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The Georgia Mineral Society, Inc. 4138 Steve Reynolds Boulevard Norcross, GA 30093-3059 |
DMC Field Trip
GMS is the founding member of the
DMC field trip program of the SFMS
If you have any questions about field trips send email to
Polished Pudding Stone
DMC Field Trip
Alabama
Saturday, February 15, 2014
Members of the Alabama Mineral & Lapidary Society were excellent hosts for the February DMC trip. They greeted everyone at the entrance to the quarry with examples of the material we would be collecting and even gave us postcards of Alabama geology maps!
Collecting is simple. Just drive around the quarry until you find a nice place to stop, then jump out and start picking things up! The very first thing I found was a small piece of petrified wood that is reminiscent of specimens from Brilliant, Alabama. Pudding stone was abundant and just the right size to take home.
Because the gravel is alluvial, most of the quartzite is already rounded and smooth. It looks like it can be tumbled at the final stages of tumbling so little material would be ground away. Some pieces are flat, so a quick face polish and you have a naturally shaped cabochon! There are many nice oolitic pieces there too. The ooliths are silicified so the pieces that are not especially suited as specimen look like they can be worked into some interesting cabochons.
Hollow iron sandstone nodules that are often referred to as “Indian Paint Pots” are found all over the quarry. Occasionally you can find one that has not broken open and the interior is filled with iron oxide powder. Examples of these curious formations were displayed on the welcome table with small plants in them to show at least one clever way they can be used.
Several GMS members attended the trip and everyone we talked to said they were finding lots of nice pieces and were having a great time. Nat, Nick, and Eli Nims led me on a tour of several ravines that begged to be slid into including the “pit of doom” plus we conquered mounds of shiny black coal, not to mention every mud puddle in the vicinity :o)
Many thanks to the Alabama Mineral & Lapidary Society for another successful DMC trip!
Lori Carter, on behalf of
Charles Carter, GMS Field Trip Chair
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Photo by Lori Carter
This sign helped everyone find the meeting site
Photo by Lori Carter
Swapping rockhounding stories
Photo by Lori Carter
Alabama Mineral & Lapidary Society members welcome DMC rockhounds
Photo by Lori Carter
The welcome table had examples of tumbled stones as well as cut and uncut specimens
Photo by Lori Carter
Examples of using "Indian paint pots" as cute little planters
Photo by Lori Carter
Alluvial gravel
Photo by Lori Carter
Yummy pudding stones!
Photo by Lori Carter
Gravel everywhere...
Photo by Lori Carter
...so just pull up and start picking up rocks!
Photo by Lori Carter
An oolitic specimen up close
Photo by Lori Carter
Another example of an oolitic specimen
Photo by Lori Carter
The tiny piece of petrified wood I found
Photo by Lori Carter
A tiny agate
Photo by Lori Carter
The only piece of coral I found
Photo by Lori Carter
The quartzite pebbles already look like cabs (wet)
Photo by Lori Carter
A pile of "beans" ready to be tumbled (wet)
Photo by Lori Carter
Some of the paint pots we found
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