Search the Community
Showing results for tags 'minerals'.
-
Recently became infatuated with Labradorite after seeing photos of some nice cabochons made from this mineral in an online sales site. Desiring to find my own rather than buy online, I did some poking around on the internet to see if I could locate some sort of pay-dig site to hunt for myself. Still haven't found a location to collect my own but I did turn up what might be a resource for others--a nice listing (by state) of various locations where you can pay to go collecting. I noticed there are some fossil sites there as well so I figured I'd provide this link here in case it is of use to any of our members for planning a fun trip in the future: https://rocktumbler.com/blog/fee-mining-and-digging-sites/ Cheers. -Ken
-
I have a piece of smoky quartz but not sure what it's paired with. Any ideas? Chrysocolla?
-
On Sunday I took a trip to the Natural History Museum in London. I queued up before it opened at 10am and even before then there was a long queue. I have not visited this museum since I was a child and spent an entire day there (10am to 4.30pm - a long time). I was surprised as it is a lot bigger than I remembered and there was so much to see. This place has the most wonderful things and is an incredible place to learn. The museum showcases a Baryonyx, Sophie the Stegosaurus (the world's most complete Stegosaurus) and more! The moving Trex and Deinonychus are also really realistic in the way they move. If you like your dinosaur teeth, the Megalosaurus and Daspletosaurus teeth are out of this world! There is something for everyone in this museum and I would highly recommend that you visit here if you have not already! A lot of the dinosaur specimens are casts taken from other museums but they are still cool to look at. I had taken the photos on my SLR and due to the size of the photos I had to reduce the quality of them to be able to post on the forum which is unfortunate but it's the only way otherwise the photos would take a really long time to load. There are more non-dinosaur related photos that I will be posting at some point later on but may take me some time to pick out. Enjoy the photos from this section of the museum! Blue Zone Dinosaurs (has a mix of some photos of crocs too)
- 39 replies
-
- 12
-
-
- allosaurus
- amphibians
- (and 61 more)
-
I’m a 65 year-old veteran and current state congressional candidate. I mainly joined this forum because I find the topic interesting and because I found a rock I cannot ID. I’m guessing a Pyrite but it look like a bunch of teeny-tiny ball bearings stuck together and must pyrite specimens I’ve found before were all really angular crystal shapes. Also this is not magnetic-another strike against iron?
-
Well another Fossilmania show has come and gone. I have been attending these shows since it's inception in the early 80's. What was once a fossil only show/sale/trade venue has turned into "just whatever they display" type of show. Lots of "just plain rocks", gemstones jewelry and yes fossils, most of which I have handled many times. There were a few recognizable friends there behind those, select few fossil only tables, but it is so different this year than from years gone by. No longer friends getting together having a great time camping fireside chats swapping lies and stories true or otherwise. It seem that every year fewer and fewer people who were part of a comradery that stood for years attend. Admittedly disappointing now, back when the show was held in the Oakdale Park grounds we always had a great time. Since moving the show to the Somervell County exposition hall, it peaked around 2010, it has fallen short every year since. No longer a source of neck hugging, friends and fun (with few exceptions) the show has changed. It is doubtful that I will attend anymore unless they go back to "fossils only" sale/show. If you have attended in the past and have experienced this slide; post your thoughts. Surely there are some who share this view and long for the days of friendship and sharing a love of fossils with each other. "It's a rock when found on the ground" "Pick it up and keep it, It's a specimen." Bone2stone (Jess
- 5 replies
-
- 1
-
-
- fossil show
- fossils
- (and 1 more)
-
Hello i went to the river today in central alberta and found these fossils i believe one is petrified wood but it also has a translucent mineral in it?? I think?? And orange mineral around it which i assume is sap amber??? the size of these rocks are around a baseball please help identify all of them and offer info ill greatly appreciate it first two pictures are of opposite sides same as the other two.
-
Hello, I am ziggycardon! I am currently 23 years old and I'm from Belgium. Ever scince I was a small child, I've had a great interest in dinosaurs, animals and pretty much everything that has to do with nature and natural history! On a professional level I also work with animals as I am head of terrarium & aquarium in 3 different pet stores, but in my spare time I also keep and breed many reptiles, amphibians, invertebrates & exotix fish (although, I am tyring to take it a few steps back privately), and another thing I do in my spare time is to visit school with my collection of reptiles and other exotic animals (including some living fossils) as well as a whole load of other educational natural history material and ofcourse with fossils. One of my biggest interest in evolution and that's where my passion for the paleontology and zoology really meet! I bought my first fossil at the age of 12, but I've started collecting fossils as a hobby in late 2015 and I have build a small collection ever since. Unfortunatly I have never in my life found a fossil myself, something I really have to start doing as I find the entire process fascinating, but I am sure this forum might give me the push I need to get started! This week I started working on my first specialized fossil room which I hope to have finished in november this year. Hope to house most of my fossils there as well as some museum quality replica's and do some themed displays like a Kemkem display with a life sized spinosaurus skull replica and lot's of kemkem fossils, a ice age display, a eocene display, a marine reptile display and so on... Something I also wanted to mention, the reason I've found this forum is due to the fact that I had a 1,06 meter long lower jaw of a Prognathodon delivered today and the seller of the fossil who brought me the fossil told me about the forum after I told him about the upcoming fossil room and that I might get in contact here with people should I ever want a certain fossil that might be hard to uptain. Is there anything more to say about me? Well I've the most wonderfull girlfriend I can imagine who shares an interest in paleontology but not in the same passion as I do. I really love to visit musea and I love to travel. And besides fossils and animals my other hobbies & interests are centered about movies and television as I am in particular a huge fan of everything Middle Earth, Game of Thrones & Pirates of the Caribbean, collecting lot's of collectables from these franchises and met quite a lot of the actors who play in them! Including Sam Neill who we probably all now best as dr. Alan Grant in Jurassic Park! Here are some photo's of my fossil collection, my animals and my photo with Sam Neill. First of all, this is me proudly posing with an ammonite! My newly arrived prognathodon jaw My display cases: afbeeldinegn upload images afbeeldingne upload pictures img foto The things that I don't have room for to display yet... A few of my special pets My photo with Sam Neill A.K.A. dr. Alan Grant If you have any questions regarding my photo's or my collection or what I do or about anything, feel free to ask!
-
I have been here at the forums for quite sometime now ( I think since I found my first fossils on a trip to Missouri close to 20 years ago?!) Work and life has been very busy and had prevented me from anything more than online hunting, you tube video's, and the lack of actual sites close to where I currently live. (Currently I live above the San Joaquin Valley, in a small mountain community named North Fork. I have had wonderful years here hunting arrow heads and various rocks and minerals, Have found many crystals at the old gold mine sites which are numerous over in Mariposa county next to me, and have had a great time up here! However, I took a trip to Missouri many moons ago to help a family member relocate out here to Nevada, which is when the unexpected happened. When we went to rent the moving truck to begin loading, my mom went inside to handle the rental, and as per my "norm" I took off walking across an open fields with, eyes to the ground,, towards the back of the lot and behind the row of trucks parked ready for rent, towards the railroad tracks. I was finding different minerals and such and then by chance I kicked over a plain down rudy clay looking rock, when I noticed it had a pattern to it. I looked closer and it was a plant fossil ! I was ecstatic, and thrilled does not even begin to cover it. I found several more all of different varieties when I began to notice what the 'commonalities' were with the ones I was finding. From that point on I was hooked! I made several trips back there just for the rock hunting and had found many wonderful 'treasures' which I cherished. I then began to explore more of Missouri to see what else there was to find in this state, and lets put it this way, the first thing on my bucket list is to return to Missouri!!! It got even better, after having my eyes opened so to speak as when we left there we headed to a ranch to spend the night that was owned by family back there. They have an 80 acre ranch. When we got there and I stepped out of the truck, I looked down and could NOT believe my eyes. There were fossils just laying around and exposed all up and down the dirt road which lead from the highway and into the 80 acres. I hunted for the rest of that evening and found more treasures. I have never forgotten that trip, and like I said I plan on gong back there one day before I die, and attempt to find more of those little treasures which made so darned happy so many years ago....and the family back there still owns the ranch too! I have since retired due to disability (heart) and find I have more time available than money naturally, so I am here to begin exploring what is available or close by where I live now, and also any near Fernley NV.. where I spend several months at at time there helping my Mom. I have small amounts of silver in quartz rock, (no gold yet though) many heads, awesome crystals, but my real desire is to find more fossils! So if anyone has any information or recommendations for me I would love to know about them! I am aware of the fossils found down in the Valley at the old landfill dump site in Madera, (wooly mammoth bones, sabre tooth tiger etc.) and I have heard of a dry creek bed somewhere down around the town of Dos Palos and of course Shark Hill and the Ernst Quarries and Ant Hill which is now closed. However its a vast area there, with miles and miles of open high desert area, which leads me to hope that those are not the ONLY areas where one can hunt for sharks teeth and other sea life fossils. Here's to hope! and forgive my long winded introduction but I am happy to be here once again and I'm looking forward to getting to know other members here. Thank you! Debra
- 23 replies
-
- 2
-
-
- california
- cave exploration
- (and 7 more)
-
Rock Hounding in Wyoming by Mike Maurer, Geologists of Jackson Hole, May 22, 2018 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GNlHwqjTdE The recording is a little rough at first. Some publications: Hausel, W.D., 2004. Guide to prospecting and rock hunting in Wyoming. Wyoming State Geological Survey. http://wsgs.wyo.gov/products/wsgs-2004-ip-11.pdf Hausel, W.D., 2008. Geology Of Gemstone Deposits– Exploration Models for Wyoming. Topics in Wyoming Geology: Wyoming Geological Association Guidebook, Pages 77-101 https://gemstonebookstore.pbworks.com/f/Geology+of+Gemstones.pdf Yours, Paul H.
-
Hey everyone, This is my second post hopefully I can get some answers on these! I found these in a town called Tunkhannock in Northeastern Pennsylvania in part of a mountainous area. They were just in some shale I was breaking up. Any kind of research I’ve done says there’s really not much for fossils in that area. Any ideas?? Thanks in advance friends! 1 2 3
-
Ed's House of Gems ..... The Tradition Continues
Brett Breakin' Rocks posted a topic in Fossil Hunting Trips
Hello Everyone, Since I am away from my usual haunts and fossil hunts and currently on the left coast ... we decided (ok, I insisted like a small excited child) that we take our annual trip to Ed's House of Gems on Sandy Blvd. in Portland, Oregon. Since meeting my wife's folks and seeing her old stomping grounds as a child ... her family's frequent visits to this old dive bar of a rock shop was one of the extra bonuses that sealed the deal and now we have two kids. haha. Ok, so Ed's is a family run business and has been around at least as long as we have .. 40 + years. It is a building tucked a bit away from a street filled with mariner themed dive bars, Chinese restaurants, and establishments of ill repute (?) Ok, it's Portland so they have a bikini drive through coffee hut nearby as well..... Keeping it weird. The storefront has probably not changed over the decades so it borders on the kitsch .. which honestly is back in style now. It's just a fantastic trip down memory lane when 'my' family used to pile into a car for two weeks and drive across the desert Southwest (with one tape player between 3 kids) . These rock shops it seemed were dotted along the highway and we were screaming bloody murder anytime we spotted one, because my dad (I know) secretly wanted to stop at all of them as well. Piled in big metal caged bins were boulders of obsidian or agate, petrified wood, and rose quartz ... buy it by the pound. We usually left with our little trinkets and mineral treats. Always loved those stops, and they are a disappearing breed with online taking over and shuttering the brick and mortar locations. I think the other rock shop here in Oregon that is worth a look is a little place on the way to Bend, OR but I digress. Anyhoo .. inside the store is filled with everything a rockhound would want. Minerals in the rough, slabs, tools, tumblers, mineral specimens, Moroccan fakes, Moroccan real, Riker mounts, shells, fossils etc ..... I love every inch of that rock infested place .. and now it is a new tradition for the next generation. I hope it sticks around for a few more ......
- 39 replies
-
- 3
-
-
- eds house of gems
- fossils
- (and 4 more)
-
Zdravo! I found yesterday few interesting rocks on the Juhor Mountain.I think that they are some types of minerals but i'm not sure cause i'm not so good in to that.Please help Thanks!
-
Zdravo again! Here are some again, interesting rocks that i have found yesterday at Juhor Mountain (Central Serbia). Any thoughts? Maybe a Jasper or something?
-
here 9,1 MB
- 5 replies
-
- 3
-
-
- cephalopoda
- collection
- (and 7 more)
-
CGMA (Chicago Gem-Mineral Association) 42nd Annual Show
Nimravis posted a topic in General Fossil Discussion
Today, for the first time, I decided to go out to the Kane County Fairgrounds, Batavia, Illinois- to see what the CGMA Show had to offer. I believe that this show is held every Memorial Day weekend and is open on Saturday and Sunday. I arrived a little before the opening time of 10 am and could not believe the amount of people that were waiting in line. The admission for adults was $5.00, I believe Seniors were $3.00. Once inside there were 2 large room with dealers, demonstrations and a kids corner. In the hallway between the two rooms there were some exhibits, a silent auction as well as a food station. I spent about 2 hours looking around and really had a lot of fun. If you are in the Chicagoland area this weekend, stop by and check it out, I will make sure that I hit it next year because it was really nice to see dealers that I have never seen at shows before. Now on with the pictures- A Lot of them.
-
Over the past couple weeks I have seemed to find multiple variations of petrified wood. In this picture the top few pieces were all found in the same area and some of the smaller pieces that I found have little crystals throughout them (like the one in the top of this image). The piece I found on the bottom confuses me because it resembles wood but also has a mineral/rock look to it. I have read into agatized petrified wood but I still don't know much about that process. In the past I have found very large pieces of what I believed to be petrified wood but the majority of the piece resembled a crystal. Unfortunately I don't have those with me but will post a picture of them when I get home. Any info and help on the subject would be appreciated. Also sorry the picture posted weird. When i refer to the top I mean the right side of the image. Thanks, Nic
-
Hello, I found these rocks today around a rock outcrop area. Any idea what they are? Thanks in advance.
-
Hi all Brought some shelving and just starting to layout my fossils and minerals this has barely touched them and still have about 8 boxes to sort, think I'm going to need more shelves.
-
a) What is this rock, please? b ) And this one? Thanks in advance. Miguel
.thumb.jpg.2241b679b8a5b90ca5d64582c66fa2b6.jpg)
.thumb.jpg.171ce4fbe01ea87d8703718c0d48b01b.jpg)
.thumb.jpg.64ebae9e0c63fd83baab8dcbba3a04e0.jpg)
.thumb.jpg.a949a5e40493feee3918191db74bdc7c.jpg)
.thumb.jpg.3ebb02a693b59a8446d81484a43774cc.jpg)
.thumb.jpg.7dc0d0fac97723e3eab96f2f9da87cde.jpg)
-
Howdy all, I'm a PhD student at OU in Norman in the Department of Microbiology and Plant Biology. My background is in forest ecosystems and I'm in the remote sensing field. We use satellites and ground-based sensors to study the productivity of vegetation on Earth's surface and the fluxes of carbon and water between Earth's land surface and the atmosphere. I've started getting into fossil wood after assembling a nice collection of minerals from Oklahoma. A couple of years ago I became the second person to find fossil wood in the chert of the Potato Hills in Southeast Oklahoma, where I had a cabin. The novaculite in which I found the wood is around 400 million years old. The cellular structure is fantastically preserved. I've also found some minerals in those hills that have yet to be documented. I'm hoping an ambitious PhD geology student will help me analyze my specimens in the future. Russ
- 20 replies
-
- 1
-
-
- fossil wood
- minerals
- (and 1 more)
-
Des Plaines Valley Geological Society's 50th Annual Show
Nimravis posted a topic in General Fossil Discussion
After visiting the MAPS Show yesterday in Iowa City, I decided to stop by a small show that was held in a Western Suburb of Chicago. It was the 50th Annual Des Plaines Valley Geological Society Show and it was the first time that I have attended. It is a very small show that is really geared towards rocks, minerals and jewelry, but there was one vendor that I saw there that had fossils. She had various items for sale, but the prices were quite high for many of the items ( i.e. 1" portion of a Spinosaurus tooth for $150.00), but being a local show, I do like to purchase 1 or 2 items to help the vendors, so I bought a couple fluorescent minerals for my 4 year old grandson and a small bird bone in Tar Matrix (Rancho La Brea, CA), though I think it may have come from Maricopa Brea, CA. Like other shows, they had a couple of displays , door prizes and silent auctions. If you live in the Chicagoland Area ans you have nothing to do tomorrow head out to Des Plaines and check it out- the information is on The Fossil Forums Calendar. Here are some pictures from the show:
-
More pictures of what I found under mobile home and run down shed Never bhave been into rocks minerals and gems till now and have been reading so much the past 3 weeks still don't know what is what..lol
-
Here are some quick pics of what I've got so far. https://flic.kr/s/aHsmhX87Vr Dug a 5 gallon bucket worth and have three large pieces. The two in the trunk are a matched pair, full rounds. The large chunk with quartz vug is cool. I gave it a 2 hour treatment today in iron out and then a water soak. Quartz looks clean. There is a bit of groutite. Am going back out for a dig in the morning and I'm taking 3 more buckets. Cant wait to see what we end up with. Russ
-
Today I stopped by the 2018 E.S.C.O.N.I. (Earth Science Club of Northern Illinois) Show. This is a very small show that has various vendors selling fossils, rocks and minerals, but it is always fun to attend. Besides being free, it is really a great place to promote fossils and minerals for kids. The have a whole section where kids can search for fossils and also get many other things for free. The Silent Auctions are a big draw and you can get some really cool things super cheap. In addition, they run a Live Auction and like the Silent ones, you can pick up various fossils, minerals a equipment a good prices. The fossils that were offered for sale were not really anything to write home about, but they were selling. There was also a very nice display of fossils from Bundenbach, Germany that were supplied by the Lizardo Museum. Below are some pics of the event and the Bundenbach display.
-
Pictures: 2018 Tucson Fossil Show (PICTURE HEAVY)
Troodon posted a topic in General Fossil Discussion
Detail of the show logistics can be found in the following topic Dealers are slowly getting into town and its a madhouse looking at the dealers setting up. The show officially starts Thursday but some are already open in the Ramada and Tucson Hotel that I visited today. Here are some pictures. Tucson Hotel City Center -
- 514 replies
-
- 13
-
-
- dinosaurs
- fossil show
- (and 5 more)
.jpg.4305d2e91ae2f13476eb13a048721358.jpg)
.jpg.7a9fa7ee871af1d50ab39a15f0ee56f6.jpg)
.jpg.9517e127c4ceb0f830c439c08357dd86.jpg)
.jpg.490dec0ec9e7c2bdf0f43de87afcc6fd.jpg)
.jpg.68e0cfc3a4a85ad2fc11811598a1053c.jpg)
.jpg.99d6e298cb721957c0eae67f02cd36bb.jpg)
