#Newcommer to the Forum
3 messages in this thread
Hello Doug;
The petrified wood glows a orangish red. As for minerals from Trinity County –
those of interest – Inesite is the claim to fame for the county from a mineral
enthusiast perspective. There are a number of other locales for iron and
chromium minerals – ilmenite, magnetite, chromite, hematite, etc. There are
also several cinnabar locales that have some rather splashy xtls for the
careful digger. There is of course gold and some minor platinum that can be
extracted from the rivers. There are several outstanding fossil locales
scattered around the county that date back to the miocene of plants – the
assemblege is representative of swamp-like conditions such as those found in
Louisiana – really interesting stuff. Finally, there are a number of copper
and manganese deposits that contain rhodenite and minor copper sulfide and
oxidation goodies. One deposit has yielded native copper. In all, however, I
put Trinity Co. at the low end of mineral diversity…Regards, John
Hi, John–
Trinity county may not match the southern Calif. deserts as a mineral
cornucopia, but it sounds like rockhound heaven to me while I remain assigned
to Oklahoma. There are fossils here and there, but minerals within a few
hours' drive are mostly limited to calcite, barite, and gypsum. There was a
hematite petrified branch found hereabouts, but I do not know where the
hematite came from.
Orange-red is an intriguing color for petrified wood fluorescence. I do not
expect that fluorescence to come from quartz (though this is not impossible);
it suggests calcite, barite, or some such. I have some petrified wood, from the
Salton Sea if I recall correctly, that has a dim orange fluorescence. I have
had it since childhood, and never got around to trying to figure what mineral
that was; have you any idea as to what mineral replaced your wood? How bright
is the fluorescence, compared to Franklin, NJ calcite?
A manganese deposit may have some fluorescent calcite nearby. Manganese traces
with smaller traces of lead activate and orange-red fluorescence in calcite,
halite, barite, and others; it can be as bright as the best Franklin, NJ
calcite if the proportions are right.
If you like Mineralogical Record, you may want to consider Mineral News. Lanny,
who publishes it, has uploaded a few condensed samples in this forum's library
to give you an idea of what it is like. The filenames are MNN*.ARC. Download
GEOMAG.TXT for a list we have been composing of magazines and subscription
addresses; it includes international magazines equivalent to Min. Rec. – I keep
meaning to subscribe to the one from U.K., but have not gotten around to it.
–Doug
Thanks Doug!
I'll check the library out and the calcite from the manganese deposits and get
back to you. I must confess to a passing interest only as far as glow in the
darks go but this sort of dialogue may stimulate a new interest…John