GMS Field Trip June 2022

GMS Field Trip
Marble and Calcite in North Carolina
Saturday, June 4, 2022

What better way to spend a beautiful June day than looking for calcite and colorful marble in the North Carolina mountains? Cool, sweet mountain air greeted us as we greeted friends we hadn’t seen in years. After gathering paperwork and savoring a few more minutes of rockhound reunions, we were ready for our quarry adventure.

We were able to visit three areas of the quarry. At the first stop, we navigated large chunks of rock to get to an area with marble. Mike Streeter went straight to work liberating some colorful marble and graciously provided pieces to other attendees. As a professional geologist, he astutely recognized a specimen of common opal too. I spent my time collecting pretty pink pieces for grab bags. It wasn’t long before other people started dropping pink pieces into my bucket until it was full! I was grateful for the help, and we all had fun in an easter egg hunt sort of way.

The next stop was a rubble pile where there was some talc, though a specimen with dendrites caught my eye and had to come home with me. Charles collected some of the same material and has since test-polished it with great success. The final stop was where all the spectacular calcite could be found. Members hauled out several boulders that will make fine specimen yard rocks. I found some freshly broken bits with calcite crystal crusts and calcite crystal-filled vugs.

On the way out, Charles and I stopped to watch a steam engine rumble by. I snapped a picture and waved at the engineer, and before I knew it, I was waving to the crowds of tourists in every train car! I’m not sure who they thought I was, but decked out in my hard hat, safety vest, and steel-toed boots, I just smiled and waved at every one of them.

Many thanks to the quarry company for allowing us to visit and collect. An especially big thank you to the quarry manager who took the time to escort us around the quarry, show us where to collect, and keep us safe. Thank you to Charles for arranging this trip. And thank you to the members who shared the experience with us.

Lori Carter
On behalf of Charles Carter, Field Trip Chair
e-mail:

Field Trip Report
by Mike Streeter

[In reference to a different form of calcite I found; click here for the image below -- Lori] Looks like the sides of pyramidal calcite crystals that formed sideways for whatever reason. The mineral calcite is a member of the trigonal crystallographic system (characterized by a vertical axis of 3-fold symmetry), so pyramids with triangular faces are to be expected. Calcite is an amazing mineral with a staggering number of individual forms.

I found some tiny dodecahedral pyrite partially to completely replaced by goethite at the second place we stopped at the quarry. I’ve found pyrite and goethite after pyrite cubes in the quarry more than once, after Anita Westlake discovered the first pseudomorph I had seen in 2005.

I believe the specimen I found at the first stop is indeed common opal; at least the hardness and mineral association are correct. At least that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. It is covered with a thin layer of calcite druse that fluoresces red under shortwave UV.

We played tourists by taking the scenic way home. We enjoyed our lunch on the river near the Nantahala Outdoor Center while watching happy people float by in boats of all shapes and sizes; we were treated with a long train that passed by on the Great Smoky Mountain Railroad across the river. We stopped by Darnell’s Farm on the east side of Bryson City and enjoyed some tasty farm-fresh strawberries as we sat on the bank of the Tuckasegee River in a comfortable, well-worn, wooden love seat. From there, we made our way through Cherokee, past many small shops and the sprawling Harrah’s Casino and Hotel complex. Just before we crested the steep ridge between Cherokee and Maggie Valley to the East, we pulled off into a parking area to visit Soco Falls; we were in full-blown tourist mode by then.

After delightful Soco Falls, the remaining 30-mile trip home was anticlimactic, but enjoyable.

Yesterday was a very good day for us, thanks in no small measure to your and Charles’ efforts setting up and leading the field trip – thanks again.