Why should I be excited about geology/gemology in the US?

[Gilberticus 374]

This was a question someone asked me early this morning. "Why should I be interested in playing in the soil here in the States? It's not like I'm going to find citrine in my backyard, right?" My little disclaimer goes here: this isn't going to make you interested in gems and minerals if you're the type of person who looks at gems and minerals and all you see is rocks. This is for Americans who like geology/gemology, but don't realize the treasure trove we walk on every day. Why only Americas? Because we don't have mines like other countries do. Plus, I've only visited other countries, I have no clue what you can find just by digging in your backyard.

First of all, just because we don't have mines here doesn't mean that the soil doesn't yield cool stuff. We don't have mines because of labor wages. In short, it's cheaper to mine in other countries than it is here. As far as citrine is concerned, no, we don't have it, but it's exceedingly rare anywhere. Most citrine on the market is amethyst that's been heated til it turns from purple to a shade of yellow.

But here's the fun part, what we do have here. In this country, we have rocks far cooler than granite, marble, and slate. Specifically, chalcedony. Many types of gemstone is actually forms of chalcedony. Chalcedony comes in many forms, and can be found in every State in the US. I have found some type of agate in every State I've ever been in. For example, years ago, one of my shipmates was digging a hole in California and found a thunder egg ( those from Oregon know this stone as their State rock). I found a moss agate in Ohio while looking for flint in Zanesville. Flint is the stuff Native Americans used in like arrowheads. I could give a whole wall of text about the chalcedony I've found, just by absent-mindedly playing in the dirt.

Long story short, we have all types of cool stuff right under our feet, some of it's as shallow as six or 8 feet from the surface, some of it works its way to the topsoil. I'd say it's a fair bet that all of us in this country have come across chalcedony some how, in some way, and not even realized it. While it looks nice on the inside, it sure ain't pretty on the outside

[Gilberticus 374]

Finding minerals and gems is just blind luck and patience. I'm home today with pneumonia. As luck would have it, our cat just keeled over. I knew it was going to happen some day, she's the equivalent of a 600 lb person. So, I'm out, in the cold, with pneumonia, digging a grave in semi-frozen earth.I never had any special love for that cat, but she's my better half's favorite, so that sucks. I always make graves far deeper than they need be, it's irrational and I admit it, but I watched Pet Cemetery far too many times as a kid. About ten foot down, I found one thumb nail sized nugget and one hand sized slab of Turritella agate. We've seen how crappy my comp camera is, and for some reason the site won't let me put my phone pictures on, so I'll try to find a nice picture somewhere on the net. Digging for minerals...is a lot like Terraria: sometimes I can dig all day in that game and find nothing, sometimes I discover quite an impressive haul. Blind luck and patience.

http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photos-fossil-turritella-agate-slab-image14799133

[chattius 2,520]

Sorry for your cat.

I gave up on mineralogy as a kid. We had several mines nearby and for centuries the iron and cobalt was refined with charcoal from the forests just near the mines.

So when I was a kid and stumpled on all these nice shining stones: Everytime I brought one to my teacher at school I was told it was slag from iron refining.

All which I added to the school museum considering mineralogy was a petrified water plant. But I was and I am real good with plants. I added 6 books to the xylotheque of my grandpa as a boy.