The Monthly News Bulletin of the Huntsville Gem & Mineral...

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The Monthly News Bulletin of the Huntsville Gem & Mineral Society

Huntsville, Alabama

Volume 43 No. 6 “We’ll go to the Moon for a Rock” June 2011

Annual Picnic and Rock Swap 25 Jun 2011

Huntsville Gem & Mineral Society 2011. Reprinting Rights are granted for all material (except for minutes of the meeting and copyrighted articles) to any organization officially affiliated with the American Federation of

Mineralogical Societies (AFMS) or Southeastern Federation of Mineralogical Societies (SFMS), provided credit is given to the author, the original publication, and this newsletter.

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

President’s Message……..2

Minutes Apr Mtg……..…..2

Hours for Lab……………...3

Picnic Info & Past Pics….4

May & June Birthdays & Anniversaries ….…. 5

Precious Opals Color…….6

2011 Officers and

Committee Chairmen.…..7

Calendar……………..….…..8

June 2011 ROCKET CITY ROCKS AND GEMS

President’s Message – June, 2011 First, I hope everyone is surviving the heat. As they say back home, “it may not be a record, but it makes a darn nice average”. Be sure to take care in the heat. Remember, our June get-together will be on Saturday, June 25

th at the TBE (Teledyne Brown Enterprise) Park. For those new members, this meeting is a picnic. The club will provide meat and everyone is asked to bring a dish to share. Be sure that it is picnic-friendly for there are no microwaves available. The club will also provided drinks, plates, napkin, etc. While there are a couple of tables and some benches, it is always good to bring additional chairs and tables if you have them. This get-together will be in the same location as a couple of years ago, and directions to it are supposed to be in this month’s newsletter. The entrance is off of Sparkman Drive. I wish to remind everyone that this is an opportunity to swap rocks, stories and ideas. Lastly, I have to bring up our Annual Show scheduled for October 14, 15, and 16 in the VBC – South Hall. This is the same location as our show last year. I don’t know about you, but I am looking forward to it. As always, we are in need of committee chairmen and members, and this offers a chance for members, new and old, to get involved with the club. Let us know if you can help. I look forward to seeing each and every one of you at the Picnic! Charlie Willhoite, President Huntsville Gem & Mineral Society

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Minutes of the HGMS for the month of May, 2011

The meeting was called to order by the President Charles Willhoite at 6:35PM Myra Soroczak introduced the guest speaker Dr. Mark Puckett, associate professor of Geology at the University of North Alabama. The program was Fossils of the Caribbean Region which consisted of a slide show of microscopic creatures called Ostracodes, (fascinating little things). Thank you Dr. Puckett for the program. The minutes for the April 2011 meeting were accepted as published in the HG and MS newsletter. Floyd Mims gave the treasurer's report. There is a balance of 2723.33 in the treasury. All bills paid and $30 to be deposited. A breakdown of the auction income shows a gross of $1939. Thanks to all who participated in any manner. Tony Smith gave a report on the upcoming show at the VB. There are conflicts with 2 other shows in the area and more dealers would be welcome. If you know of any, please contact Tony. It will be held in the South Hall of the VB Center. Volunteers are needed to make it a success. Posters for the show should be available at the Picnic in June. Jim Treadway is planning to meet next Wednesday with Bill Friday, Julie Eve, Bill

Lokken, Charlie Willhoite and Tom Glynn to discuss Rules and Regulations for the Lapidary Shop. There is a Show at Tannehill on June 4 and 5. Flyers are available for those interested. The committee for revamping the Constitution for the HG and MS is pending. Lowell Zoller briefly discussed the cabinet for displays in schools and the effort required to maintain the display. No action was taken at this time. The June meeting will consist of a Picnic on June 25 at the TBE Picnic Area. Individuals attending are asked to bring a covered dish, (or 2). The barbeque will be provided by the club. Swapping and selling of Rocks, Jewelry and equipment is permitted. It might be a good idea to bring a chair or 2 along if you have such. The bookcase was not available at the meeting. The meeting was adjourned at 8:10 and refreshments enjoyed by those present. Respectfully submitted, Ron West, Recording Secretary


New Dealers needed for the Fall HGMS Show

If any HGMS members know the names and contact information for some new dealers that we could recruit this year's October Show, please contact Tony Smith at (256) 852-3210 or by email at [email protected] We have several (7) dealers who can not make our show because of conflicts with other shows on that weekend. So we need some more names to try and get to fill up the show. Thanks, Tony Smith, Show Chairman

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HUNTSVILLE-MADISON COUNTY SENIOR CENTER LAPIDARY LAB SCHEDULE Jun 2011

Watch for Lab Schedule Changes upcoming next month Daily: 7:30am till classes start, if any

(Must get key from desk before 9:00)

Monday: 9:00-12:00 Beginning Silver (West)

12:00-4:00 *Open Lab

Tuesday: 10:00-12:00 Silver Jewelry (West)

1:00-3:00 Silver Jewelry (Clarke)

24 May 3:00-9:00 Evening Open Lab (not yet regular)

Wednesday 7:30-4:00 *Open Lab

Thursday 7:30-12:00 *Open Lab

12:00-3:00 Woodcarving (Copeland)

Friday 7:30-12:00 *Open Lab

* ONLY MEMBERS CERTIFIED BY QUALIFIED INSTRUCTOR

The Madison County Senior Center Staff offers all HGMS members who have successfully completed a Lapidary Certification Course to have access to the Lapidary Lab during regular hours, regardless of age. If you wish to sign up for a Lapidary Class,

contact Jim Treadway (256) 859-1484 or Bill Friday 256-883-8487

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HGMS Constitution and By-laws

In the last newsletter, the need to update to the Huntsville Gem & Mineral Society Constitution and By-laws was presented. A committee has not been formed, but it is in the early stages of development. It was brought up that many people in the club may not have a copy of the Constitution and By-laws. I have it available in electronic and paper form. If anyone would like a copy of it, please send me an e-mail at [email protected], requesting it, or you can may my Lori Willhoite to request a paper copy. I feel that this is of high importance. After the committee is formed, they will ask for serious suggestions for changes and addition. I will keep you posted on this matter. Charlie Willhoite – HGMS President


Polishing Tools From the Bulletin Exchange: Canvas is useful when polishing heat sensitive stones because it develops little friction. Muslin buffs are recommended for soft stones and gems that are heat sensitive. Leather is a versatile buffing material that is both efficient and economical. Leather generates heat, but not as much as felt. Felt is useful for polishing glass and stones of even texture. It is not recommended for gem stones that undercut. Friction on felt generates heat rapidly. Phenolic tools or phenolic lap disc (cab laps) are useful when impregnated with diamond grit. 14,000 M (prepolish) or 50,000M (polish) diamond compound can be applied to the surface of the gemstone and worked with a phenolic carving tool. It can also be applied to the surface of the phenolic lap disc and worked with the gemstone mounted at the end of a dop stick. The diamond will charge the phenolic lap, making smoothing and polishing easy. *************************************************************************************************************

Pictures from the 2010 HGMS Picnic We look forward to seeing lots of members at the upcoming Spring Picnic and Rock Swap, this coming Saturday, 25 June at the Teledyne Brown Engineering

Park, across Sparkman Drive west from University of Alabama Huntsville Meat & paper provided by Club – bring a favorite picnic specialty to share

See Map on Cover Page – Lakeside Drive


Picking Good Jasper author unknown

Jasper is much more troublesome to polish than agate because many varieties are “earthy” and porous, and others contain hematite, which is itself difficult to polish. If you are on a field trip, a good way to test jasper is to wet it. (Do not lick it.) If it absorbs the water and dries rapidly, throw it away. It will not polish. If it stays wet and does not dry right away, keep it. It contains a high amount of chalcedony and will take a good polish. Most Jaspers polish well on leather with Linde-A, but good results can be obtained with tin oxide on either leather or felt. Always remember that a fine sanding job is the secret of good polishing. When tumbling softer, hard to polish material, don’t start with the coarse grit. Start with the second grit and go one grit finer than the #3 grit used on agates. In polishing, fill the tumbler 3/4 to 7/8 full (if not using pellets) so the stones will roll and not fall. This way you do not have the stones beating the polish off the ends. Also, cerium oxide will polish better than regular tumbler polishing agents. It does not take very much cerium to do this job, about 1/2 as much as the regular tumble polish. --from Rock Rollers, Sept. 2004 via Rock Collector, Dec. 2009

June Birthdays James Honey 3 David O'Dell 26 Ann Cobb 18 Dianna O'Dell 27

Hunter Stickels 21 Lori Willhoite 28

June Anniversaries Bill & Peggy Sweetman 7 Charlie & Lori Willhoite 8 Wayne Falkenberg 12

- Lawrence & Diana Nelms 21

July Birthdays Ed Kiker 1 Kristine Beadle 29 Garrett Stickels 17 Ron West 29 Treva Garcia

July Anniversaries Jim & Bonnie Treadway 3 Wyatt & Jennifer & Fisher 14 Steve & Shiela Tesh 28


Precious Opals and Why They Display Color By Sarah Lee Boyce and Carl Talbott

Opal, a mineraloid of non-crystalline silicon dioxide and water, may be found in the fissures of common porous rocks such as sandstone, rhyolite, marl, and basalt as well as in fossils. Opal forms when large quantities of terrestrial waters wash over sandstone (or similar porous rock or fossil) and chemically weather it such that large quantities of dissolved silica percolate through the rock strata until it reaches an impervious level. As the silica solution comes to rest, it spreads out along this level, fills voids or cracks within the strata,and begins to solidify over time through evaporation. Although Opal is said to have no crystalline structure, at the micro-level, one type of opal (known as OpalAG) contains silica spheres with diameters on the order of 140 to 300 nanometers organized in a number of cubic or hexagonal close-packed lattices (see Figure) that are several hundred times larger than the fundamental silica spheres. Water fills the space between the silica spheres, and when the spacing between packed planes of spheres is approximately one-half the wavelength of a visible light component, that wavelength light can be diffracted by the grating created by the stacked planes. Figure1: Close packed–lattice example These internal colors, then, depend on the spacing between the planes (i.e. the size of the spheres) and their orientation with respect to light.1 The observed color is related to the size of constituent spheres in each close-packed-lattice (i.e., blue wavelengths will be diffracted by the smaller sized spheres of approximately 140 nanometers diameter whereas red wavelengths will be diffracted by larger sized spheres of approximately 240 nanometers). First discovered and described by Australian researchers in 1965, this phenomenon is called a “play-of-color” or “fire” and is the hallmark of precious opal.2 Another type of opal (Opal-AN) is amorphous water-containing silica-glass, known as Hyalite, 3 which has a glassy and clear appearance with an internal play-of-color. Under long-wave blacklight, Hyalite glows bright green. If there is no presence of an internal play-of-color in either Opal-AG or Opal-AN, then these are called common opals even though the silica sphere structure may be present. The play-of-color in precious opal has color patches that often vary in size and shape and that change color as the direction of light sources, orientation of the opal, or direction of viewing is changed. This constitutes the opal’s “fire pattern” commonly classified into categories such as pinfire, flashfire, and harlequin.4 Since both Opal-AG and Opal-AN are both noncrystalline substances, in the presence of low levels of pressure or heat, they can gradually transform into Opal-CT and then into Opal-C both of which are microcrystalline in nature where the spheres of silica grow into blades of cristobalite and tridymite. These forms of opal have no play-of-color (and therefore are not precious opal) because the close-packed lattice structure is disrupted by the microcrystalline growth. Such microcrystalline chalcedony, for example, can be found in the Monterey formation on the coastal regions of south and central California where massive bands of opal have undergone this transformation.5 Moreover, Oregon Thundereggs may have any one of a variety of Opal-CT or Opal-C fillings that can be opaque blue, opaque red, translucent pastel blue, translucent yellow, translucent red, white, or colorless, and a small percentage may show a play-of-color being Opal-AG or Opal-AN. In more recent news, NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) spacecraft has found evidence of hydrated silica (opal) on the planet Mars. According to Dr. Ralph Milliken of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the MRO has detected “numerous outcrops of opal-like minerals, commonly in thin layers extending for very long distances around the rim of Valles Marineris.” This suggests that water remained on the Martian surface for an extended period of time. “What’s important is that the longer liquid water existed on Mars, the longer the window during which Mars may have supported life,” said Dr. Milliken. Rockhounds, on the other hand, may have something else in mind rather than life on Mars.

References: 1. Graetsch, H. (1994), "Structural Characteristics of opaline and microcrystalline silica minerals", "Silica, physical behavior, geochemistry and materials applications". Reviews in Mineralogy, Vol. 29, Editors PJ Heaney, Connecticut Prewitt, GV Gibbs, Mineralogical Society of America.

2. Downing, Paul B. (2007), Opal Identification and Value, Majestic Press, Estes Park, Colorado. 3. Pough, Frederick H. (1953), A Field Guide to Rocks and Minerals, Houghton Mifflin Co, New York. 4. Downing (2007), pp. 53-68. 5. Rogers, Austin F. (1928), “Natural History of the Silica Minerals”, American Mineralogist, Vol. 13, pp. 73- 92

From the December2010 issue of the AFMS Lodestar, via Canaveral Moonstone Jan11 issue


PURPOSE OF THE SOCIETY: The Huntsville Gem & Mineral Society is a non-profit educational organization for people interested in mineralogy, geology, paleontology, and related lapidary arts. Its primary purpose is the education of the members and the general public in these areas. This purpose is accomplished through programs, shows, lectures to school children and organizations, and exchange of rocks, minerals and artifacts. DUES: Annual dues are $15.00 per family, $12.50 per person, and are due on January 1st of each year MEETING PLACE: Huntsville/Madison County Senior Center, 2200 Drake Ave, Huntsville, AL Fourth Monday of each month except for April picnic/rock swap, Christmas Dinner and major holidays CHAPTER MAIL ADDRESS: Rocket City Rocks & Gems, Mildred Dodd, 2702 Morgan St., Huntsville, AL 35805

This Society is affiliated with the American Federation of Mineralogical Societies and the Southeast Federation of Mineralogical Societies

2011 COMMITTEE CHAIRS

Membership: Lori Willhoite (256) 340-3448 Property: Jim Treadway, (256) 859-1484 2705 Jarvis Street S. W. Decatur, AL 35603 [email protected] [email protected] Scrapbook: Dianna O’Dell, (256) 828-1813 Librarian: Susan Burch, (256) 828-1727 Curator: Bob Neuschaefer, (256) 650-0400 Club Publicity: Jeff Neely (256) 572-0448 2011 Show Chair: Tony Smith, (256) 852-3210 Education & Craftsmanship: 2011 Show Vendor Chair: Marcia Stone, (256) 653-4744 Bill Sweetman,(256) 539-8503 2011 Show Publicity Chair: Tony Smith, (256) 852-3210 Hospitality: Bonnie & Jim Treadway 2010 Show Treasurer: Floyd Mims, (256) 778-8097 (256) 859-1484 HGMS Website: www.huntsvillegms.org Field Trips: Bill Friday, 256-527-8227cell Webmaster: Jennie Proper, (256) 585-3100 & Ed Kiker – (256) 722-4793 [email protected] Constitution & Bylaws: Peggy Sweetman, (256) 539-8503

Mineral ID: Vacant

2011 HUNTSVILLE GEM & MINERAL SOCIETY OFFICERS

President: Charlie Willhoite, (256) 340-3448 2705 Jarvis Street S. W. Decatur, AL 35603 [email protected] Vice President: Myra Soroczak, (256) 446-9938 875 Lime Kiln Hollow Drive, Muscle Shoals, AL 35661 [email protected] Recording Secretary: Ron West, (256) 883-8729 2603 Lancelot Dr., Huntsville, AL 35803 [email protected]

Treasurer: Floyd Mims, (256) 778-8097 540 Antioch Rd., Somerville, AL 35670 [email protected]

Newsletter Editor: Bill Friday, (256) 883-8487 2508 Excalibur Dr., Huntsville, AL 35803 [email protected] Directors at Large: Mike Soroczak (256) 446-9938 [email protected]

Wayne Hall ((256) 232-6575) [email protected] Ed Kiker, (256) 722-4793 [email protected] Liaison Secretary – Mildred Dodd – Rocket City Rocks & Gems, 2702 Morgan St., Huntsville, AL 35805

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2011 CALENDAR 25 Jun ’11 - Annual HGMS Picnic – (No regular 4th Monday meeting) Teledyne Brown Engineering Picnic Area, Research Park – 10:00am to 1:30pm 21 Jul ‘11- Regular HG&MS Meeting, Madison County Senior Center, 2200 Drake Ave, Huntsville, AL 6:30pm 28 Aug ‘11- Regular HG&MS Meeting, Madison County Senior Center, 2200 Drake Ave, Huntsville, AL 6:30pm 25 Sep ’11 Regular HG&MS Meeting, Madison County Senior Center, 2200 Drake Ave, Huntsville, AL 6:30pm 14-16 Oct ’11 – Annual Rock, Gem, Jewelry Show Von Braun Center, South Hall 23 Oct ’11 - Regular HG&MS Meeting, Madison County Senior Center, 2200 Drake Ave, Huntsville, AL 6:30pm 22 Nov ’11 - Regular HG&MS Meeting, Madison County Senior Center, 2200 Drake Ave, Huntsville, AL 6:30pm 12 Dec ’11 - Annual HG&MS Christmas Dinner Meeting, Madison County Senior Center, 2200 Drake Ave, Huntsville, AL 6:30pm 23 Jan ’12 - Regular HG&MS Meeting, Madison County Senior Center, 2200 Drake Ave, Huntsville, AL 6:30pm

Rocket City Rocks & Gems Bill Friday, Editor 2508 Excalibur Dr. Huntsville, AL 35803

HGMS June 2011

Deadline for the next Newsletter will be 13 July 2011

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