GMS Field Trip July 2026

GMS Field Trip
Smaragdite, Corundum, Garnet Sand in North Carolina
Saturday, July 18, 2026

Trip Summary:

Members were treated to two locations on this trip! At the first location, they collected some beautiful green smaragdite, a variety of actinolite, an amphibole mineral, that gets its green color from chromium. Peppered in the smaragdite are pink to red corundum crystals that fluoresces bright red under longwave UV light at 365 nm wavelength.

At the second location, members used screens and gold pans to collect deep red garnet sand in a creek. Members also collected gneiss that contains garnets that are the source of the garnet sand.

Thank you to the members who attended the trip. Many thanks to Maria, Hong, and Caden for helping with the first location, and to Maria, Ella, and David for sending trip photos. Thank you as well to the juniors who helped collect sand and rocks for educational use. And, as always, thank you to Charles Carter for arranging another fun trip!

Full Report: For a full trip report and more photos, click below.

Lori Carter, on behalf of Charles Carter
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