Fossil Shark Teeth at the WM Browning Cretaceous Park

If you visit most creeks in the southeast you are likely to find frogs, lizards, or even an occasional snake. But...SHARK'S TEETH? In this video episode, we travel to Frankstown, Mississippi in search of the remains of some of the best killers ever to swim the seas:

Amazing Tales of Geology - Episode 1: The Million Dollar Pocket

Aquamarine.

That beautiful pale blue to bluish-green member of the Beryl family, treasured by gem cutters and prized by mineral prospectors worldwide. What rockhound wouldn’t be thrilled beyond description to crack into a gaping pocket laced with dozens of long, unbroken, gem-quality aquamarine crystals still lodged perfectly atop a gorgeous matrix?

In the fall of 2004, that once-in-lifetime-thrill came to amateur prospector Steve Brancato, as he searched for topaz on the chilly, steep slopes of Mount Antero, the 10th highest peak in the state of Colorado. The high-school dropout turned fulltime gem hunter first extracted a loose 25-carat aquamarine, and that blue crystal became the first of many, many more over the course of the next few days. Brancato had uncovered the largest and most valuable pocket of aquamarine crystals ever unearthed in the United States. Once extracted and restored, the impressive slab measured roughly 3 feet by 2 feet, and was encrusted with dozens of aquamarine crystals rising alongside a forest of gorgeous smoky quartz points.

In a touching move in honor of his mother, Steve Brancato dubbed his incredible discovery “Diane’s Pocket.” As the biggest aquamarine cache ever found in the USA, its value is difficult to appraise, but some experts have estimated this one-of-a-kind wonder to be worth well over a million dollars.

“Diane’s Pocket” was first displayed publicly at the Tucson Gem and Mineral show in February of 2005, before being acquired by Bruce Oreck, a trustee of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. Oreck then donated his spectacular purchase to the museum, where it has since been on continuous display for all the world to enjoy. The incredible, million-dollar discovery of Diane’s Pocket, another Amazing Tale of Geology brought to you by Rockhounding USA.

Quartz Crystals on Fisher Mountain (Mt. Ida, Arkansas)

On this episode of Rockhounding USA, Chase and I travel to Mt. Ida, known as "The Quartz Crystal Capital of the World." We visit Judy's Crystals N Things before heading up Fisher Mountain to the Stanley Mine.We find hundreds of "float" crystals and track down the quartz veins that criss-cross the Ouachita Mountain range.

Here is a small collection of photos of our treasures:

Map to Judy's Crystals:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Judy's+Crystals+N+Things/@34.53085,-93.537886,15z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x87089268399c9d97?sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjj9NCKgIrWAhWG24MKHbBWBZsQ_BIIeTAK

Herkimer Diamond Adventure: A Rockhound's Best Friend

When you think of Diamonds...you think of the rich Kimberlite Pipes of South Africa.

But when you think of Herkimer Diamonds...you think of Herkimer County, New York.

On this installment of Rockhounding USA, we travel to the mines of Crystal Grove, about twenty miles east of Herkimer, New York, in search of those double-terminated treasures that await the seeker.

CLICK HERE for more Crystal Grove information.

CLICK HERE for a Google Map to Crystal Grove.

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Mining Majestic Maine Minerals in the Free and Fantastically Famous Frank Perham Quarries of Oxford County

I know, I know...the title of this blog article is a bit of an amazing amalgamation of alliteration, but, as I sit in this hotel room in Portsmouth, New Hampshire on a late morning, it's the best that I can do.

My faithful fellow rockhound-son, Chase, and I headed to Oxford County, Maine on a quest to the quarries of Frank Perham...in pursuit of the crystal pockets in the pegmatites of this mineralogically-rich region. I will be posting a longer field report in the next few days, but for now, enjoy PART ONE of this TWO-PART (eventually) video about our experience.

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The Famous Fern Fossils of Pennsylvania

What rockhound hasn't gazed with geo-lust as they looked at photos of beautifully preserved fossil ferns? We seem to be "fond of fronds." (Okay, that was cheesy, but still accurate.) I remember, as a child, studying books and magazines with gorgeous, full-color images of various minerals, rocks, and fossils. The trilobites were fascinating, the colorful varieties of petrified wood were captivating, but there was always something magical about large plates of shale covered in delicately-preserved fossil ferns.

For decades I had heard about the famous fossilized ferns of Eastern Pennsylvania (Llewellyn Formation) and had dreamed of traveling there. The opportunity finally arrived during a family trip to visit our daughter in York, Maine.

As we traveled along Highway 80, a quick Google search made my heart nearly jump---we would pass just to the north of St. Clair, and St. Clair is home to the most sought-after fossil ferns in the world!

You have almost certainly seen photos of St. Clair fossil ferns. Due to the replacement of the organic material by pyrite (and then a subsequent oxidation process leading to Pyrophyllite) the fern and plant impressions are often a brilliant white set against the dark gray of the shale.

As my son, Chase, and I arrived at the huge collecting area, our expectations were more than exceeded. Nearly every piece of shale is covered in various types of plant remains, primarily ferns...it is a veritable fossil fern forest.

Here is a short video about this incredible collecting locale:

Directions:
*** NOTICE: I have recently read that the current owners have closed this area for individual collecting. Please contact the owners prior to visiting the site. The latest information I have found is that the owners are Reading Anthracite. They offer permits for off-road, ATV and hiking activities, but may not allow fossil collecting.***

Travel to St. Clair, Pennsylvania along Route 61 (Central Eastern Pennsylvania).
If you are headed North on 61, turn right onto E. Hancock (which becomes Burma Road), if you are headed south on 61, turn left onto E. Hancock. You will drive exactly 2.8 miles and there will be a small parking area on the right just before the road curves to the left and goes uphill.

(Caution: There is another parking lot on the right just before this spot. That parking area is for a gun shooting range. If you pull into the lot and see some boulders and then several wooden stands beyond the rocks, then you are in the wrong spot...you will need to travel about another 100 yards to the east.)

Park in the small, gravel lot, and take the smooth gravel hiking trail to the southeast for approximately 850 feet. Another trail will break off to the left, take it. You will need to hike about 1200 feet down this second trail until you see a small footpath through the bushes on your right. Go about 50 feet down this trail and the collecting area will open up before you. It is quite extensive. (Don't worry, even if you miss the second trail, if you hike all the way down the first trail you will eventually hit the lower, western end of the collecting area.)

Google Map location for the turn from Route 61 to E. Hancock:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/40%C2%B043'12.2%22N+76%C2%B011'35.4%22W/@40.7200556,-76.1941564,314m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x0!8m2!3d40.720058!4d-76.193159

Google Map location for parking area:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/40%C2%B044'24.9%22N+76%C2%B008'51.9%22W/@40.74025,-76.1495913,584m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x0!8m2!3d40.740253!4d-76.147737

Google Map location for Fern Fossil collecting area:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/40%C2%B044'20.8%22N+76%C2%B008'26.5%22W/@40.7391111,-76.1425009,573m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x0!8m2!3d40.739098!4d-76.140698

Head down this trail for 850 feet before turning left and hiking about 1200 feet:

Take this small trail off to the right for about 50 feet:

Collecting area:

Photos from the adventure:

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Resources for Identifying Arrowheads

If you want to study and identify insects, then you have a tough road ahead of you. I've read that there are over 350,000 different species of just Beetles (that's a quarter-of-a-million!). And if you want to collect and identify Native American Artifacts ("arrowheads"), the number of different types (though much smaller) is still pretty daunting: over 1,000.
One thousand different types of arrowheads, projectiles, points, blades, etc.
I only have THREE children and I still get their names wrong from time to time!

Fortunately, for those of us who enjoy walking along plowed fields and wading through waist-high creek water in search of these rocky links to our continent's past inhabitants, there are resources to help us. I have compiled a series of links to online resources that should be able to help you identify just about every tool or tip in your collection.

(1) What's the Point?
 
This simple to use and extremely helpful website contains a step-by-step guide that will ask you a series of basic questions (with pictures and diagrams) in order to zero-in on your classification. The number of arrowhead types is rather limited to just major categories, but I have found this to be very handy (and very kid-friendly).
(Click on the name or the picture to go to the website)








(2) Projectile Point Identification Guide
 

One of the largest online databases of Native American Artifacts, with thousands of reference photographs. This site breaks the USA into basic regions and contains a wealth of information about shape, flaking patterns, cross-sections, size, and age of every type of projectile and tool. I spend quite a bit of time here.

(3) Overstreet ID
 

The name Overstreet is legendary within the world of collectibles. The Overstreet Indian Arrowhead Identification Database website boasts over 60,000 reference photographs and a (somewhat) guided tour to help you classify your points. You can search by Shape, Region, or Alphabetically. 

(4) TreasureNet
 

Sometimes, even with all of the wonderful online resources at our fingertips, we still have difficulty nailing the exact category or type of our tips. TreasureNet is a fantastic forum where you can post pictures of your artifacts, and then a huge community of Indian enthusiasts will pitch in to help you identify them.

Other Helpful Resources:

Western Artifacts

Stone Tools

Arrowhead Timeline (great!)

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