; outside tents
open Sept. 8-16, tents and Coliseum open Sept. 12-16; see http://coliseumshow.com/
Fri.-Sun.,
Sept. 14-16, Denver Gem and Mineral Show, Denver Merchandise Mart, I-25 at
58th Ave., Denver CO; featured theme will be Copper Minerals.. The
second-largest gem and mineral show in the U.S. Combined with the Colorado
Fossil Expo in the same building complex; a wholesale-only jewelry trade
show also takes place in another section of the complex. Dealers, museum
displays, lectures, club exhibits, and gold panning; public welcome
(admission charge; adults $6, Seniors/Teens $4, children under 13 free with
an adult); free parking. See http://www.denvermineralshow.com/
Sept.
14-16, Colorado Fossil Expo; 50 dealers specializing in fossils,
meteorites, amber, petrified wood and related items; special
paleontological exhibits. Held in conjunction with the Denver Gem &
Mineral Show (single admission fee applies to both shows) at the Denver
Merchandise Mart Plaza Annex, 451 E. 58th Ave., Denver, CO 80216.
Sat.,
Oct. 13, 9 a.m. - 3 p.m., last Dinosaur Discovery Day of the year at
Dinosaur Ridge, Morrison CO. Featuring Girl Scout ‘Rocks and Roles’
activity day. See www.dinoridge.org for more info.
****************
Calendar of Events
July
12 FMC Club
Specimen Bagging, 7 PM, Clover Basin Meeting Room at Boulder County Fair Grounds,
Longmont.
July
19 Junior Geologists Meeting, contact Dennis Gertenbach
July
30 FMC Board Meeting. To be conducted via e-mail
Aug.
16 Junior Geologists Meeting, contact Dennis Gertenbach
Aug.
18 Annual FMC Club Picnic, North Boulder Park Pavilion
Aug.
27 FMC Board Meeting, To be conducted via e-mail
Sep
14-16 Denver Gem and Mineral Show
Sep
20 FMC Club Meeting, 7 PM, West Boulder Senior Ctr,, 9th & Arap. Program to be announced
****************
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Updated 10/22/12
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