|
T |
his
article is to assist the new guys and gals who want to be Rockhounds
and to assist the “Pebble Puppy” and others who have little or no
experience
or training. Length allows only a brief coverage of some basics.
What KIND of Rockhound do
you want to be?
What are your interests?
Cutting precious stones (Faceting), fossils (Paleontology), cutting and
polishing rocks and minerals (Lapidary ), collecting and studying
minerals, or
other. The Houston Gem & Mineral Society (HGMS) has these and other
sections for adults and children.
1
What,
where,
and when do you want to hunt?
Do
NOT start hunting on your own. There are many million of square miles
in the
2
So
where do
you find places to collect?
Ø Determine
what you are interested in. (see
first note
above)
Ø Determine
where those things may be found.
How do you
find out where things may be found?
a
You attend
meetings and ask questions of the more knowledgeable Rockhounds at
meetings.
b
You read
as much material on your area of interest as you can find. Go to: your
club’s
own library and publication; the public library; book stores; Gem,
Mineral
& Fossil shows; rock shops; and books that friends will loan you.
c
Purchase
geological maps and books of maps to learn where every little waterway,
hill,
cut, and bluff is located in the State in which you want to hunt. You
can get
these from Universities, the U. S. Geodetic Survey (included in the
footnotes),
and State Geological Departments.
d
Subscribe
to good magazines on the field (some are included in the footnotes).
e
One of the
best places to dig, is a new road cut or railroad cut freshly made.
Such cuts
expose new fossils and minerals after rain washes away the initial
construction
dirt from the new cut.
3
Determine
when the best time may be to look for specimens.
a
If you are
searching in rivers for fossils, you do not want to go when the river
is high.
Do go after there has been flooding, but only after the river has gone
back
down. Flooding and high water wash out fossils and sometimes minerals.
Then you
wait for the river to go down and go pick up your prizes on sand bars
and
banks.
b
Consider
climate conditions. Rivers can be dangerous during flooding. Deserts,
plains,
and other areas can be dangerous during high temperatures. River banks,
cuts,
and gullies can be dangerous when wet and slippery. Biting and stinging
insects, poisonous snakes, toxic plants, and other things you encounter
in the
wild may be worse (or better) during certain seasons and weather
conditions.
c
It is
better to go on cool or warm days when the humidity is low and there is
no
holiday or weekend traffic to fight. However if you tough it, inclement
weather
and conditions may mean less competition.
|
|
|
| Bone protruding from soil. Indicates that there might be
more. |
Backbone and ribs found after digging up rib |
Triceratops femur |
4
What to
wear and what personal items to take:
a
It depends
a lot upon the weather and where you are going to be hunting.
b
If you are
going to walk in a river bed, on river banks, cuts, gullies, or other
slippery
surfaces, you wear tennis shoes or other shoes that will grip
well when
wet.
c
If you
are going to be climbing hills or mountains, wear hiking boots
with good
tread and ankle support. If there is danger of a mashed toe, wear steel
toed
boots if possible.
d
I
recommend wearing full length pants and shirt sleeves. Limit
your
exposure to the sun, insect bites and stings, toxic plants, abrasions,
and
other mishaps. Wear something that is tough such as denim pants and
shirts. Do
not wear something that can be easily ruined—as it probably will be.
e
Always
bring a hat and a bandanna. This will protect your face, ears,
eyes, and
neck from the sun, dust, and sometimes rain.
f
Carry a canteen
or pack with water and sport drinks (to replace electrolytes in
your
system. Sweating (perspiring by ladies) is common on field trips, and
you don’t
want to become dehydrated.
g
Carry the
newer more powerful type of insect repellant and sun
protection cream
with a rating of at least SPF#15 or higher.
5
What to
take for digging: This is
much like
asking how long is a piece of string. In many sites, you can just pick
up
minerals and fossils with virtually no tools. Other sites require
specialized
tools and equipment. Below are some samples to understand how much this
can
vary.
1]
Primary
tools at any site are the containers and packaging
materials
in which to remove the minerals or fossils from the site and to carry
them
safely to your home, lab, or clubhouse. You don’t need to spend much
(if any)
money on containers. We all have lots of them around the house all the
time.
Some items are:
a
Plastic
bottles for water (for washing specimens) and to carry such
things as Butvar
glue* to keep fossils together until you can get them home for
preparation)
b
Soft
drink “flats” (these are cardboard containers with canned drinks)
c
Styrofoam
containers with lids (from fast food places with side orders)
d
Fishing
tackle boxes or pencil boxes that can be purchased at chain stores,
hobby
centers etc. [these are great for small shells, pieces of bone and
other
smaller fossils and minerals]
e
Various-sizes
of plastic storage boxes with lids (sold very reasonably)—good for
bringing
back larger specimens or clubs of dirt that you want to wash out for
fossils or
minerals when you get back
f
Always
carry with you toilet paper, paper towels, and other packing
material
(bubble wrap, aluminum foil, and for large fossils, bring plaster of
Paris,
burlap, and water).
2]
*Glue:
a
Butvar
chips dissolved in acetone is used to stabilize fossil bones etc.
b
White glue
like Elmer’s is useful and can be thinned down with water
c
Super glue
is fast drying and is useful in some limited capacities.
3]
Magnifying
glass: 3- to 6-power or a 10-power glass or jeweler’s loupe. Of
course,
also bring your prescription eyeglasses so you can see your feet and
the ground
when you are looking.
4]
For
softer digging, such as in river banks, sand bars, spillways and other
fairly
soft ground, you may only need the following items:
a
Garden
trowel
b
Tea spoon
or table spoon
c
Garden
tool (points on one side and hoe like edge on the other)
d
Kitchen
knives and table knives
e
Mason’s
trowel
Many other simple digging
tools.
5]
A
single-edged
razor blade to go around the edges to split the layers open to
reveal the
carbon remains of the fossil—for places like Florescent, Colorado where
you
find insects and leaves in layers of volcanic ash.
6]
A
large pry
bar and a sledge hammer and chisel in places like
7]
Probably
the most common tool is the rockhound hammer. Some of these are
actually
mason’s hammers which have a hammer on one side and a chisel
edge on the
other. Another is the engineer’s hammer which has a point on
one side
and the hammer on the other. Another often used tool is the baby
sledge,
which is a very heavy solid steel head on about a 10" or shorter handle.
8]
You
may
also, on occasions, wish to bring a pointed shovel, flat
shovel, spading
fork, sharp shooter shovel, pick axe, crow bar
or many
other usual construction type hand tools.
9]
[Under
some circumstances, bring exercise mats or padded mats
to lie or
lean upon when the site requires a lot of lying and digging.
10] Identification
books, manuals, and other material can be helpful to help identify
what you
are finding.
11] Tags
and forms. Use a Travel Log when you start on your trip and log
in at
each stop, things like odometer reading, time, temperature, and reason
for the
stop. Use a location form to log in information on the
location. Use a specimen
tag to write up at least minimal information for each specimen. At
the
location, I may only make up one specimen tag for the entire group of
fossils
or minerals from that location. However, later I will make up one tag
for each
significant fossil or mineral, as it is important to the value of your
specimen
to have detailed information.
12] Camera,
Compass, Notebook, Pen, and Measuring tape. Especially when finding
a
vertebrate fossil, you may wish to photograph it “in loco” (i.e. where
found),
to draw it and write down compass readings from a point of reference.
13] Water
and Snacks can be very important to avoiding heat prostration
and
hunger.
6
Rules,
regulations and compliance:
Ø Clubs have Rules
which they expect
you to
follow. You should also expect to sign an Assumption of Risk
form showing
that you understand that you are participating in something which can
be and
sometimes is dangerous.
Ø There are
written and unwritten general
rules, which
you should understand and follow, such as:
1]
Don’t
go
on land unless you do so legally. You may get yourself or your club
into
trouble OR you may get the Club barred in the future from a site. Be
respectful
of the land owner and your club.
2]
Follow
the
directions of the Club’s trip leader.
3]
Always
leave a site better than you found it. It is good for the reputation
for your
club, so you are welcomed back by the property owners.
4]
Stay
with
the group. You may be asked to use the “buddy system” to ensure that
everyone
is accounted for and has someone to help in an emergency. Also don’t
get too
far ahead or behind the group.
5]
For
safety
and coordination of the group outing, meet at the designated place
at
the designated time you are supposed to be there.
6]
At
a site,
pick up what you need and want, but do not clean the site out just
because
there are more fossils or mineral specimens you could pick up. Leave
some for
those who come after you. Some excellent sites in the past are now
devoid of
all fossils and minerals. Most Rockhounds know what a leaverite is. It
means,
Leave ‘er right there where it is—you don’t need it, and it isn’t worth
taking
home.
Finally, there is much more to
be learned, and this is only a thumbnail sketch. You will have a lot of
friendly folks who will teach you. They will gladly show you and tell
you what
you want to know and what you need to know to become a first class
rockhound.
Here
is your “Rockhounding
101”Certificate of Completion.
*****************************************************************
ROCKHOUNDING
101
CERTIFICATE OF COMPLETION
Name:_____________________________________
has completed the short course on beginning Rockhounding, having waded
through
the foregoing material with courage and diligence and is now ready to
learn
more about being a Rockhound or Pebble Puppy.
Date:___________________
_______________________________________
T. W. “Terry” Proctor,
J.D.—Instructor
*****************************************************************
HOUSTON
GEM & MINERAL SOCIETY [our club]
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BROOKLET
281
530-0942
website:
http://www.hgms.org
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JOURNAL
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