Santa Lucia Rockhounds Rockonteur€¦ · Santa Lucia Rockhounds, Inc. is a charitable group...

Volume 25, Issue 6 June 2015

Words From the President

Rockonteur S a n ta Luc i a R o c k h o u n d s

Is it June already? It’s been one month after our successful Rock & Gem Show. We are still hearing how great the show was. The best compliment I hear is that the atmosphere was positive, joyful, and that people learned more about rocks. You can't ask for anything more than that. I can't wait until next year’s show. Learning from our mistakes will make future shows even better. We are getting started for next year’s show soon; I am working on a show manual for the Fairgrounds. We welcome any volunteers who want to help with the Show Committee. There is always need for improvement and learning. The Goal for next year’s show is SIMPLICITY, FUN and LEARNING.

This Month’s Program

Nipomo Agate by Bob Baker

Next Board Meeting:

8 June 2015

Next General Meeting:

15 June 2015

John McCabe has been working hard on finding candidates for our $1000 club scholarship program. Last Thursday, at Atascadero High School’s Award Night, he gave Senior Rachel Donati from Atascadero High School a $1000

scholarship check from the Santa Lucia Rockhounds. She is a member of the National Honor Society and will be attending Colorado School of Mines starting in August. Her major is Geologic

Refreshments

Last names beginning with H through N please bring

refreshments to share at the upcoming meeting.

Engineering. Thank You John McCabe for this great candidate. This month’s program looks very exciting. Bob Baker will be doing a presentation on Nipomo agates from our own backyard. He has a very impressive and beautiful collection of Nipomo agate that he will be displaying along with his presentation. Many of his finds are from areas not accessible to the public, but mainly he has patience and a good eye for finding beautiful treasures. This is something you don't want to miss. The club annual picnic is coming. Mark your calendars for September 20th. This is a very fun event with food, games, and a club auction. I hope you all will attend. --Mike Judy--

Nipomo marcasite in agate cabochon Nipomo sagenite & plume Nipomo marcasite detail

VOLUME 25, ISSUE 6 June 2015 ROCKONTEUR

The Rockonteur is the official monthly newsletter of the Santa Lucia Rockhounds. It is an independent publication containing news and information consistent with the mission of SLR and of interest to its members.

Circulation is approximately 90 copies per issue.

Editor - Publisher: James King 8745 Martinez Drive San Miguel, CA 93451 [email protected] (805) 975-2740 (Please leave message)

Member submissions are encouraged and may be made by email or snail mail. We reserve the right to accept or refuse submissions and advertising that, in our opinion, do not reflect the standards of this newsletter, or are inconsistent with the objectives and purpose of the Santa Lucia Rockhounds. Submissions may be edited for content, grammar, spelling, punctuation and length without consent.

Rockonteur is not a creative writing outlet. However, all submissions that may be of interest to its readers and reflect the standards of the newsletter, will be considered for publication at the discretion of the editor or publisher.

Deadline: All submissions are due by midnight of the last day of the month but early submissions are highly appreciated and strongly encouraged. The publisher reserves the right to accept, reject or hold-over late submissions.

Santa Lucia Rockhounds Website: www.slrockhounds.org Webmaster - Vince Pelerin, (831) 594-1381 [email protected]

Santa Lucia Rockhounds, Inc. is a charitable group organized as a California non-profit public benefit corporation. The specific purpose of the group is to promote the study of mineralogy, including (but not limited to) the fields of lapidary, metal working, jewelry design & fabrication, geology and field trips for collecting and related history. We encourage learning and good citizenship in a congenial atmosphere. We respect both private and public property and we strive to protect natural resources.

Annual Dues are $20 for the first adult and $8 each for every additional member in the same household. Dues are payable between 1 September and 31 December, in person at the meetings or by mail. Members in good standing receive the Rockonteur by mail or email.

We are a member of the California Federation of Mineralogical Societies (CFMS) and affiliated with the American Federation of Mineralogical Societies (AFMS). Santa Lucia Rockhounds, Inc. is also a member of the American Lands Access Association (ALAA).

Welcome New Member Give a big ol’ rockhound welcome to our newest members when you see them.

◊ Pam & Christopher Murphy 559-792-8462 [email protected]

◊ Sherry Jacobs & Hezekiah Wilson 805-674-9712 [email protected]

Please add them and their contact information to your directory.

Charles Lindberg By Beth Meyers One of our dear friends and fellow rockhounds, Charles Lindberg, died May 7th after a 9-month battle for his life. Charles was a young man, full of promise, when he was struck down by a nasty, surprise illness last year. His mother, Mary, moved with Charles to southern California to be his partner and caregiver during his treatments, while his father, Brian, held down the fort at their place in Creston. When they relocated for Charles’ treatment, Mary said that she and Charles had taken with them a Moroccan rug which they had purchased at Aaron’s and Rachel’s Ancient Earth shop in Cambria. When the end was near, Charles had a lovely piece of jade (that he bought at the Jade Festival last year) alongside his bed. If you know Mary, please let her know how much her son will be missed by all of us who cherish rocks and the friendships they bring.

The Black Cliffs The Black Cliffs along the Boise River leading to Lucky Peak Reservoir are a popular place for rock climbing in the Treasure Valley of Idaho. Composed of volcanic columnar basalt, the cliffs provide ideal handholds and footholds that seem to have been created to cater to climbers.

Interested in Club Leadership Roles? Could you be interested in serving as an officer and guiding the direction of your club? Have you got a graphics design bent and would like to be the newsletter editor? Maybe you would like to adopt the website some day, or membership, or field trips. There are many opportunities to get involved with your club. If you’re interested but would like to know more or receive some mentoring, contact Barbara Bilyeu and we’ll help you.

The Black Cliffs of Boise, Idaho.


Day Trip To Laguna Mountain By Barbara Bilyeu Acting on a "hot tip" and anxious to get away for a field trip after the show, my rockhound husband Gene and collecting buddy Galen and I decided to head for the hills in hopes of finding a new geode location! The "hot tip" was a 30-year-old report of possible geodes in a wash in the mountains west of Coalinga. After searching out the location on Google Earth and deciding it might be reachable without too much effort, we set out to see what we could find -- and at least have a good day of hiking in the mountains even if we didn't find any geodes. We sure picked the right day! There were still wildflowers, green vegetation and actual WATER in Laguna Creek when we got there. Had we gone further along the trail, there was even supposed to be a waterfall with real water in it!

The site was on BLM land, Laguna Mountain Recreation Area on Coalinga Road between King City and Coalinga. Those of you who have been to Clear Creek know the road. We parked in the designated parking lot where there was a nicely-maintained camping area and an outhouse. Then we set off on the trail up the hill amidst the flowers, instantly intrigued by the complex and colorful rock formations we passed through along the way. At the top of the ridge, the trail began a long, scenic descent down to the

creek. The trail is well-maintained, and the only other folks we saw on the way down were a party of boar hunters heading back to camp (without success). The last stretch consists of pretty steep switchbacks, and then we were in a beautiful canyon with shady trees overhead and a lovely stream splashing over the boulders. The three of us explored along the creek, looking for the geodes and anything else that caught our eye.

Well, there were no geodes, but we did find some pretty neat nodules of magnesite which were probably mistaken for geodes once upon a time. We also found lots of fossils, agate and other materials. But the magnesite nodules were neat enough to haul back! I was actually kind of glad we didn't find any geodes, because then we would have had to haul them back UP the trail, 350 feet back to the top of the ridge. As it was, we all carried about as much rock as we wanted and left plenty behind.

Magnesite (MgCO3) is found most commonly in massive, compact, porous, cream-colored masses that are dull in luster -- rarely in crystal form. The occurrence California rockhounds are most familiar with is in association with plasma agate from Clear Creek. Being that we were pretty close, we did drop by the entrance to Clear Creek after leaving Laguna Mountain. After leaving money in the box, filling out the form, and sticking the tag on our dashboard, we headed down to the creek beside the road. Still no geodes, but we found some very nice plasma agate (with magnesite) and other treasures to load into the car. And collecting beside a running stream is pretty close to heaven for these Santa Lucia Rockhounds!

The trail, with Laguna Mountain in the distance.

Magnesite nodules.

A boulder of shell fossils.

A polished specimen of plasma agate with magnesite from Clear Creek. Galen made friends with a horny-toad.


Did you know? A look at earth science odds and ends

by a geology geek (Jim Mills) (THE GEOLOGY GEEK IS ON A WELL-DESERVED VACATION SO WE ARE REPRINTING ONE OF THE EARLY COLUMNS FROM 2011 FOR OUR NEWER READERS AND, PERHAPS ALSO FOR SOME OF OUR FORGETFUL OLDER READERS. HE WILL RETURN NEXT MONTH WITH NEW TALES …) When you sit down at your lapidary equipment to grind a cabochon or facet a stone, do you ever wonder how it all got started? Well, the very early nobility of Asia and Europe had artisans who could spend weeks or months rubbing two stones together to shape and polish a gemstone for a crown, scepter, or other adornment. But the business of polishing stones for the rest of us, who were not kings and queens, got its start in the twin towns of Idar and Oberstein, Germany. These two towns had all the necessary ingredients for establishing an early lapidary industry. It included an abundance of (really beautiful) local agate, very tough local gritstone (coarse sandstone) from which they made grinding wheels, plenty of water power to turn the wheels and just the right amount of German perseverance and ingenuity to go through all of the trials and errors of establishing a new technology in the 19th century. There were no diamond wheels – not even silicon carbide grinding stones. No diamond saws and no electricity to run equipment. So, finding a local gritstone that was tough enough to wear down an agate was essential. After all, the gritstone and the agate are essentially the same hardness of 7 on the Mohs scale. So the agate would grind the wheel almost as much as the wheel would grind the agate. The solution? How about grinding wheels that were massive in size compared to the ones we use today? Five feet in diameter and a foot wide! Something of that size that would last through literally hundreds of agate projects. In addition, electricity was still decades in the future which meant that water power was the only available source of energy to turn the wheels. A massive, heavy wheel, once it has started to turn, has so much momentum, that it is very difficult to stop it! So pressing an agate against the wheel, adding water to carry away the heat of friction, had almost no impact on slowing down the massive wheel. But, how would you work a stone on such a large wheel?

Well, just check out the photos below. These artisans of Oberstein are working in a prone position with a foot rest that allows them to push with their feet when pressing against the wheel. That gives extra pressure to the stone being worked on the wheel. So, now think of yourself working on equipment like this to cut that agate from the Mojave Desert or that Jasper from San Simeon Creek. Imagine yourself doing it all day long and a project taking up to a week to complete. Hmmm, stamp collecting is suddenly starting to sound very good …

Maybe those expensive diamond tools are worth the price after all! Epilogue: Business in Idar and Oberstein was so good that local agate supplies were eventually exhausted and the Germans turned to the incredible deposits of agate in Brazil for their raw material. This brought about new technology of dying agates different colors but that’s a completely different story for another time. Just thought you would like to know…


General Meeting Minutes, 18 May 2015 The meeting opened at 7:05 p.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance, after which Faith Clary lead the singing of "Happy Birthday" to those club members born in the month of May. After the introduction of guests, (of whom there were quite a few), Bob Baker did the badge check. Wayne Mills announced that the Nipomo club is having a rock sale on May 23rd, and that the Central Coast Cactus and Succulent club is having a Succulent Show at the Ludwick Center in San Luis Obispo on May 23rd and 24th. A field trip is planned to buy Brazilian agate in San Luis Obispo, but a date has not yet been set. The club's recent show, the first to be held indoors at the fairgrounds, seems to have been quite a success, with an estimated attendance of about 1700 people. Mike Judy thanked the Show Committee, consisting of Kim Noyes, Rachel Miller, Denise Halopoff, Gene and Barbara Bilyeu, Brett Weathersbee, Christine Vitarisi, Tom and Lori Wylie, Galen Moyer, Mike Doherty, David Nelson, Alice, Alvaro, and Eva Rodriguez, and Vince Pellerin. Mike also thanked everyone who helped with set-up, tear down, and everything in between, with special thanks to Jim Mills. Of the exhibitors, Don Huntington and Don Pierce won 1st place in the People's Choice competition, David Nelson took 2nd place, and Wayne Mills took 3rd place. The President's Choice award was won by Walt Wright. Barbara Bilyeu, who has been in charge of the exhibits and the children's activities, will be stepping down this year, and she has offered to train anyone who wants to take her place. Gene Bilyeu thanked all the demonstrators, and Tom Wylie thanked the geode crackers. David Nelson announced that it is time to order more club T-shirts. Anyone who wants a 2X or larger shirt, or a pullover hoodie, should let David know. The Show and Tell table featured a Chumash bowl and several points belonging to Ron Rosconi, some agates from Cambria and King City and a Highway 46 thunder egg belonging to Galen Moyer, some jasper from San Simeon and a mystery rock belonging to Dave Bender, and some Highway 46 biconoids, thunder eggs, and petrified wood belonging to Chris Driesbach. John McCabe introduced the Junior Rockhounds for the newcomers present-the club has gained four new junior members in the past month. The featured speaker for the evening was Barbara Bilyeu, who gave a most interesting presentation on benitoite, the state gemstone of California. This is a rare gem indeed, being found mainly in the New Idria Mining District (Clear Creek area) in San Benito County. Benitoite is formed in blue schist in a hydrothermal vein, and is most often blue in color, but can also be clear. Next month, Bob Baker will give a presentation on Nipomo agates. At 8:02 p.m., the meeting adjourned for refreshments, the drawing, and the silent auction, dispersing between 8:30 and 9:00 p.m. Hoping you value the rare gems in your life, I am respectfully yours, Rachael Denny, Secretary

Business Meeting Minutes, 11 May 2015 The meeting opened at 7:00 p.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance. Present were Mike Judy, Beverly Brown, John McCabe, Rachael Denny, Rachel Miller, David Nelson, James and Lisa King, Barbara and Gene Bilyeu, Mike Doherty, Denise Halopoff, Dale Conrad, and Dorin Strane. James King moved to approve the minutes of last month's Board and General meetings, David Nelson seconded the motion, and the minutes were approved by the Board. Mike Judy commended Barbara Bilyeu for speaking at the Sunrise Rotary Club's meeting on April 22nd. The club needs to invest the income from the sale of the property on Railroad Street, and to this end, club members are urged to gather quotes on CDs. Rachel Miller presented the Treasurer's Report. At the last meeting, the club made $34 on the silent auction, $65 on the drawing, $84 in membership fees, $10 on merchandise, and $1.25 in badge fees. Beverly Brown reported that she has not yet been able to schedule a speaker for May or June. Barbara Bilyeu is willing to give a presentation on benitoite for the general meeting in May. John McCabe reported that he will be giving a talk at Saint Rose Grammar School on May 12th, and that the club presently has four new junior members. John's last geology class was cancelled owing to inclement weather, and will need to be re-scheduled. Gene Bilyeu reminded everyone that the CFMS show will be taking place in Lodi on June 12-14. Lisa King reported that the club presently has 118 paid members. The membership applications of Sheri and Hezekiah Jacobs, John Deering, and Pam and Christopher Murphy were presented, and approved by the Board. Mike Doherty reported that there were articles about the club's recent show in the Atascadero News, the Paso Robles Press, the New Times, and Rock and Gem magazine. David Nelson reported that there are only four gemstone tote bags left, and that it is time to get new club T-shirts, as they are also depleted in number. The club's annual picnic is being planned for September 20th. The Templeton Park needs to be reserved for this event, and volunteers will be needed to help with the barbecue. The final item of discussion was the club's recent show. The show took place in a new location this year, and seems to have done quite well, making a net profit of around $4000. There always seems to be room for improvement, however. While feedback on the show has mostly been positive, it was agreed that we could have used more manpower. Opinion is overwhelmingly in favor of having another show next year, but it appears that we will need more volunteers. The meeting adjourned at 8:38 p.m. Respectfully yours, Rachael Denny, Secretary


PAGE 6

The Wellness Kitchen 1255 Las Tablas Rd Ste 102, Templeton (805) 434-1800

[email protected]

OPEN: Mon/Thur/Fri - 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Tues/Wed - 9 a.m.-6 p.m.

Mission Statement In a supportive, healing atmosphere, our mission is to provide Healing Foods to those in critical need along with education, resources and nourishing meals for individuals wanting to regain or sustain optimal health.

Vision of The WKRC It is our vision that everyone, regardless of their financial situation, who is dealing with a health crisis, can receive food support through our programs until they get back on their feet. And for us to provide education so they may prepare their own mineral rich foods for themselves and family.

Ancient Creatures Pooped Together By Stephanie Pappas Published: December 1, 2013 Enormous herds of rhinolike animals turned parts of what is now Argentina into minefields of dung, new fossils reveal. These massive herbivores were dicynodonts, mammal-like reptiles that looked something like a cross between a rhinoceros and the demon dogs from "Ghostbusters." Argentine researchers have now found that these dicynodonts pooped in communal latrines, designated areas for depositing dung. Many modern-day animals, including elephants, llamas and rhinos, poop in communal latrines. Even raccoons do it, much to the irritation of homeowners whose backyards are chosen as the places to defecate. Fossilized hyena poop from several hundred thousand years ago was deposited in communal latrines, but the behavior has not been found further back in the fossil record. "This is the only case of megaherbavore latrine and it's the oldest," found fossilized, said study researcher Lucas Fiorelli of the Centro Regional de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia Tecnológica in La Rioja, Argentina.

Herd of reptiles Fiorelli and his colleagues began excavating in northwest Argentina two years ago and quickly uncovered fossilized poop — known as coprolites — by the bucket load. These coprolites date back to the middle Triassic, 240 million years ago. In this era, small dinosaurs were just beginning to appear, but the world belonged to strange mammal-like reptiles, including the famous sail-backed Dimetrodon. In some areas, there were as many as 94 rounded fossil poops every 10 square feet (1 square meter). The coprolites varied in size from just about half an inch (1 centimeter) in diameter to more than a foot (35 cm) wide. Such variation in such a small area strongly suggested a herd of young and old animals living together, defecating communally. In total, the researchers found eight separate latrine spots. Most of the coprolites were oval or spherical, with a few "sausagelike" outliers and a few shaped like cow patties. The only animal large enough to produce dung balls more than a foot in diameter in this region was Dinodontosaurus, a beaky, tusked bruiser that could weigh up to 6,600 pounds (3,000 kilograms). In comparison, a modern African female bush elephant weighs about 8,000 lbs. (3,600 kg).

Communal pooping Modern animals use communal latrines for communication — a big pile of dung can say anything from "dominant male lives here" to "fertile female nearby!" Communal defecation also prevents animals from spreading parasites, because they don't poop where they eat, Fiorelli said. It's not possible to know why Dinodontosaurus engaged in communal pooping, but the behavior could have served a similar purpose. "It's an important social behavior," Fiorelli said. "They were gregarious animals." The discovery is not only the first evidence of Triassic communal latrines; it's also the first direct evidence of Dinodontosaurus's diet. Most researchers agreed that this weird creature was a vegetarian, but only based on the animal's beaklike jaw. The gray-brown coprolites contained no animal bones, only woody plant material, seeds and pollen, Fiorelli and his colleagues found. The analysis

reveals that Dinodontosaurus was indeed herbivorous. Fiorelli and his colleagues have plans for more excavations in the region. They also plan to take a closer look at the Dinodontosaurus poop, which provides direct evidence of the kind of plants that were in the area 240 million years ago. "In the formation, you have no record of plants, only animals," Fiorelli said. "Now, with the coprolite, you can know about the paleobotany of the formation." For original article, go to: www.livescience.com/41560-ancient-reptiles-pooped-together.html


2015 OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS

President, Michael Judy (805) 238-4469 [email protected]

VP Programs, Beverly Brown (805) 550-9079 [email protected]

VP Education, John McCabe (805) 464-0528 [email protected]

VP Communications, Brett Weathersbee (805) 550-2753 [email protected]

Secretary, Rachael Denny (805) 472-9036 [email protected]

Treasurer, Rachel Miller (408) 497-0715 [email protected]

Sr. Director, David Nelson (805) 423-0188 [email protected]

Jr. Director, James King (805) 975-2740 [email protected]

Past President, Barbara Bilyeu (805) 434-2708 [email protected] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2015 COMMITTEE CHAIRS

CFMS Director, Gene Bilyeu (805) 434-2708 [email protected]

CFMS Alternate, Jim Mills (805) 237-0303 [email protected]

Drawings, Michael Judy (805) 238-4469 [email protected]

Field Trips, Vacant

Membership, Lisa King (805) 467-0062 [email protected]

Merchandise, David Nelson (805) 423-0188 [email protected]

Museum & Library, Barbara Bilyeu (805) 434-2708 [email protected]

Hospitality, Denise Halopoff (805) 238-4469 [email protected]

History, Mike Doherty (805) 466-4061 [email protected]

Rock & Gem Show, Michael Judy (805) 238-4469 [email protected] and Barbara Bilyeu (805) 434-2708 [email protected]

Silent Auction, Pete Duckworth (805) 467-3413 [email protected]

Newsletter Editor - Publisher, James King (805) 975-2740 [email protected]

Meetings Board meetings - 2nd Monday of the month at The Wellness Kitchen, 1255 Las Tablas Rd. Ste. 102, Templeton at 7 p.m. General meetings - 3rd Monday of every month except September and December at the Templeton Community Center, 601 Main St. Templeton at 7 p.m..

CALENDAR OF EVENTS JUNE 2015

8) SLR Board Meeting, 7 pm Location: Wellness Kitchen, 1255 Las Tablas Rd Ste 102, Templeton Contact: Michael Judy (805) 238-4469, [email protected] 15) SLR General Meeting, 7 pm, Location: Templeton Community Center, 601 S. Main Street, Templeton Contact: Michael Judy (805) 238-4469, [email protected]

JULY 2015 13) SLR Board Meeting, 7 pm Location: Wellness Kitchen, 1255 Las Tablas Rd Ste 102, Templeton Contact: Michael Judy (805) 238-4469, [email protected] 20) SLR General Meeting, 7 pm, Location: Templeton Community Center, 601 S. Main Street, Templeton Contact: Michael Judy (805) 238-4469, [email protected]

AUGUST 2015 10) SLR Board Meeting, 7 pm Location: Wellness Kitchen, 1255 Las Tablas Rd Ste 102, Templeton Contact: Michael Judy (805) 238-4469, [email protected] 17) SLR General Meeting, 7 pm, Location: Templeton Community Center, 601 S. Main Street, Templeton Contact: Michael Judy (805) 238-4469, [email protected]

SEPTEMBER 2015 14) SLR Board Meeting, 7 pm Location: Wellness Kitchen, 1255 Las Tablas Rd Ste 102, Templeton Contact: Michael Judy (805) 238-4469, [email protected] 20) SLR Annual Picnic, Location: Templeton Park Contact: Michael Judy (805) 238-4469, [email protected]

OCTOBER 2015 12) SLR Board Meeting, 7 pm Location: Wellness Kitchen, 1255 Las Tablas Rd Ste 102, Templeton Contact: Michael Judy (805) 238-4469, [email protected] 19) SLR General Meeting, 7 pm, Location: Templeton Community Center, 601 S. Main Street, Templeton Contact: Michael Judy (805) 238-4469, [email protected]

NOVEMBER 2015 9) SLR Board Meeting, 7 pm Location: Wellness Kitchen, 1255 Las Tablas Rd Ste 102, Templeton Contact: Michael Judy (805) 238-4469, [email protected] 16) SLR General Meeting, 7 pm, Location: Templeton Community Center, 601 S. Main Street, Templeton Contact: Michael Judy (805) 238-4469, [email protected]

DECEMBER 2015 14) SLR Board Meeting, 7 pm Location: Wellness Kitchen, 1255 Las Tablas Rd Ste 102, Templeton Contact: Michael Judy (805) 238-4469, [email protected] 21) SLR Christmas Party, Location: TBD Contact: Michael Judy (805) 238-4469, [email protected]

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