What's new
By:
Filters
TerraForums Venus Flytrap, Nepenthes, Drosera and more talk

Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Rocks, minerals and crystals

T

Tamlin Dawnstar

I sort of have crystal fever and need to take the hammer and chisels out for a run. I have a long held interest in things mineral, especially crystals.

I was wondering if anyone could mention any good sites near them, or if there are any other enthusiasts on the forum here.

Locally, we have Herkimer NY about an hour and a half from here. You can find the clearest quartz crystals on Earth, and they are double terminated! Lots of work to get them though. People can't believe thay are not cut and come out of the rock looking like they do. You have to split 5 feet of hard dolomitic limestone to get to the pockets which rose through the molten magma like bubbles in honey and stopped at that level. The pockets can have thousands of stones rnging from the size of a grapefruit to no bigger than table salt. The larger stones have cracks and inclusions, but 50 cent sized stones can be found that will vanish when dropped into a glass of water!
 
smile_k_ani_32.gif
nice! That sounds like a cool place to go to...

I've gone to the sale flats in oklahoma... good crystals there
smile.gif


I have a 6-9 inch diameter geode I got in colorado... looks like a warty old ladys face on the outside but who cares
smile_m_32.gif
 
I got my BS in geology from Syracuse University and remember many a fine day looking for Herkimer "diamonds". I'm older and more senile now, but I'll try to remember some of the other sites that we used to go to, it'll probably take me a few days to come up with them. Off the top of my head - by Gore Mt. there are garnets - I also believe there is a commercial garnet mine in that area. I'll get back to you if I can think of the other places.
 
Once or twice a year I fossil collecting.
 
I do some trilobite hunting around western and central NY.
I have found them lurking along Cayuga lake, the Genesee river gorge in Rochester, and several places along the Erie canal.

dont run into crystals much in the sedementary beds.
Lots of quartz in the Catskills though..(found some small crystals in the "gunks" near New Paltz..and when I went to school there my friends and I used to search for Geodes, which were rumoured to be out in the gunks..never found one though..)
Scot
 
Does clay count as a mineral? I have clay litterally by the tons here, digging a hole is really back breaking especially if there is grass growing in the clay. Soooo much clay in fact that tamping the ground with just your foot will hold water for weeks and weeks.

Joe
 
Scotty,

Sounds like you aren't too far off the beaten path.  Maybe we could hook up sometine and go fossilizing, errr, trilobiting...you get the idea!  Anytime yo u're going PM me and maybe it can happen.  

The New Palz gunk also sounds promising.  Any idea of how to direct me to the site?

Been to gore Mountain.  I found lots of massive garnet, and rough stones in matrix that were very fractured nearby.  The best find on that trip was in a parking lot.  One boulder caught my eye: it was a chunk of a mud pocket.  Gem hunters will know how my eyes lit up when I saw that!  I got some very good hematite over beryl crystals, huge masses of apatite and mica sticking out allover the yin yang.  Each year the rains leach out more mud showing more of the massive crystal structures.  I decimated the boulder too!

Herkimer really is magic!  It's a fairly unique deposit (a couple of other sites in the area), and all the particulars of how the crystals formed aren't really known.  One thing for sure is they are breathtaking.  The Smithsonian has a whole pocket on display there.  They excavated the whole pocket out of the rock and brought it to Washington, now that's style!  Seeing the stones there like that makes me literally sweat!  Pssst!  Is anyone looking?
 
I think theres a place in Utah where you can go dig out trilobites. I think it's mostly Elrathia kingii. I'm an avid fossil and mieral collecter as well
smile.gif
. Right now I'm hoping to get a decent megalodon tooth. I'll probebly get it off of steve's shark teeth.
 
  • #10
Once found tons of garnets in good old Austria...the Alps are full of minerals! My father found some magma bulbs at the Atlantic coast in north west France. They have a very high weight/volume, if you split these you can see the metal ore...
 
  • #11
Ok Jan, I'm sold and have you on my "must visit" list. The ore nodules sound really fine!
 
  • #12
William, I think I mentioned this to you in a PM.
Here in FL we have lotsa' fossilized shark teeth.  That is about all.

However, we have plenty of rocks that look much like crystals and when combined with some of Kentucky's or Scotland's finest, will bring a smile to your face.
laugh.gif


Oh! I just remembered.  I think I have some copper ore samples, and hopefully a smaller (smaller than the one I sent you a photo of) quartz/gold sample I collected in Costa Rica.  If you are interested, let me know and I will go out in the garage and try to locate them.
 
  • #13
Some of the other fossils found in Fl include: alligator, armadillo, capybara, bison, camels, tapirs, deer, birds, fish, beavers, horse, turtles, tortoises, manatees, mammoths, mastodonts but alas no dinosaurs - Fl was not around then. Some of the crystalline minerals we have are calcite, gypsum, ilmenite, rutile, zircon, staurolite, and monazite. Add in the theme parks and the carnivorous plants and Florida can be all things to all people - but we need to keep this quiet or all the California people will want to move here.
 
  • #14
LOL @ Buster! Good one. Personally I think California should split off and form its own country. hehe (J/K you guys!) Its just so dang many of ya!

Uhhh....now that I think about it...maybe I shouldn't use the words "split off" when talking about CA.
confused.gif
 
  • #15
Tamlin,
sure! I would love to go fossil/mineral hunting sometime!
there are some good creeks and road cuts between Rochester & Syracuse that I have read about (as good Trilobite locations) but havent explored in person yet..

The "Gunks" are the Shawangunk mountains, a mountain ridge that roughly parralels the Hudson, starting around Kingston and running south.
I went to College at New Paltz and the mountains are Amazing!
they are often considered part of the Catskills, although in reality they are a seperate mountain range.
lots of great Carriage trails (excellent for biking) that run from Mohonk lake, to Minnewaska and Awosting lakes..

the "gunks" are considered some of the best rock climbing in the US..
people come from all over the country (and the world probably!) to "climb the gunks"


the easiest way to get there is to take the Thruway (route 90) south towards New York City..then take the New Paltz exit.
you can then go to Minnewaska lake (undeveloped..good trails)
or visit Mohonk..
Mohonk is expensive though..its privately owned and contains the "Mohonk mountain House"
mohonk-hotel.jpg


I prefer Minnewaska personally..the trails between Lake Minnewaska and Lake Awosting are spectacular, especially the trails that skirt the edge of the cliffs..

here is some beautifull photography of the area..
This photographer is based in New Paltz..

http://www.mohonkimages.com/portfolio.html


Scot
 
  • #16
Just spectacular photos, Scot, thanks for the link.  He has a real connection to nature.  Incredible to think that this is in New York State.  
Yeah, let's go find us some rocks!
 
  • #17
That's a beutifull looking area. I think I might see a hiking trip in the future.
 
  • #18
Down here in Texas, we have literally nearly every fossil there is to find... And if you drive long enough to cross three or four of those tiny Northeastern states (I get the feeling I'm about to be flamed at
smile_n_32.gif
confused.gif
) or about 11-15 hours, there are some great minerals/crystals just sitting in ground level deposits. The fossils near me are predominantly cretaceous, with a few pockets of Mesozoic and Triassic.
smile.gif
 
  • #19
I'm a fossil. If I buried myself in the ground...would anyone want to dig me up and take me home??
confused.gif
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top