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View Full Version : Any geologists or rockhounds on WB?



Egads
01-26-2009, 19:36
I hiked the BMT from the Ocoee powerhouse to the Hiawassee powerhouse this weekend. About 4 miles of the hike was alongside Big Lost Creek in TN. The water was very clear and I noticed the creek bed is made with a pearlescent turquoise / aquamarine rock. It was really cool looking and I have not seen it anywhere else.

It appears gray in the picture but it really isn't.
http://www.hikes247.com/images/photos/2009%20BMT%201-24%201-25%2012%20&%2013/slides/IMG_7334.html

Does anyone know the name of the rock or anything about it?

johnnybgood
01-26-2009, 21:32
:-? Might be Unikyte .

Doughnut
01-26-2009, 21:59
rockdawg69 is a geologist. may want to send him a PM.

DoughNut

Egads
01-26-2009, 22:02
Johnnybgood,

A very good try. This stone has no red, is a more subtle green, more slate like than quartz like. It was wavy in the stream bed as if it was a molten flow before it solidified.

Lugnut
01-26-2009, 22:11
Isn't Minnesota Smith a geologist?

johnnybgood
01-26-2009, 22:35
Yeah , Unikyte has a pinkish appearance and is as you stated quartz like ,, and not what you are describing. Just thought I'd give it that good ole' college try.

dmax
01-26-2009, 22:36
Give a heads up if you see anything gold in the creek. I'll come with my pan and won't tell anybody.:)

TOW
01-27-2009, 00:49
this is a good thread, as soon as i get back home i will view this pic. my pappy's computer is dial up so pages take a long time to load....

i use to own a rock shop and have been somewhat of a rockhound for most of my life.

one time i found a stone adz just off the trail up in pennsylvania...

mudhead
01-27-2009, 08:41
I will take chlorite for 25 Alex.

Egads
01-27-2009, 17:58
I will take chlorite for 25 Alex.

We have a winner:banana:banana:banana

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/86/Chlorite_schist.jpg&imgrefurl=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chlorite_schist.jpg&usg=__vv9I6tQdZZOJHzD7VEh64dCBMBI=&h=515&w=600&sz=99&hl=en&start=9&tbnid=PoUKP91tvjZW4M:&tbnh=116&tbnw=135&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dchlorite%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG

Nicksaari
01-27-2009, 18:02
took two semesters of geo/historical geo. found it amazingly interesting. ive def got the eye for geology. i was also pondering if there were geo geeks on WB. great thread!
need to read up on my flora and geology.

FaithWalker
01-27-2009, 18:23
Isn't Minnesota Smith a geologist?


Yes, Lugnut, MinnesotaSmith is a Geologist. I will let him know of this thread on Friday when we meet up. FW

mudhead
01-27-2009, 18:31
Well, what's your favorite funky rock?

Dikes are cool.

Erratics are very cool.

T. Rex is very, very cool.

Egads
01-27-2009, 18:57
Well, what's your favorite funky rock?

Dikes are cool.

Upper Waterton Lake in Waterton National Park claims to have dikes that have been bent by hydraulic pressure. I was surprised to find out the top of the mountains were sedimentary rock and you could see the "ripples in the sand"

ki0eh
01-27-2009, 20:16
The eponymous springs in Boiling Springs were created by an igneous dike, as was the vaguely-slightly-more-wooded-than-the-surrounding-countryside crossing of the Cumberland Valley that the A.T. uses.

dmax
01-27-2009, 20:16
Has anybody panned the creeks in ga.? The next time I'm done there, I'd like to take a pan.

dmax
01-27-2009, 20:18
oops...down there

Dances with Mice
01-27-2009, 20:44
Has anybody panned the creeks in ga.? The next time I'm done there, I'd like to take a pan.A little. Here'n'there.

I'd be glad to tell you about all the places where I haven't found anything.

rockdawg69
01-27-2009, 22:57
Yep! I'm guilty of beating on rocks, but retired from that. Got tired of looking at rocks so I went into looking for UXO, or more properly watching the contractors who were digging the stuff up.

Best geologic funky spot - Pilot Mtn, NC, off of US 52, traveling north from Winston Salem. Looks just like Mother Nature herself, soft and sensual.

Egads
01-27-2009, 22:59
Best geologic funky spot - Pilot Mtn, NC, off of US 52, traveling north from Winston Salem. Looks just like Mother Nature herself, soft and sensual.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://pics4.city-data.com/cpicc/cfiles5364.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.city-data.com/picfilesc/picc5364.php&usg=__2bN8MkqDE3DqO211gmdDQPLlM4Q=&h=600&w=450&sz=39&hl=en&start=31&tbnid=rIytwhQ1KNc8rM:&tbnh=135&tbnw=101&prev=/images%3Fq%3DPilot%2BMtn,%2BNC%26start%3D20%26gbv% 3D2%26ndsp%3D20%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN

mudhead
01-28-2009, 07:12
If you click on "Pilot Knob,NC" in the link Egads posted, bottom left, it gives you some more good pics.



That either has a tidy trail up one side, or it is a major beast.

Egads
01-28-2009, 07:22
Link works for me

Dances with Mice
01-28-2009, 10:26
Has anybody panned the creeks in ga.? The next time I'm done there, I'd like to take a pan.Here's a little more serious answer for panning in Georgia than my first reply: Use the Google map function to find "Hightower Gap, GA 30572", switch to the terrain feature. The AT passes through the gap, just north of Hawk Mtn.

Notice how from that point you're near the headwaters of Rock Creek, Long Creek, Mauldin Creek and the Etowah River. All are worth a look but Rock Creek has a road running right beside it, easy access. It could be an interesting place to swirl a pan. Just sayin'.

dmax
01-28-2009, 12:59
Thanks! I'll be sure to give that a try when I'm down there. On a section hike I stopped in at the gold museum in dahlonega before heading to springer. While hiking, I was wondering which creeks were carrying the gold. I would assume that quite a few do. Especially with a gold museum there.

mudhead
01-28-2009, 13:38
Link works for me

Your link is fine. Mine was junk. Different view, only edited part of my post.

Dances with Mice
01-28-2009, 14:47
Thanks! I'll be sure to give that a try when I'm down there. On a section hike I stopped in at the gold museum in dahlonega before heading to springer. While hiking, I was wondering which creeks were carrying the gold. I would assume that quite a few do. Especially with a gold museum there.The Etowah river begins at Hightower then runs south to Dahlonega and is a famous gold bearing stream that still bears scars from all the dredging done back in the day. Granted, the gold was mostly found way downhill. But Rock Creek starts at the same gap and runs north. For no other reason than that it's worth a look, right?

You're likely to pan out a couple little garnet crystals. If you find nothing else, at least finding garnet means your panning technique ain't bad.

RockDoc
02-01-2009, 20:52
Geology geek reporting for duty...

Can't tell much from your photo, looks like sedimentary rock to me, maybe shale or fine grained sandstone? Could be greenish because of clay and mica; likely chlorite, like somebody else said. Most of the rocks in the southern Appalachians are rather high grade metamorphics, originally sedimentary but converted to higher temp minerals by heat and pressure. There are occasionally some pretty interesting metamorphic minerals, like staurolite (cute little brown crosses), which is my favorite.

Yes, Dahlonega was a famous, early gold mining camp. Placer gold in the streams. The interesting thing there is that the gold was released by an ancient period of hot, humid weathering maybe 5 or 10 million years ago. Since the area is way south of the continental glaciers, the old weathered area survived the Pleistocene (last 2-3 million years). The placer miners just had to wash away the saprolite (chemically degraded soil, mostly clay) and sluice up the gold grains. So, our climate has historically had severe swings towards the warm, then back to cold, and humans had NOTHING to do with it. You can guess where I'm going with this, but I'll leave it at that.

I'll be hiking that section this April... will keep your question in mind and maybe report back.

emerald
02-01-2009, 21:50
I've completed courses in physical geology, historical geology and paleobotany (12 credits total) and I'm glad I signed up for all of them.

My professor for my paleobotany course was one of the most remarkable individuals I ever met. He earned 4 masters degrees. We met once a week in the evening for what may have been 3 hours. It was a small class with maybe 5 students.

The field trips were incredible. It's amazing to learn what's all around us yet goes unnoticed by nearly everyone as we go about our lives.

The final lecture covered the entire history of plants and speculated about their future. It might have been the single best lecture I ever attended.