Last month I wrote about the Arkansas portion of Wayne County Gem and Mineral Club’s November field trip south (quartz, quartz and more quartz). But we did not stop there. After three days of collecting SiO2 in and around Mt. Ida, Arkansas, ten of us pointed our large black van east and headed to Tennessee and North Carolina. There was still a bit of space to fill in the van and in the trailer and we simply could not head north without filling all possible nooks and crannies. Here is how we did it! Continue reading Collecting In North Carolina and Tennessee
Tag Archives: Tennessee
Collecting in Tennessee
An article I wrote for January, 2014 WCGMC News (www.wcgmc.org)
In mid-November, 2013 Wayne County Gem and Mineral Club member Linda Schmidtgall and her husband Les made one last collecting trip before winter. And they were smart: they pointed their fossil hauling Chevy pickup south and travelled to north central Tennessee to hook up with the Knoxville Gem and Mineral Society and the Georgia Mineral Society on their annual fall crinoid and coral “harvest”. Fossil hunting along the shorelines of the Tennessee and Kentucky lakes is best when the water level is lowest in late fall and crinoid fossil remnants can be collected by the bucket full. Stem sections, or cemented crinoidal hash locally referred to as crinoidal plates, can be collected along the shoreline or just below the water line. All are fully silicified into grey or light bluish chalcedonic chert.