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The Georgia Mineral Society, Inc. 4138 Steve Reynolds Boulevard Norcross, GA 30093-3059 |
GMS Field Trip
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Geodes and Fossils in Tennessee
Saturday, October 22, 2016
Despite a few unfortunate scheduling hiccups, the October field trip was well attended and proceeded nicely. We started at the first location with tiny Ordovician marine fossils. Some people took home huge slabs of fossils while others found smaller plates full of fossils. One member found some flowstone. John & Rose Mikalonis even found a spectacular trilobite!
After a delicious and refreshing lunch, we went to the second location. I saw several pretty geodes, some fossilized coral, and some suiseki (Japanese 水石) i.e. stones carved by water into shapes reminiscent of landscapes. A new member who is a geologist, pointed out karst features in the creek. At this location, the karst formations are formed by the dissolution of limestone and appear to be the source of the suiseki we find there.
At the third location, there were some impressive geodes and some equally impressive suiseki. People left with full buckets for sure.
Many thanks to the property owners who graciously allow us to bust boulders for fossils and watch us slog around their creeks picking up geodes and suiseki. It was another fun day of collecting and we are looking forward to the next trip there!
Lori Carter
On behalf of Charles Carter, GMS Field Trip Chair
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Location 1
Photos by Lori Carter
Boulders full of Ordovician marine fossils
Photo by Lori Carter
Calcium carbonate flowstone
Photos by Lori Carter
Typical plate of tiny fossils including brachiopods (shells) and bryozoans (branching)
Photos by Lori Carter
Some brachiopods in situ on a boulder
Photos by Lori Carter
Bryozoa in situ on a boulder
Photo by Lori Carter
A big plate of fossils getting a ride to its new home
Photos by Lori Carter
Spectacular trilobite!
Photo by Lori Carter
Pretty, feathery bryozoan
Photo by Lori Carter
Not sure what this is, but it has some calcite
Photos by Lori Carter
This junior was very proud of his fossil plate
Photos by Lori Carter
This junior did very well
Photo by Lori Carter
These bryozoa have exquisite details
Location 2
Photo by Lori Carter
Not sure what these markings are -- possibly made by a human?
Photos by Lori Carter
Classic sedimentary geode
Photos by Lori Carter
Karst formations
Photo by Lori Carter
Beautiful day for collecting in the creek
Photo by Lori Carter
A new member found this large brachiopod in the creek
Photos by Lori Carter
Two little corals from different angles
Location 3
Photo by Lori Carter
More creek searching
Photo by Lori Carter
Someone found this geode before I got my boots on!
Photo by Lori Carter
A nice flat suiseki with lots of valleys
Photos by Lori Carter
David Bruce rolled out this beauty to match the one he got last year!
Photo by Lori Carter
Peaceful place to peruse
Photo by Lori Carter
Bringing back goodies
Photo by Lori Carter
A "pre-cracked" geode in the creek
Photo by Lori Carter
Another "pre-cracked" geode. These need more cleaning than an uncracked geode.
Photos by Lori Carter
This suiseki is destined for a saltwater fish tank
Photo by Lori Carter
This suiseki is destined for my yard :o)
Photo by Lori Carter
Geode lined with banded chalcedony and filled with dark quartz crystals!
Photo by Lori Carter
Another handsome geode with a dark coating on the crystals
Pretty
Photos by Lori Carter
Pretty flowers (the alien looking thing is an osage orange)
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