GMS February field trip

**FIELD TRIP(S) FOR FEBRUARY**
An Official Field Trip of The Rome Georgia Mineral Society, Rome GA (HOST) An Official Field Trip of the GEORGIA MINERAL SOCIETY, INC. 9:00 AM EST Saturday, February 26, 2011 Durham Mines, Walker County, Georgia Pennsylvanian Age Plant Fossils Rockcastle Formation The Durham Mines are Georgia’s best locality for beautifully preserved Paleozoic plant fossils. Commonly referred to as ‘Fern Fossils”, but more accurately described as “Coal Fossils”, the site offers a wide variety of species: Lycopods such as Lepidodendron; giant horsetails such as Calamites (and its leaves known as Annularia); and seed ferns such as Pecopteris and Alethopteris. You can occasionally find fossilized seeds. For identification purposes, we will provide a sheet to get you started, but any good fossil book will be useful as well when you get home. The fossils are found by splitting the abundant shale at the site. Most will yield twigs and bark, but with persistence you will find good leaves. Date: February 26, 2011 Time: 9:00 AM EST – 4:00 PM EST Meet: At the site, on Durham Rd. in Walker Co., Ga. This is in the NW corner of the state of Georgia. 430 Durham Rd, Rising Fawn, GA 30738 Directions: From Lafayette, Ga. follow GA Hwy. 136 West for 20 miles, to GA. Hwy 157. Turn right, going North on GA Hwy. 157 for 6.0 miles. Durham Rd. will be on the left. Turn left on Durham Rd. The mines and the parking area are .50 (1/2) mile on the right. Drive time from the intersection of US27 and GA 136 West in Lafayette, is approximately 30 minutes. If you are getting to Lafayette from I-75 at Exit # 320, Hwy 136, allow 1 hour and 10 minutes to the site from that exit. From Atlanta, at the intersection of I-285 and I-75 North, allow 2.50 hours total, using GA 136 Exit #320. Tools: Bring digging tools. A flat chisel and hammer are essential. A small cart or hand truck may be useful for hauling larger pieces of take home material. Other: Also, bring lunch and fluids. This is a good site for children. Any pets MUST be on a leash at all times. This field trip will be postponed if there are any winter weather advisories; watches, or warnings, issued for Walker Co., GA, 24 hours in advance of the trip. Make up date would be the following Saturday. GMS and CCG&MS Field trip 9:00 AM - SATURDAY, February 12, 2011 Chunky Gal Mountain FREE TRIP: We will go on a field trip to Chunky Gal Mountain for corundum, green smaragdite, spinel, actinolite, olivine, epidote, picrolite, and rutile. We will be on top of Chunky Gal Mountain at Corundum Knob where we will try dry screening and/or hammer and chisel the green smaragdite for ruby crystals. Some brave souls may go down to Buck Creek to try your luck at panning for crystal clear fine red garnets. You may use a fine mesh screen (1/8") in place of the gold pan. The smaller garnet fragments can be used for grit when tumbling softer minerals and the larger fragments can make great gem tree stones. You will also be able to collect red, blue and colorless to gray corundum fragments and rutile in this creek. There is a mine dump nearby where you can find picrolite . . BRING: You will need to bring a pick, shovel, large hammer, chisels, Ziploc bags, dry screens of 1/2", 1/4" and a 1/8" fine metal washing screen, gold pan, a scratching tool to work the dumps. As always, bring your picnic lunch, plenty of fluids, a hat, gloves, sturdy shoes and some 5 gal buckets. TALL rubber knee boots will be nice to have for this VERY COLD creek. Children are welcome on this trip but they should be supervised.

9:00 AM EST

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Durham Mines, Walker County, Georgia

Pennsylvanian Age Plant Fossils

Rockcastle Formation

The Durham Mines are Georgia’s best locality for beautifully preserved Paleozoic plant fossils. Commonly referred to as ‘Fern Fossils”, but more accurately described as “Coal Fossils”, the site offers a wide variety of species: Lycopods such as Lepidodendron; giant horsetails such as Calamites (and its leaves known as Annularia); and seed ferns such as Pecopteris and Alethopteris. You can occasionally find fossilized seeds. For identification purposes, we will provide a sheet to get you started, but any good fossil book will be useful as well when you get home.

The fossils are found by splitting the abundant shale at the site. Most will yield twigs and bark, but with persistence you will find good leaves.

Date: February 26, 2011

Time: 9:00 AM EST – 4:00 PM EST

Meet: At the site, on Durham Rd. in Walker Co., Ga. This is in the NW corner of the state of Georgia.

430 Durham Rd, Rising Fawn, GA 30738

Directions: From Lafayette, Ga. follow GA Hwy. 136 West for 20 miles, to GA. Hwy 157. Turn right, going North on GA Hwy. 157 for 6.0 miles. Durham Rd. will be on the left. Turn left on Durham Rd. The mines and the parking area are .50 (1/2) mile on the right. Drive time from the intersection of US27 and GA 136 West in Lafayette, is approximately 30 minutes. If you are getting to Lafayette from I-75 at Exit # 320, Hwy 136, allow 1 hour and 10 minutes to the site from that exit. From Atlanta, at the intersection of I-285 and I-75 North, allow 2.50 hours total, using GA 136 Exit #320.

Tools: Bring digging tools. A flat chisel and hammer are essential. A small cart or hand truck may be useful for hauling larger pieces of take home material.

Other: Also, bring lunch and fluids. This is a good site for children. Any pets MUST be on a leash at all times.

This field trip will be postponed if there are any winter weather advisories; watches, or warnings, issued for Walker Co., GA, 24 hours in advance of the trip. Make up date would be the following Saturday.

GMS and CCG&MS Field trip

9:00 AM - SATURDAY, February 12, 2011

Chunky Gal Mountain

FREE TRIP: We will go on a field trip to Chunky Gal Mountain for corundum, green smaragdite, spinel, actinolite, olivine, epidote, picrolite, and rutile. We will be on top of Chunky Gal Mountain at Corundum Knob where we will try dry screening and/or hammer and chisel the green smaragdite for ruby crystals. Some brave souls may go down to Buck Creek to try your luck at panning for crystal clear fine red garnets. You may use a fine mesh screen (1/8") in place of the gold pan. The smaller garnet fragments can be used for grit when tumbling softer minerals and the larger fragments can make great gem tree stones. You will also be able to collect red, blue and colorless to gray corundum fragments and rutile in this creek. There is a mine dump nearby where you can find picrolite

. .

BRING: You will need to bring a pick, shovel, large hammer, chisels, Ziploc bags, dry screens of 1/2", 1/4" and a 1/8" fine metal washing screen, gold pan, a scratching tool to work the dumps. As always, bring your picnic lunch, plenty of fluids, a hat, gloves, sturdy shoes and some 5 gal buckets. TALL rubber knee boots will be nice to have for this VERY COLD creek. Children are welcome on this trip but they should be supervised.