Aaaaaalmost there!

It's almost fossil season

but so far

I got nothin'.

Pamela and I made it to the river and worked an area we could reach.

The results...

...were less than stellar

but it was a good digging warmup.

So that's 1/2 of a tapir tooth, 4 tigers, 1 alligator tooth, 3 pieces of turtle shell, a cool chert-type rock at the top, a piece of coral at the bottom, and 2 cylindrical rocks that I have no clue what they are although we found a lot of it where we were digging.

I take a kayak camping trip every year

with a group of non-fossil oriented friends 

and they let me convince them to paddle the north Withlacoochee for 3 days.

I was curious about finding coral that wasn't right by the boat ramp.  I saw a lot of coral but it all looked kind of...gross:  matted with moss and super worn although that doesn't mean there isn't anything cool on the inside.  I limited the hammering, though, as I needed to be able to complete 27 miles of paddling.  A couple of my fellow kayakers

 found souvenir pieces of botryoidal coral so that was fun.

This WAS my new 1-person tent.

I really want to lighten up my camping load

 but the discomfort to weight ratio of this tent did not compute.

Thank goodness I kept the receipt.

This was, however, one of my all time favorite camping spots.  Look at that babbling brook! 

No need to use my white noise app for a sound night's sleep.

I'm used to urban sounds so sometimes it's hard to sleep when it's too quiet.

I was listening to a bit by comedian Anjelah Johnson who said she used an urban sound app that included noises such as quiet police chatter and urban bird (helicopter).

Kinda true...

Here's a piece of fossil coral I found this year and cut on the slab saw.

It was a discard, considered too small and ugly by the serious coral hunters,

but that's the kind of stuff I live for coz, well, it's easy to get to. Sigh...

Just look at those polyps! Va-va-voom!

And the botryoidal ain't half bad either.

So we continue to follow the river level gages.

I console myself by saying that it's easier to get through the holidays without all the fossil distractions.

Right?  Right?!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thank you for reading and please always leave a comment.

For your continued reading pleasure,

here's an article from Scientific American regarding how often dinosaurs became fossilized.

Paleontologist Gregory M. Erickson of Florida State University explains.

It is often stated in the paleontological literature that the chance an animal will become fossilized is "one in a million." This number is meant to be taken figuratively, the point being that the odds of surviving the rigors of deep time are extremely remote. Nevertheless, all field paleontologists know that the earth is biased when it comes to giving up its dead--the odds of an animal being preserved and consequently exhumed are much greater in some settings than others. 

Studies by taphonomists (paleontologists who study the transition of animals from the biosphere to the lithosphere; taphonomy literally means "burial laws") have shown that organisms that die on land in lush jungle locales are rarely fossilized. In these settings, there is little chance of being buried, scavenging vertebrates and insects are prevalent, bacteria that break down flesh and bones are abundant, and the soils are extremely acidic and tend to dissolve bones. As a result, remains of dinosaurs from such former surroundings are practically nonexistent. Conversely, dinosaurs are commonly found in areas that were once fluvial settings and in regions of extreme aridity. In the former case, it is clear that dinosaur remains were rapidly buried before substantial scavenging could take place. Remains of dinosaurs that were washed into the fluvial systems are found buried in actual river channels, whereas others are found out on the former floodplains at the location where they fell and were covered by sediments from floodwaters that breached river banks. Because river currents tend to scatter and break up bones, remains from river channels are often biased toward certain bones depending on the strength of the current. (Such aggregations are called Voorhies groups after one of the first paleontologists to study the phenomenon by which certain bones, such as ribs and vertebrae, tend to readily tumble downstream, leaving behind only partial skeletons.) Dinosaur fossils found on former floodplains also often show bias toward elements such as pelvises and larger long bones that were difficult for scavenging or predaceous theropod dinosaurs to consume. 

In any event, once bones were entombed in fluvial sediments, not only were they protected from scavengers and many types of bioorganisms, but they could also begin a process known as permineralization. Water percolating through the sands or muds was often rich in silica (natural glass) and other minerals, which could infill the pores of the bones and make them physically resistant to crushing by the overlying sediment. At least some minor replacement of the actual bone matrix usually occurred as well, typically by iron-rich minerals, but it should be noted that most dinosaur bones actually retain much of the original calcium and phosphatic minerals they possessed in life. As such, the phrase "turned to stone"--often used to describe fossil bone--is misleading.

Dinosaurs dying in arid regions also stood a reasonable chance of becoming fossilized. Aridity tends to desiccate a carcass, making it less attractive to scavengers. And unlike jungle or forest settings, deserts have considerably fewer organisms suited for the breakdown of animal tissues. Windblown sands, as well as drifting and collapsing sand dunes, were agents of burial for such animals. Subsequent rainfall during the wet seasons carried minerals into the buried bones. 

If dinosaur remains entombed in the ways described above did not later become metamorphosed (modified by upheavals of the earth) there is a good chance they are still around today, thus enabling the details of their burial to be pondered by taphonomists, either professional or amateur.

Orlando Fossil Show: Hot Fossil Action!

So maybe fossil shows are a niche market,

but they are exciting in their own way.

It's cool to see the amazing fossils people have found and since I was helping out the president of the fossil club I belong to (Fossil Club of Lee County), I got to see all of the behind the scenes socializing, wheeling and dealing.  Fun to watch a gorgeous megalodon tooth flip between 3 owners, the price doubling along the way.  

And everybody was happy!

I spent the morning helping out Louis and Leslie with their booth.  

I was thrilled to get to see them without having to drive 4.5 hours each way.  They were in my neck of the woods this time.

I understand the caution sign,

but it might behoove the owners of this booth to set the $2,800 turtle shell out of the reach of curious fossil shoppers.

There were other fossils on display:

Ok, I know I'm going to burn in hell for being snarky, but seriously, didn't she feel a breeze every time she leaned over to examine a horse tooth?

I thought this type of exhibitionism was a fluke but only a few days later, at a local art fair, I witnessed this:

Maybe it's the festival atmosphere that makes the ladies want to air it out, but I'll have mercy on those around me and keep it in my shorts.  

But, as usual, I digress...

Regular readers (both of you) will remember that I traveled to Keokuk, Iowa

in July to collect some of the namesake geodes.  Super easy to find, which I love, but research told me that cutting them open on a slab saw risked damaging unique crystal formations inside.  The tool for the trick is called a soil pipe cutter and for something that doesn't plug in or have a gasoline motor, it is wicked expensive!  Luckily, my problem-solving man was able to borrow one and set me loose with it.

I am not exaggerating when I tell you it weighs about 60 lbs.

I was popping geodes like bubble wrap!

And I'm glad I did it that way because a few of them had large calcite crystals in the interior.

How cool is that?!

Here's one with small dogtooth calcite crystals:

And here's standard issue botryoidal which isn't that pretty but it was the only one of its kind among my specimens:

Most of them are filled with quartz...SOLID QUARTZ, but about half of those had large vugs lined with the most beautiful crystals:

I've been making it a practice to visit my dad in the midwest every 6 months.  It will probably be too cold to hunt geodes for my January visit but I'll be back there next July.

More fun with coral!

Tom handed me a little black light flashlight and I've been testing everything in the house for fluorescence.

The best results, by far, have been the coral from the Withlacoochee river.

It's kind of hard to photograph but you get the gist.

All of the purple in the photos is a reflection of the black light but the chartreuse outline is part of the coral fluorescing. (Hoping spell check isn't letting me down on these terms!)

I love this little one:

Orange amber in the daylight and funky fluorescence in the black light.

I've found bits of fluorescence in some of my Montana baculites but nothing in the Blue Forest wood from Wyoming, but when you're this beautiful:

You don't need any extra help.

Here's a little Wikipedia info about dogtooth shaped crystals.

<<Dogtooth spar is a speleothem found in limestone caves that consists of very large calcite crystals resembling dogs' teeth (hence the name). They form through mineral precipitation of water-borne calcite. Dogtooth spar crystals are not limited to caves, but can grow in any open space including veins, fractures, and geodes.

These sharp tooth-shaped crystals are generally of the magnitude of centimeters long, but anomalous samples decimeters long exist, notably in Sitting Bull Crystal Caverns. A layer of crystalline calcite can be found underneath the surface of crystal points.

The sharply tooth-shaped crystals typically consist of acute scalenohedrons, twelve triangular crystal faces that ideally form scalene triangles. However, modification of these faces is common, and individual crystal faces may have many more than three edges. Calcite crystallizes in the rhombohedral system, and the most common scalenohedron form has the Miller index.

Spar is a general term for transparent to translucent, generally light-colored and vitreous crystalline minerals.>>

Another Visit To The Worst Boat Ramp in the World

Saying the little public ramp on the Withlacoochee River

near Valdosta, Georgia, is the worst boat ramp in the world

might be hyperbole, but it's pretty damn bad.

We just got back up there from south and central Florida for the first time this season so nasty boat ramp aside, we were psyched to get back on a river...any river.

I have a few suggestions to make the greater Valdosta area really glitter, 

starting with their boat ramps:

Clean up the Nazi graffiti.

Clean up the human feces, toilet paper, and garbage.

Encourage the locals to take their target practice to a gun range instead of setting up makeshift targets   at the boat ramp where people are kayaking and fishing.

Ok, enough said about that.

Pam and Don pulled the camper up from south Florida

and I'm now officially spoiled.

I realized, after hurricane Irma, that I really, really, REALLY,

love electricity.

I just settled right back into my nest in the bow of the camper (not sure if boat terms translate to campers).  The next day, we were well rested and ready to hit the river, looking for fossil coral.

Let me clarify, we don't really have to look for fossil coral because it's everywhere.  We're looking for pieces that appeal to us on an individual basis.

Big chunks of botryoidal abound and I know this one would have cleaned up beautifully but dang, they are heavy!  My back wasn't feeling it on this trip.

There are always ways to ease aches and pains while hammering on rocks...

It's 10:30 AM somewhere.

Oh, right, it was 10:30 AM where I was.

Miss Vickie finally gets to hunt coral.

This was a big moment for Vickie as extenuating circumstances have quashed several of her planned trips this summer.

I warned her that it's dirty work in the river but none of us are strangers to that.

Unlike digging in the Peace, however, eye protection is essential.

Vickie, being from Wisconsin, is usually the only one sturdy enough to snorkel in water that already feels chilly to us Florida folk.

See all those rocks in the foreground?

All coral.

And I just found out something extra cool about this coral.

A fair amount of it fluoresces under UV black light.

I haven't been able to figure out how to get an inexpensive short wave UV light from Amazon yet, mostly because I don't understand all the numbers and terms used to define the lights, and also because the more "science-y" looking lights cost up to hundreds of dollars.  I'll stick with the little blacklight flashlight for the time being.  I keep running into the guest bathroom (the only room in the house without windows) to check my coral.  Some of my baculites have small areas of fluorescence, too.  I'll finish with some info about fluorescence taken directly from the internet.

This is from the website uvminerals.

Fluorescent Minerals

Well over 3600 mineral species have been identified at this time. Something over 500 of them are known to fluoresce visibly in some specimens. FMS members have assembled a list of web sites showing examples of fluorescent minerals and a database of locales of fluorescent minerals. 

Most minerals do not fluoresce when pure. It takes certain impurities in certain quantities to make the mineral fluoresce. Such impurities are called "activators". Different activators can make the same mineral fluoresce in different colors. Different minerals require different activators, and in different quantities. There are also impurities called quenchers, notably ferrous iron, that can prevent fluorescence despite the presence of an activator. Because activators and quenchers may or may not be present in any given specimen, different specimens of the same mineral (especially from different locales) may vary in color and degree of fluorescence.

There are a few minerals that will fluoresce when pure. These are called "self-activated" minerals, and include scheelite, powellite, and several uranium minerals. Others suspected of being self-activated include benitoite, cerussite, anglesite and perhaps many other lead minerals.

Scheelite, a major ore of tungsten, is often found by its brilliant sky-blue fluorescence. If it has a little molybdenum in it (which makes it troublesome to extract the tungsten), this color is modified to white or yellow, providing a quick way to assess the commercial value of a find.

Several secondary uranium minerals, such as autunite, are also characteristically fluorescent a bright yellowish green. This is due to the uranyl ion; this ion is so prone to fluorescence that trace amounts of it cause yellowish-green fluorescence in a very large number of minerals, including adamite, apophyllite, aragonite, calcite, quartz, and opal. Any yellowish-green fluorescence other than willemite is likely to be due to the uranyl ion.

A common fluorescent is calcite.   It comes in just about all fluorescent colors due to different activators. Red and pink fluorescent calcites are often activated by a team of lead and manganese. Calcite may fluoresce green due to uranyl ion traces. Calcite from the mercury mines at Terlingua, Texas, and just across the border into Muzquiz, Coahuila, Mexico, is a favorite. It fluoresces pink under longwave UV and bright blue under shortwave UV, with a uniquely bright blue phosphorescence after the UV lamp is removed.

Fluorite gave its name to fluorescence, but that does not mean it is always fluorescent. Many fluorites fluoresce a blue-violet color due to traces of europium; this is usually best under longwave UV. Fluorite shows other colors of fluorescence in some cases.

Willemite, a zinc mineral, is often fluorescent a bright yellowish-green, due to traces of manganese.

Scapolite (wernerite) from Ontario and Quebec, Canada, fluoresces a vivid orangeish-yellow color under longwave UV, while shortwave UV inspires a long-lasting phosphorescence that can be markedly brightened by holding it under a running hot water faucet, illustrating thermoluminescence. Several other fluorescent minerals come from the same area, including sodalite (hackmanite), cancrinite, diopside, fluoborite, and nepheline.

Franklin, New Jersey is rightly known as the "fluorescent mineral capital of the world". Together with nearby Ogdensburg, it is the source of at least 260 minerals, of which at least 56 are fluorescent.   Many of these minerals are found nowhere else in the world. Many of the fluorescents are uncommonly bright. Only the Franklin mine provided specimens with 5 or more different colors of equally bright fluorescence from as many minerals in one specimen. Willemite and calcite specimens, glowing yellowish-green and orange-red, respectively, are the most common fluorescents from this area; sometimes these combine with hardystonite (fluorescing deep blue-violet), clinohedrite (fluorescing orange), and maybe even esperite (fluorescing yellow) for a truly unforgettable rainbow fluorescence. 

Unfortunately, both the Franklin and Ogdensburg mines have been closed. The Sterling Hill mine at Ogdensburg, though the deep levels are flooded, has recently reopened as a museum. The surrounding marble formations still supply many fluorescent specimens, but no more of the rarest combinations are found.

Stegosaurus Tape and Lounge Wear

I knew when I got excited

over a stack of buckets at Lowes

that it was time to move.

We've loaded our trucks are are headed north

where it's not freaking raining all the time.

Hopefully we'll find some pretty pieces of coral but either way, it will be good to get back into a river and dig.  

It's already been several months

since I last touched my river gear.

There were no rat nests in the kayak when I took it off the rack which is a great start.

Had I not left my screen out all summer in the Florida sun I probably wouldn't have had to replace the pool noodle floats but I did so I did.  Done!

A kayak crate, organized and ready to go.

Sweet!

It's the usual cast of characters so I'll let you know how it goes.

And a few distractions...

A new lounging shirt from a high-end store called Ross.

Tom found me 2 rolls of the coolest packing tape ever.

Are you kidding me?!

Stegosaurus tape!

And I finally found a FaceBook page where the members will help me ID my non-fossil minerals. 

 It's not that a group like that is hard to find.  I just hadn't done it.

This is agatized barite that I found in the Yellow Cat region of Utah.  I initially thought it was petrified wood and then when I realized it wasn't, I still picked up some samples for my rock collection.

Here's some fun information about stegosauri from a website called newdinosaurs.  I think the first fact is funny because walnuts don't have brains.  They missed the words "the size" in the middle of that sentence.  

Contemplating this animal's weak bite and slow movement, it probably would've been safe to approach and pet it.  Alas, we'll never know.

Quick Stegosaurus Facts

• Stegosaurus had the brain of a Walnut
• Scientists call the Stegosaurus’s spiked tail a thagomizer
• It swallowed rocks to aid in digesting plant matter
• Stegosaurus means “roofed lizard”
• This dinosaur’s bite was weaker than a human’s bite

About Stegosaurus

Stegosaurus is a dinosaur that lived around 155 million years ago—during the Jurassic Period—in the Western portion of North America and parts of Europe. It was an herbivorous quadruped known for its rounded back and its double row of back plates that end with a a double pair of spikes on this dinosaur’s tail. This dinosaur was first discovered in 1877 by Othniel Charles Marsh during the Great Dinosaur Rush—also known as the Bone Wars. Because this dinosaur had armored plates that seemed shingled, it was given the name Stegosaurus, which means “roofed lizard”.

An interesting fact to note is that of all of the dinosaurs, Stegosaurus had one of the smallest brains. Although the actual anatomy of this dinosaur’s brain is currently unknown, it is known that it only weighed approximately 3 ounces—which is extraordinarily small for a creature that weighed over 5 tons. As such, it is believed that this dinosaur was very simple and slow moving.

Summer Break IS OVER!!!

Almost.

Hurricanes notwithstanding, I've just been

RESTING...ahhhh...

I have steadfastly refused to venture out of the AC for about 4 weeks now (with the exception of quick runs to the mailbox to see if my Publisher's Clearing House bid came through) choosing instead to play around with Snapchat...

...and dream about the day the river levels come back down.

This is a photo of Heard Bridge in Wauchula, a place where I have launched my kayak many times.  See all that water right up to the bridge? 

 Normally, the river wouldn't even be visible from this vantage point.

Peace River, you got some drainin' to do!

I have spent some of the summer catching up with my rock saw.

This is a piece of Pam's bounty from the Blue Forest this year.  I cut and polished it for her.

Freakin' astounding!

I'm going to tell her I lost it coz I know she doesn't read my blog coz she's never left a comment. ;-)

Actually, I did venture out of the house a couple of times

to practice some ancient throwing skills.

This is me looking very serious as I'm being tutored in the throwing of the atlatl.

I will include some info on atlatls at the bottom of this blog but basically, it was a way for prehistoric peoples to hunt megafauna.  Sometimes you might hear of a fossil hunter accidentally uncovering an "arrowhead" but a lot of these arrowheads where attached to long thin atlatl spears.  The invention of the bow an arrow came later, after the megafauna (mammoths, ground sloths, etc.) became rare and finally extinct.  The atlatl requires the hunter to have room for an approach and a large arm swing which worked ok for megafauna but not so well for smaller, quicker game such as deer or pigs.  A deer would be long gone by the time a hunter wound up his atlatl throw but a bow and arrow allowed for greater stealth.

Looking at these long thin wobbly spears

made me think they would be impossible to throw but they were actually very easy to aim and a lot of fun.  Tom and I briefly discussed getting a set to play with in our backyard but with the potential of a spear traveling 120 yards at 100 mph, this is a hobby best left to wide open spaces.

Here's Tom demonstrating fine atlatl form:

It was only a couple weeks later

that we undertook another, less ancient, throwing weapon:

Hatchets, baby!

Hatchets are more...forgiving...if you can use that word when discussing the throwing of sharpened metal objects.  I feel secure in the knowledge that with a minimum of safety precautions ("Everyone stand BEHIND this line") and a decent sized backdrop, 

I can freely imbibe in G&H's (Gin and Hatchets).

My success with the atlatl bled into my hatchet throws ("bled" might be the wrong word to use).  I threw the hatchet 8 times and nailed the target 8 times.  

Seacrest out!

So, as the waters slowly begin to recede,

I have been working on megalodon necklaces for my Etsy store, SolOpsArt.  Check out my wares if you're looking for fossil-centric gifts.

I'll be back in the water ASAFP.

Thank you!

Here's some good ol' Wikipedia info for you on atlatl.  You don't even have to click.

<<A spear-thrower or atlatl (/ˈɑːt.lɑːtəl/^[1] /ˈæt.lætəl/; Nahuatl: ahtlatl Nahuatl pronunciation: [ˈaʔt͡ɬat͡ɬ]) is a toolthat uses leverage to achieve greater velocity in dart-throwing, and includes a bearing surface which allows the user to store energy during the throw.

It may consist of a shaft with a cup or a spur at the end that supports and propels the butt of the dart. The spear-thrower is held in one hand, gripped near the end farthest from the cup. The dart is thrown by the action of the upper arm and wrist. The throwing arm together with the atlatl acts as a lever. The spear-thrower is a low-mass, fast-moving extension of the throwing arm, increasing the length of the lever. This extra length allows the thrower to impart force to the dart over a longer distance, thus imparting more energy and ultimately higher speeds.^[2]

Common modern ball throwers (molded plastic shafts used for throwing tennis balls for dogs to fetch) use the same principle.

A spear-thrower is a long-range weapon and can readily impart to a projectile speeds of over 150 km/h (93 mph).^[3]

Spear-throwers appear very early in human history in several parts of the world, and have survived in use in traditional societies until the present day, as well as being revived in recent years for sporting purposes. In the United States the Nahuatl word atlatl is often used for revived uses of spear-throwers, and in Australia the Aboriginal word woomera.

The ancient Greeks and Romans used a leather thong or loop, known as an ankule or amentum, as a spear-throwing device.^[4]

Wooden darts were known at least since the Middle Paleolithic (Schöningen, Torralba, Clacton-on-Sea and Kalambo Falls). While the spear-thrower is capable of casting a dart well over one hundred meters, it is most accurately used at distances of twenty meters or less. The spearthrower is believed to have been in use by Homo sapiens since the Upper Paleolithic (around 30,000 years ago).^[7] Most stratified European finds come from the Magdalenian (late upper Palaeolithic). In this period, elaborate pieces, often in the form of animals, are common. The earliest secure data concerning atlatls have come from several caves in France dating to the Upper Paleolithic, about 21,000 to 17,000 years ago. The earliest known example is a 17,500-year-old Solutrean atlatl made of reindeer antler, found at Combe Saunière (Dordogne), France.^[8]

In Europe, the spear-thrower was supplemented by the bow and arrow in the Epi-Paleolithic. Along with improved ease of use, the bow offered the advantage that the bulk of elastic energy is stored in the throwing device, rather than the projectile; arrow shafts can therefore be much smaller, and have looser tolerances for spring constant and weight distribution than atlatl darts. This allowed for more forgiving flint knapping: dart heads designed for a particular spear thrower tend to differ in mass by only a few percent. By the Iron Age, the amentum, a strap attached to the shaft, was the standard European mechanism for throwing lighter javelins. The amentum gives not only range, but also spin to the projectile.^[9]

The spear-thrower was used by early Americans as well. It seems to have been introduced to America during the immigration across the Bering Land Bridge,^{[citation needed]} and despite the later introduction of the bow and arrow,^{[citation needed]} atlatl use was widespread at the time of first European contact. Complete wooden spear-throwers have been found on dry sites in the western USA, and in waterlogged environments in Florida and Washington. Several Amazonian tribes also used the atlatl for fishing and hunting. Some even preferred this weapon over the bow and arrow, and used it not only in combat but also in sports competitions. Such was the case with the Tarairiu, a Tapuya tribe of migratory foragers and raiders inhabiting the forested mountains and highland savannahs of Rio Grande do Norte in mid-17th-century Brazil. 

A midsummer diversion, unedited

Still existing in the recovery zone

after an intense season digging in the river 

as well as a rock-star style travel schedule, I had one last trip on the itinerary for 2017: a visit to my dad in Kansas City, Missouri.  

I had been wanting to visit the area where the borders of Missouri, Illinois, and Iowa converge in order to hunt keokuk geodes.  The hunting grounds are a 4.5 hour drive from Kansas City but they also turned out to be a 4.5 hour drive from where my snowbird friend, Miss Vickie, spends her summers.  We arranged a little side trip for ourselves.  

The drive through rural Missouri

was very pretty and restful so the time passed quickly.

I met Vickie at a motel in tiny Keokuk, Iowa, and we got right to business.

By the way, the use of the adjective "tiny" is superfluous as ALL the cities in this area are tiny.

We weren't sure what our success rate would be on day 1

as we were just going to drive around and see if we could find access to creeks, 

so we had arranged to go to a geode "mine" in the area on day 2 where we would be guaranteed at least a couple of geodes for the effort.

We only scouted for about an hour before we came across a truck parked next to a path that accessed a nice, shallow creek.  We'd seen so many "No trespassing" signs that the lack of one on this path encouraged us.  We were just getting out of Vickie's van when the owner of the truck came up the path toting a bucket of little geodes.  He and his son were very helpful and informative although he told us the creek bank was steep and we would be better off going to an easier area "where all the kids hunt."  

He obviously doesn't know Vickie and me.

We grabbed our buckets and headed to the water.

The geodes are relatively easy to find and we ended up spending the whole day in that very short stretch of creek.

The completely unexpected side benefit

of the hunt was finding these nuggets of Devonian period lithostrotionella coral.

I've seen and admired photos of this coral and was thrilled to find my own samples.  The pieces in the photo still have some sand on them.  They cleaned up beautifully.

We could've filled Miss Vickie's van with geodes

but the heat and the chore of hauling buckets of rocks up the significant slope of the bank eventually wore me down.  I was determined to get all my rocks from the creek to the van because I'm stubborn that way but a very kind local man who was spending the day on the creek with his girlfriend helped Vickie with her buckets.  

This local became a story unto himself.  I never asked his name because I am cautious and suspicious by nature.  Vickie was much friendlier but I'm content to play the bad cop. 

The 4 of us shared real estate on the creek for hours and he ultimately asked if we would drive his "old lady" (I kid u not) to his house to grab their fishing poles and more beer.  Probably a good idea because he was noodling and not having much luck (my first time seeing someone noodle in the flesh).  Vickie was ok with driving the girl friend a short ways up the road and I opted to wait with my cell phone cued up to 911.  This short wait was when I learned this young man's story: 32 years old,  never owned a home, never finished school, no bank account, first child on the way with his girlfriend of 6 months who he admitted was a smoker and drinker "but her other 2 kids turned out ok".  Said he realized he needed to turn his life around. His dad had died in his early 40's of a heart attack after a long series of DUI'S in varying states.  

All this made me consider, as I often do,  how lucky I've been in so many ways but mostly in having 2 parents who,  while not perfect, were committed to parenting together and raising children that would have decent lives.  Thank you,  Mom and Dad.  

But back to the rocks...

Per the usual m.o., I had to seal my buckets and send them up to Wisconsin,

awaiting their eventually journey to Florida when Vickie and Jim return for the winter.  

I was concerned about sealing the buckets as the geodes were thickly coated with all manner of creek life, but Tom assured me over the phone that the best option was to secure and label my swag and soak everything in bleach when I finally got my hands on it again.

I did take a couple of geodes home

that were already broken and just laying in the creek.

They are beautiful and may contain up to 14 different minerals in addition to the ubiquitous quartz.  The quartz crystals may also be stained different tints by minerals in the matrix or water.

I was gung ho to put all mine on the slab saw but read that cutting them open might damage large interior crystals.  The best method is to use a soil pipe cutter.

Luckily, Tom can get his hands on one through his work contacts so when I get my geodes in the fall, I'll be ready!

Here's a little info about keokuk geodes from the geode gallery web page.  The site has wonderful photos and very detailed information about the minerals associated with these types of geodes.

Minerals in Keokuk Geodes (Primarily from the Warsaw Formation)

The following minerals have been positively identified as being in Keokuk geodes, as well as those previously published to exist or are currently under study.  The photos for each mineral are currently under construction, please check back from time-to-time to see new additions.

Quartz- Lines almost all geodes. Clear, smoky, sea-green, iron-stained (orange), and pink or cherry tinted geodes are found (see photos below).  Clear and iron-stained geodes are the most commonly seen type of quartz geode.  To date, research findings have not confirmed the presence of "citrine" geodes in the Keokuk, Iowa area.  All such samples have been identified as iron-stained geodes.  Citrine is considered by many geologists and gemologists to be rather uncommon or infrequent anywhere on Earth, and is considered by many in the gemological sector to be more uncommon than amethyst (Holden, 1999).  Many iron-stained Keokuk geodes can be cleaned with any iron-removing product or various acids.  In the samples where the orange/yellow coloring does not clean out, it was found that the samples had successive layers of quartz on top of existing iron-stained quartz, but due to the transparency of the quartz crystals, the orange color still showed through.  Many geode samples have also been identified with "rings" of pyrite in the geode rind, indicating successive growth stages of quartz, then pyrite, then quartz again, etc.  Research by Sinotte (1969) also labels all orange quartz geodes as iron-stained.  The iron-staining is caused by the weathering of various sulfide minerals, most notably pyrite but also marcasite, chalcopyrite, etc.   The term "citrine colored" quartz is appropriate when describing Keokuk geodes, but true "citrine geodes" do not occur in the Keokuk area.  The pink or cherry tinted geodes, if naturally occurring (recently, several so called "red quartz geodes" were made available but they were simply orange iron-stained geodes that had been baked in an oven to a certain temperature to turn the orange to a red color) are occasionally caused by a close association with the surrounding host rock or where the chalcedony lining contained excessive iron amounts and resulted in a more of a reddish tint in the geodes. These will also clean up unless having been under the process of weathering for an extended period of time or subsequent growths of quartz have overlaid the layers of red iron deposits. In other geodes, the faces of several quartz crystals are coated with a very weak pink to vivid red, and can be washed out easily, these are most likely associated with hematite (see hematite section below). At most locations where hematite is the reason for the reddish coloring, other geodes in the same exposure will have actual hematite crystals and geodes containing pink to red water have been collected at a few locations.

"Snowball" Geodes:  An interesting variety of mainly quartz geode that is well-known among Keokuk geode collectors is the "snowball" geode.  Sinotte (1969) apparently first coined the term, and while definitions vary as to the true definition of a "snowball" geode from collector to collector, the main requirement for a Keokuk geode to be labeled as a "snowball" geode is the presence (or at least former presence) of a silica concretion in the interior of the geode (Sinotte, 1969 - refer to pages 74-77) that was later coated over by quartz and sometimes additional minerals, forming an attached round ball of quartz to the interior of the geode cavity.  Objectively defined, if there is proof of a separate entity in the form of the silica concretion in the geode cavity, regardless of shape, separate from the lining of the geode to at least some degree, it is, by definition, a "snowball" geode.  Some samples are formed better than others and contain less connections to the quartz wall and a more pronounced "ball", but the basic definition is still present in the more poorly or better-developed specimens.  Several such samples have been collected that noticeably contain such "snowballs", but the interior silica/chalcedony (usually a white solid material that is commonly mislabeled as kaolinite due to its appearance) has since disappeared, leaving an open void except for the layer of quartz on the outside.   The author of this page has collected several samples and also studied several other samples where this has been observed.  Such a phenomena may indicate an instability in the former interior silica ball in relation to the surrounding quartz, and a dissolving of the silica may have occurred after the silica ball was coated with quartz.  Research is ongoing - if anyone else has samples that fit this description or a sound theory based on research studies related to this topic, please contact me with your observations/opinions or references to the process that may have occurred and if possible, pictures of the samples under study or in question.  Below are two geodes containing "snowballs" - the left geode shows a hollow snowball and the right is a regular, typical snowball.