GEOPHILIA: COMMUNING WITH THE ROCKS

THREE GENERATIONS COMMUNE WITH NATURE

One of the great things about collecting and working with rocks, minerals and fossils is that I get out in the open spaces of nature.  For me, most anytime that I get out in the country, a”runners high” is achieved.  Physicians tell me this endorphin rush is related to strenuous exercise, pain, excitement, danger or stress.  In my case, I am convinced that the “rush” is simply related to the excitement of seeing birds and flowers and trees and rocks and whatever else is out there.  All of these external stimuli seem to trigger my pituitary and hypothalamus glands to produce these endorphins, a compound that sort of acts like an opiate to produce a feeling of well-being.

Erich Fromm (1964) used the term biophilia to describe our attraction to all that is alive and vital (animals and plants).  Edward O. Wilson (1984), in his book entitled Biophilia, stated that biophilia describes the connections that humans seek with other life forms, something that is inherent in our internal biology.  In other words, our “humanness” connects us with other living creatures and we have this affinity with nature ingrained in our genes.  Philias (the love of nature) are the opposite of phobias (our fears of nature).  We often use biophobias, think arachnophobia (fear of spiders), ophidiophobia (fear of snakes), or even xenophobia (fear of “foreigners”) to try and scare people, or even eliminate animals and people.  However, biophilias are used to calm and comfort people, think the use of green plants in homes and business or even the use of animals, especially infants, in all sorts of advertisements.  Research findings, especially by Robert Ulrich from Teas A & M University, seem to show that “nature” has a positive and calming effect on hospital patients.  I argue that experiencing, or even seeing “nature”, also has the same calming effect on most everyone.  Biophilias, I believe, can produce the release of endorphins and cause a feeling of well-being. 

In reading Wilson’s book he stated that most children have a bug period, and I never grew out of mine.  This got me to thinking about my childhood and my love of rocks, fossils and minerals and made me think that I had a rock period and never grew out of it.  For me, the endorphins seem to release as I climb among the ledges or simply reach down and pick up that shiny specimen of chalcedony.  I suspect that similar feelings are achieved by faceters and jewelry makers as they inspect their final projects. 

So, these thoughts made me ask “is there a geophilia hypothesis”?  The literature about such is quite scarce but Paul Faulstich in 2004 used the term to define a biologically based tendency to emotionally associate with the landscape and further believes this evolutionary heritage forms the basis for our conservation ethic.  I believe geophilia is much broader than Faulstich’s thought and should include our emotional association with all things geological, not just the landscape.  This would put the term in a context similar to biophilia.  Every morning I “need” to see Pikes Peak so I get that calming effect and that release of body opiates to notify my brain that “all is good” in the world.  I may be ill or in a cranky mood, but the vision of Pikes Peak reminds me that the natural world is still in order and that is a calming effect.

In the opposite spectrum, perhaps a geophobia would include a fear of a beautiful treed landscape with a trout stream running down the middle of the property.  Someone with that fear would likely envision the bustle of a housing sub development!  I don’t know!  I have not run across any specific listed geophobias, except perhaps spelunkaphobia (fear of caves) and acrophobia (fear of heights).

So, what does all this mean for readers?  Perhaps nothing except that this beautiful fall weather allowed me to do some thinking about the big picture of life.  But then again, perhaps it means that rockhounds have some sort of an evolutionary propensity, something built into our genes, that allows us to communicate with, and hear the call of, rocks, minerals and fossils.  I learned long ago that the rocks could really talk; one just had to listen and to understand!

Perhaps we need this relationship and affiliation with living organisms (biophilia) and the land (geophilia) to not only enhance our commitment of living sustainably with the earth, but also to live in a life full of moments of well-being.  I prefer this latter explanation!

The contemplation on this question during the day has lead to a very relaxed state of mind as I dream of flowers, quartz points, mountain peaks, and snakes in the grass.  Life is good.  Enjoy it to the fullest.

I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in.  John Muir,

This article was originally printed in the Newsletter of the Rocky Mountain Federation of Mineralogical Societies.  However, the current and fantastic 2011 autumn weather, coupled with a recent camping trip to the Sawatch Mountains, has made me dream about communing with the rocks. 

NATURE SPEAKS: FALL ASPENS AT TWIN LAKES

REFERENCES CITED

Faulstich, Paul, 2004, Natural Considerations: The Human Ecology of Place-making: http://hdl.handle.net/1885/42130

Fromm, Erich, 1964, The Heart of Man. New York: Harper and Row.

Wilson, Edward O. 1984. Biophilia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.              

KEEP YOU EYES ON THE GROUND: CHIPPING SITES

Rocks of the Laramie Formation crop out in Ute Valley Open Space and Popes Valley.

It is “back in saddle” II.  After two months of fighting with my internet provider (no signal to load photos) and several months of camping, often with a unproductive laptop, I am back with my trusty desktop!  My camping trip involved five weeks in Wyoming, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, and Kansas.  I was able to observe some fantastic geology and pick up some neat specimens.  Much of my time was spent on “blue highways” (back roads), a feat that is always exciting for me.  I hope to detail the trip in an article(s) for the Rocky Mountain Federation of Mineralogical Societies Newsletter (www.rmfms.org) and the CSMS Pick & Pack (www.csms.us).

I leave fairly close to Ute Valley Open Space, a park-like open space of several hundred acres in northwest Colorado Springs.  The bluffs and valley walls present numerous well-exposed outcrops of the Upper Cretaceous Laramie Formation (Fig. 1) including abandoned coal mines, rock quarries, upturned hogbacks, and an area perfect for hiking, bird watching, and plant identification.  Rocks of the Laramie Formation, so well exposed in the open space, represent the final regression of the vast Western Interior Seaway that flooded what is now Colorado during much of the Cretaceous Period (~144 to ~65 million years ago).  As the rocks weather, unconsolidated sand is produced along with tightly cemented ironstone concretions that often blanket the surface.  In addition, pebble and cobbles of the nearby Pikes Peak “granite” (Precambrian in age, ~1.05 Ga), along with component pieces of quartz and feldspar, are scattered over the surface.  The granite, quartz, and feldspar were deposited by streams coming down from the nearby mountains post-deposition of the Laramie (probably Pleistocene). 

 Ironstone and sandstone concretions often blanket the unconsolidated sand in Ute Valley Open Space.

 Most days I take my daily hike through the rocks and trees and always see “something” new and exciting.  Geologists have a habit of walking with their eyes on the ground looking for interesting objects; I am no exception.  Recently, I spotted an accumulation of small rocks/minerals that seemed rather “out of place” among the ironstone and sandstone cobbles blanketing the surface.  Upon closer observation, I noticed several fragments of brightly colored red jasper, beautiful dark amber chalcedony, and various other pieces of microcrystalline quartz.  These fragments are not “local”, at least I do not recognize their provenance.  I have seen similar minerals out in the Colorado Plateau but it would be a stretch to assign these fragments to that area.

 Fragments of microcrystalline quartz may represent a Native American chipping site.Small knife for scale.

 I am not an archaeologist but it is my guess these fragments represent a chipping site for a group of Native Americans, perhaps Utes, but that is a personal assumption.  It is interesting to note the fragments were in a small deflation basin where wind has blown the unconsolidated sand “away”.  That is most likely the reason why an earlier discovery was not made.  I took a few pictures and then gently covered up the site with sand as regulations prohibit the collection of such items on land managed by the City of Colorado Springs.

So, keep your eyes on the ground (the road if you are a Doors fan, as in Roadhouse Blues) and observe something new everyday!  

MINING FOR MANGANESE



LARGE BURROW PARALLEL TO BEDDING PLANE, PERHAPS FROM A CRAB.  THE KNOBBY SURFACE REPRESENTS VERTICAL BURROWS, PERHAPS FROM ACTIVITY BY WORMS.

The Missouri River Trench is a major topographic and geologic structure trending mainly north-south in the center of South Dakota until the river abruptly turns east and then forms the boundary with Nebraska.  The Cretaceous Pierre Shale is well exposed along the entire trench, and in many places the underlying Niobrara Formation crops out.  In fact, the type section (where it was named) of the Niobrara is along the bluffs west of Yankton near the Niobrara River.  In the central part of the state the Pierre Shale has a type section along the River near the capitol of Pierre.   Many readers are familiar with these two formations if they have traveled along I-90 and crossed the river at Chamberlain.  The view of the river and the rocks is spectacular, especially if traveling from east to west.

West of  Chamberlain travelers notice a “black streak” (informally the “Oacoma Zone”) running through the Pierre Shale, actually the DeGrey Member of the Pierre.  The “black streak” is un-vegetated and many people assume the pasture and roadside has burned.  However, this “streak” has a high abundance of manganese, especially in numerous nodules, and this element seems toxic to vegetation.  These nodules were mined “by hand” in the 1930’s and shipped to Pittsburg, PA, by rail for processing and use in the steel industry (www.library.thinkquest.org).  The federal government became interested in the resource and in 1930 geologists from U. S. Geological Survey estimated the resource contained 102,000,000 tons of metallic manganese (Hewett, 1930).  In 1941, due to a need for hardened steel in World War II, the U. S. Bureau of Mines constructed a pilot plant (near mile marker 257 north side of highway) and began experimenting in mining and separation of the nodules from the shale (Cox and Beach, 1980). The mine closed in 1947 after the war.  There have been periodic studies since that time, but no additional mining, as geologists, at present, do not believe a viable market exists for the manganese nodules (Cox and Beach, 1980).  One may still observe remains of this interesting old mine.

Many of the nodules are fossiliferous, including both body fossils and trace fossils.  I recently stopped at a locality along the Missouri River and noticed a really nice burrow, perhaps a crab, well displayed on the bedding plane surface.  In addition, numerous perpendicular structures represent activity by "worms". 
mike

REFERENCES CITED 

Cox, L. J. and R. A., Beach 1980, Status of Mineral Resource Information for the Lower Brule Indian Reservation, South Dakota: Bureau of Indian Affairs Report 74.

Hewett, D. F., 1930, Manganese-iron Carbonate near Chamberlain, South Dakota: U. S. Geological Survey Memorandum for the Press, February 5, 1930 (noted in Cox and Beach, 1980).



MANGANESE NODULES AND THE MANGANESE-RICH ZONE, PIERRE SHALE



REMAINS OF THE OLD MANGANESE MINE WEST OF CHAMBERLAIN

COLLECTING AT THE GATOROSA

SMOKY HILL JASPER

Rockhounds seeking interesting minerals for their cabinets, or looking for specimens to cut and polish, often blaze across Kansas to better “picking grounds”.  However, they may be overlooking numerous collecting possibilities.

In western Kansas the Miocene Ogallala Formation crops out at many localities.   This unit, consisting of stream gravels, along with a few volcanic ash beds and lake deposits, represents debris shed off the rising and eroding Rocky Mountains to the west, as well as fragments of local Cretaceous rocks.  As such, these outcrops contain a wide variety of minerals that originally formed in igneous rocks of the mountains.  The problem in collecting such minerals is that the Ogallala outcrops are commonly consolidated and tightly cemented and many times are covered by younger wind-blown sediments.

The answer to locating interesting minerals, and one that collectors commonly overlook, is to examine sand and gravel deposits situated along the major river systems, especially the Republican, Arkansas, Smoky Hill, and Saline, in the western part of the state.  These rivers have cut through and eroded the Ogallala and underlying Niobrara formations and then deposited their load (as current drops in velocity) in flood plains and channels.  Today these Pleistocene sediments are often well-exposed in numerous sand and gravels “pits” found on the older terraces.   If these excavations are not available for searching, simply walk the stream beds.

I have found a variety of minerals in the gravels with the finest specimens being various shades of jasper ranging from red to orange to green to brown.  Some of these jasper specimens from along the Republican, Smoky Hill, and Saline rivers in northern Kansas represent silicified chalk from the Cretaceous Smoky Hill Chalk Member of the Niobrara Formation.  These jasper outcrops are scattered across northwestern Kansas and seem to represent a post-depositional enrichment of the chalk, possibly with some dissolution of the chalk, by ground water rich in silica.  The source of the silica—probably volcanic ash or bentonite (altered ash).

Petrified wood is fairly common and chalcedony occurs in a variety of colors.  Of additional interest are the “Kansas Diamonds”, pieces of rounded and egg-shaped crystalline quartz.  Feldspar fragments are numerous but seem much smaller in size that the various quartz minerals (~1 cm or less) and are generally angular (broken along cleavage planes).  In addition, sort of nondescript dark colored rocks with an obvious igneous source are locally abundant.

The quartz minerals derived from the Rocky Mountains are generally less than 5-6 cm and highly rounded as the transport distance is great.  The locally derived jasper may be large (up to 13 cm in my collections) and specimens are angular.

I have seen beautiful faceted specimens of quartz derived from “Kansas Diamonds” and when combined with silver settings are quite spectacular.  In addition, the jasper makes wonderful cabochons or just plain tumbled stones.  Native Americans often used the silicified chalk for projectile points and one see the terms Niobrarite or Smoky Hill Jasper used in the literature.

So, although gemstones and semi-precious gemstones are essentially non-existent in Kansas, the jasper, chalcedony, quartz  and petrified wood offer some nice specimens for the lapidariest or flintnapper. 

BTW, the Gatorosa is my brother's ranch along the Smoky Hill River in Trego, County!

mike 

LOCALLY DERIVED SMOKY HILL JASPER.  MANY SPECIMENS SHOW STRONG BANDING.

NON-LOCAL CHALCEDONY.

NON-LOCAL? CHALCEDONY.

SAND AND GRAVEL DEPOSIT ON THE "HIGH TERRACE" AT THE GATOROSA.  YUCCA PLANTS FOR SCALE.

ARTIFACTS CONSTRUCTED FROM SMOKY HILL JASPER.  PHOTO COURTESY OF DON BLAKESLEE AND KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.

NOTCH PEAK: GREAT GEOLOGY

SHARP CONTACT BETWEEN METAMORPHOSED CAMBRIAN CARBONATES AND THE NOTCH PEAK INTRUSION.  IT IS NOT OFTEN THAT ONE CAN :PUT THEIR FINGER" ON SUCH A CONTACT

The House Range is one of those geological wonders found in the west desert of Utah and the Great Basin—it is a classic uplifted block of rocks, a horst, bounded by Tule and Sevier valleys, the grabens.  The Range is north-south trending (~40 mi X 7 mi) and generally exposes lower Paleozoic (Cambrian and Ordovician) rocks.  However, there is a major quartz monzonite (an igneous rock similar to granite but without the quartz) intrusive body of Jurassic age (Notch Peak Intrusion) called Sawtooth Mountain.  This name comes from the weathering of the monzonite into sharp points and ridges as compared to the more rounded peaks in the limestones and shales. 

NOTCH PEAK IN THE HOUSE RANGE.  THE PEAK IS CAPPED BY THE NOTCH PEAK DOLOMITE.  NOTE THE ORANGE-COLORED AND INTRUSIVE QUARTZ MONZANITE OF THE NOTCH PEAK INTRUSION.  PHOTO COURTESY OF WIKIPEDIA.

The dominant topographic feature of the Range is Notch Peak at 9654 feet, but with a vertical rise (cliff) of about 2200 feet at the summit.  The peak itself is floored by the Notch Peak Intrusion with overlying Cambrian and Ordovician carbonates and topped by the Notch Peak Dolomite. The igneous rocks have produced minor amounts of placer gold and some claims are still active.  It seems as though the source of the gold dust has never been located, perhaps representing an opportunity for prospectors to “strike it rich”!  One of the really “neat things” about the fascinating geology at Sawtooth Mountain is that one is able to “put your finger” on the contact between a major intrusive feature and a sedimentary rock and follow the metamorphic aureole outward.  This intrusive event is related to tectonic activity associated with the Nevadan Orogeny and is approximately 150 Ma in age. 

mike