RockBound | June 2023

Photograph By, TOm sOvEREign

The Hunting Of The Datolites 39

An agony in 6 fits: join Mark Jeranek on part one of six as he meanders the world of datolites with a fun tangent or two along the way.

9 Upcoming Events

Take a look at all of our upcoming events hosted throughout the state!

10 Recent Events

Follow up on previous events.

26 Beach Spotlight

Highlighting one our many amazing Michigan Beaches.

27 Meet the Team

Get to know a member of our amazing Michigan Rockhounds team.

11 Local Legends Michigan Rockhounds casts a spotlight on one of our amazing members.

13 Community Voices

What does rockhounding mean to you?

16 Rolling Stones

This month's tip for getting the lapidary/polishing results you want!

18 Deep Dive Dive a bit deeper into the science of this month's stone.

22 Your Rocks,Their Stories

You asked about your amazing finds and our geologist answered!

28 Shallow Waters

A less intense look at the science of what you can find in Michigan.

30 Zen & the Art of Rockhounding

A meditation on what rockhounding means to many of us.

32 Campground Review

A look at a Michigan campground for your next big collecting trip.

34 Smooth Grooves

Our lapidary featurette, learn a new technique!

37 Didja Google It?

We ran a rock question past the latest artificial intelligence. How did it do?

Into The Night

PHOTOGRAPHY SPOTLIGHT

Michigan Rockhounds member, Terri Strickland McCarthy, snapped this picture in Ludington while celebrating her 40th anniversary with her husband.

Upcoming E VENTS

JUNE 17

BAY HARBOR COLLECT-A-THON

At 11:30am on the 17th of June, we will get together on private land for an exciting fossil collecting event. Near a road and against a hillside, countless brachiopods and other fossils have weathered out of the embankment and can simply be picked from the ground. No tools are needed and in fact, no tools are allowed on the site! Come join us for a geologist-led day of fossil collecting near Petoskey! Tickets are limited and almost sold out. For more information go here!

JULY 20-23

Join us on this 4-day event that is mostly planned, but still being finalized out. Locations will include private tailings piles, public tailings piles, agate-beaches, an active quarry, and abandoned mining prospects. Want to learn more? As our plans finalize, we will be formally announcing the event in our group and through our newsletter, so stay tuned!

1ST ANNUAL YOOPER TOUR

Recent Events

INthe last month, there have been several places you might have caught us folks from Michigan Rockhounds. Cody Wiedenbein has become a local celebrity. In addition to hosting several smaller classes around the state on topics of rockhounding and Petoskey stones, he has been interviewed by TV news broadcasters and invited to fancy museum galas where I can only imagine he has been puttin’ on the ritz and hobnobbing with the elitest of the elites, talking rocks over champagne and caviar. Autographs available upon request. Our two big events to start the year, though, were our Leland Lodge kickoff to the rockhounding season, Rock Out!, and our annual Rockport Fossil Tour.

At the Leland Lodge, we hosted four classes covering the topics of Leland Blues, Michigan’s History, How to Tumble your Stones like a Pro, and How to ID Rocks and Minerals. I won’t speak to the quality of the presentations since I am extremely biased, but I will toot the horn of our enthusiastic audience. An audience

who showed up with notebooks— and not just to hide their sudokus. Folks were taking notes! We were thrilled and we hope everyone there got a lot out of the experience.

A week later, we hosted our annual Fossil Tour at Rockport State Recreation Area inside the old limestone quarry. Not only did people have a blast, but amazing things were found. A trilobite was finally found and the trilo-bounty collected. Normally that would have been the day’s amazing find, but one attendee opened up a block of shale to discover a pristinely preserved armored scale from the local placoderm (armored fish), Protitanichthys Rockportensis (that’s right, the extinct fish is named after Rockport) that grew to over six feet in length. This piece was stunning. Filming it all was a crew on behalf of Facebook who are making a short documentary about our amazing group and what we do. I've heard that most of the film crew also left Rockport with pockets full of rocks and fossils!

We hope you’ll join us for future eventswe always have a ridiculous amount of fun. Check the upcoming events section!

Local Legends

But enough of Edward, what of the cat? Azriel the cat began accompanying Ed in 2021 when he decided Ed needed the company. Ed asks that we don’t tell the cat that they’re looking for rocks; Azriel believes they are out hunting smurfs apparently.

E D w ARD E AST m AN

is a bit of a local character in our community and I mean that both figuratively and literally… He often goes by his own personal character name of WCG or White Cat Guy. Famously sharing pics of himself rockhounding with a white cat on his shoulder, Ed is an NMU alum, a FedEx driver, and a man who enjoys living off of the land, even owning a roadside veggie stand. He really got involved with rockhounding as an escape following his divorce after reminiscing fondly of old times collecting at Whitefish Point.

Ed and Azriel enjoy walking both shores and fields in their hunts, though Ed thinks his new favorite type of rockhounding will be when he straps on his snorkel gear this summer- an idea he got from folks in our group! He says the most likely beach to find him at would be Pilgrim Haven (editor note: jeez, we’ve got a real Pilgrim Haven theme going in this first issue, don’t we?).

Edward’s goal this year is to get to Leland and find one of those famous Blues. We at Michigan Rockhounds wish you all the best, Ed… and please don’t put a snorkel on the cat!

C ommunity V O i CES

We asked our community what their favorite rocks or minerals are and why. Your answers amazed and touched us. Here are just a few...

sHELLY mEYER

My favorite stone I own is a piece of black and white granite.... When my husband and I were dating, I saw this stone in a river and wanted it, but it was too far out to reach. So I leaned waaay out as my husband held my arm and we got it! Nothing super special as a stone, but that stone has been riding with us in our trucks over the past 24 years.

bRandI HOdgE

My favorite is Bacon Opal found in Utah because it reminds me of my brother who passed away in December, 2017. He was a rockhound, lived in Utah and he is who showed me Bacon Opal for the first time and I’ve just always loved it... reminds me of him.

RUTH jaUss-PEña

Turquoise is calming to me and reminds me of home. When I hold it, it reminds me of my father. He’s gone now. But he wore a turquoise ring that I’d spin around his finger when I would hold his hand. My dream is to mine for it one day.

sUzETTE

daRnELL HOLLOwaY

Taconite pellets because of the nostalgia of being a kid and hunting along the tracks for them with my dad. I love puddingstones for the same reason, hunting them on my grandma and grandpa’s farm with my dad.

Turquoise (Kingman Mining District, Arizona, USA)

Licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0, by James St. John

Rolling sTOnEs

Let's talk about what's rockin' & rollin' in the barrel and the importance of a healthy cascading slurry.

By JORDAN & ZARA PRIDE Rockhounds | Writers

The wet rock tumbling process is where you're creating a liquid slurry, which is the mechanism of abrasion. The slurry is where fine particles of 'grit' are suspended in a thick solution along with the rocks that are being polished. Think of this thick abrasive slurry working like a saw cutting wood as it polishes your stones.

To keep it rockin' & rollin', it's ideal to start your slurry with a cascade and end with a cascade, rocks always in motion, suspended in a thick solution.

So what IS a cascading slurry? Picture the slushy machine at a gas station, where small icy delicious particles suspended in liquid are in a fluid motion.

If the solution becomes too thick, it will clump and not flow; too thin and there's not enough friction to fully initiate abrasion from the grit, which will result in a longer or incomplete polish. Worried about maintenance? Don't, because it's easy.

To maintain a healthy slurry, check it once a day to make sure it's flowing right.

If you need to thin your slurry, remove a few spoonfuls of the solution and add water. Fill your barrel to the proper level; too little causes clunking, too much causes a jam. You can even add a small amount of sugar to the mix from the start to thicken the solution. Most importantly, be sure to check your rockin' & rollin' muddy waters once a day.

One Last Look

Michigan Rockhounds member, Ruth Nelson, captured this beautiful sunset as a memory of her final look back onto the beach before heading home.

PHOTOGRAPHY SPOTLIGHT

Deep Dive

By BRETT BURKETT Geologist | Writer

EvER Find ROUndEd, PEbbLEs in sTREams

THE LakEsHORE? Pink so pale it's almost white? Pink so bold it looks like raw salmon? These are likely chunks of gran ite brought down from Canada (the region geologists call the Canadian Shield) dur ing the last Ice Age and washed by rivers, waves, or even the glaciers themselves.

When unpolished, they often appear dull and pockmarked, their principle identifying feature being their pink coloration (the mineral potassium feldspar) and crystalline appearance. Those visible crystals may cause the rock to look splotchy- you will see distinct mineral chunks in the rock. Some will display other colors such as white (plagioclase feldspar), translucent-grayish bits that look

like glass (quartz), and even dark-colored minerals— flat crystals of biotite mica or blocky crystals of hornblende. When polished, the differences in coloration are striking, potassium feldspar and biotite mica reflecting light very well, giving it its characteristic sparkle. The diverse array of colors and light effects is what makes granite a common choice for countertops, tombstones, and the facings of buildings. Often, rather than pink, white is the dominant color. These rounded granites look even duller until they are polished. The final product looks like cookies-andcream, the white and black minerals sparkling beautifully, and the glassy bits giving it an icy look.

But... Sometimes these rocks have something extra, a serious bonus for collectors.

In some cases, they’ll contain the mineral sodalite, a whitish to azure-blue mineral (Michigan's are only white) that can fluoresce— that is, glow, under an ultraviolet (UV) light! This property is even visible in dull samples. If you happen to have a portable UV light, bring one along when rockhounding! If sodalite is present, it can glow strongly orange or yellow-white. These are widely known as "Yooperlites." These aren't actually true granites, but are a closely related variety called syenite (basically, they have a different mix of quartz and feldspar).

While you can find rounded pebbles on most of Michigan's shores, they are most common across the shores of Superior. Virtually all of our granites that you find on the beaches were brought by glaciers from Canada, but in the UP there are a few isolated actual outcrops; intact exposures of granite and related rocks, most notably in Sugarloaf Mountain and near the Dead River Bridge, but also in a few roadcuts in the Republic area.

Granite

forms when magma rising through the crust fails to reach the surface to form a volcano. As it cools slowly underground over the course of tens of thousands of years, it grows large mineral crystals that give granite its characteristic look. Millions or even billions of years may pass before those rocks reach the surface to see the light of day.

Aside from collecting, why do we care about granite? Granite makes up the solid mass of the continents upon which we live. Most of what we see around us are sedimentary rocks (e.g., sandstone, limestone) or soil deposited on top of it, but dig

down far enough and the main mass of the continental crust is granite. As these rocks break down over time, the glassy bits of quartz, which resist the effects of wind and rain, are loosened, tumbling down rivers, eventually creating many of our beaches. Most granites are many millions- and can be even billions- of years old. Granites of the Canadian Shield can be 2.7 to 3.6 billion years old! Since most of the granites you'll encounter on the shores of Michigan are Canadian immigrants from the last ice age, that's about how old the pieces you'll find are! What might look like a dull rock can be a truly epic find from some of the earliest days of our planet.

Your Rocks, Their Stories

By Craig McClarren Geologist

Michael Jeffries wrote

“

Ok, I have to post just a couple more from my recent trip of Lake Michigan from St Joseph to Leland. This one is one of my favorites! Those opaque looking pieces do have depth to them... I would ask if it’s an agate but I really don’t see banding. More like just a lot of little eyes into its soul.

#pleaseidentify”

So Michael, what you’ve got going on here is pretty complex and a lot of fun. What you’ve got is a limestone breccia. Now, this is different from most limestone breccias and let me explain how.

Limestone forms in shallow oceans and is easily dissolved by groundwater. Virtually all cave systems occur in limestone. Breccia is a rock composed of jagged smaller rocks, pieces of shattered material. Limestone breccias are places where caves have collapsed: sink holes and caverns caving in; that’s how most form, but not this one.

If you carefully observe the clasts in your rock, you’ll notice that each of them has an outer rind, which likely originally formed during this dessication process.

Those clasts are no longer the original limestone, however. This rock has undergone silicification, aka quartz replacement. Water, rich in dissolved quartz, worked its way through this rock and the calcite micro-minerals that made up the limestone were replaced by silica in the form of chalcedony and quartz. For those familiar with how cold water agates form, yes: this is the same process. This rock has none of the banding that would qualify it as an agate, but it has undergone the same process, giving the clasts that cloudy translucence.

So what you’ve got is a silicified limestone breccia caused by dessication during lithification with chalcedony and quartz replacement of clasts and ancient sand filling a few of the cracks between. And if you understood even a third of that sentence after reading this whole description… well, then I’ve done my job!

#pleaseidentify”

So this one is a bit complicated, but what a story this rock has to tell! Some parts of this rock appear to be fine-grained quartzite, which is what happens to sandstone when it undergoes a lot of heat and pressure over millions of years. But it’s certainly not just that, it contains large clasts (chunks) of granite and medium-sized subangular to subrounded (basically slightly to

kind-of angular) clasts of a lithic material (lithic refers to dark-colored minerals). Here’s why that’s important: sandstones form in river or beach systems or sand dunes where the material has been worn down well. But that doesn’t jive with the other stuff going on: granite chunks don’t just appear randomly in sandstones usually; if the river wore all of the rocks down to sand grains, why would the big granite chunk be spared, right? It’s out of place. And what of those dark colored fragments? Lithic minerals (dark minerals) break down very quickly in river systems, dissolving away and turning to clay. And the sharper edges on those angular fragments should have been worn

Nancy Cutter wrote “ Not sure where this was found… Think perhaps Port Huron. Very interesting rock, but what is it? Any ideas?

smooth like pebbles if not turned to sand.

So we know that the sand has probably traveled quite a bit to be desposited by a river, but that granite has not traveled far and those angular pieces of lithic material have been mechanically bashed apart and haven’t traveled far at all. So what the heck is going on here?

Well, a mix of rocks fragments like that in a single piece is how we define a conglomerate, or more accurately here, a metaconglomerate (a conglomerate that has undergone metamorphism [ie, look to

the quartzite]). Our most famous metaconglomerates in Michigan are our beautiful puddingstones and Gowganda tillites (neither of which actually originate in Michigan, but were left here by the glaciers after being torn out of the ground in Canada).

Now, this is neither a puddingstone nor a gowganda tillite from what I can see, but it’s certainly an interesting mix of different environmental features. The quartzite suggests a river deposition while the lithic and granite clasts strongly suggest a tillite (a rock made of fragments deposited by a glacier).

Really, the only way this rock could have formed is from a river near the edge of a glacier where sand was deposited during regular flow periods and where periodic floods from glacial bursts transported fragments of glacial debris. So we can look at this rock and see just where it formed: in a warming environment at the end of an ice age on a sandy and slightly pebbly river near the edge of a melting glacier where major floods could sweep through at any time!

IF YOU’vE gOT a mYsTERY ROCk THaT YOU’d LikE TO LEaRn abOUT... Go

B each Spotlight

By MARK DONSELAR Rockhound | Writer

Pilgrim Haven Natural Area sits on Lake Michigan in South Haven Twp. This beach is a favorite for many a rockhound in SW Michigan and for good reason: you’ll be hard pressed to find a beach with a larger and more diverse display of rocks, from pebbles to cobble size. Look especially for septarians (lightning stones), granite, quartz, quartzite, fossils, coldwater agates, unakite and more!

Amenities include well maintained pit toilets, a wide cement walkway from the 54-spot parking lot all the way to the rocky beach, and there are trails leading to a wood bridge walkway over Dykeman Creek.

The conservancy asks that you only take a ‘few rocks, no buckets full, to keep our beach rocky’. Dogs are welcome on a 6’ leash. The park is open dawn to dusk.

Meet theTEAm

maRk dOnsELaR is an administrator for Michigan Rockhounds and has been with us for about 2 years now. He spends an inordinate amount of time keeping the group looking clean and safe from would-be scammers— and helping ensure that everyone plays nice. He finds the endless work rewarding, though.

Mark’s love of rocks goes back to his youth, when he used to get “a talking to” about lagging behind as he picked up stones. That interest faded as an adult until he rediscovered it during the pandemic when social distancing made walking beach and farmlands a perfect hobby. His wife, Diane, is also a Rockhound; they have lived in Grand Haven together for 39 years now— and she joins him on most

of his hunts except those on farmland. He loves to find gravel pits in county and state parks and particularly enjoys the beach at Pilgrim Haven, for which he wrote a Beach Spotlight in this issue!

He loves cutting his rocks, but most of his uncut finds end up surrounding his house and around his herb garden. His favorites are puddingstones and really any conglomerate, septarians (lightning stones), and pretty much anything yellow or green in color.

A retired roofing contractor, Mark loves being outdoors and is always looking for a new place to hound. On that note, if you have a farm field with rocks you don’t want, he kindly asks that you let him know!

Shallow Waters

By CRAIG MCCLARREN Geologist | Writer

Lil’ Timmy spends his day walking the shoreline, collecting beautiful stones. It’s his favorite thing to do on a perfect summer day. As night falls, he gathers with his friends and lights a bonfire just out of reach of the waves. It’s his favorite thing to do after dark. His friends join him and he spends a fantastic evening chatting and drinking with his pals. Rather than carry out all of the cans, Lil’ Timmy’s friends know just what to do: they toss the cans into the fire and enjoy the spectacle of watching them melt and disappear into the fire’s ashes.

The next morning, as Lil’ Timmy hunts the shoreline one last time before heading back home, something remarkable catches his eye. He bends over to pick up the

glimmering shining metal. It’s amazing. It looks like silver. He’s certain it’s silver. What an amazing find! He checks it on his rock identification app. Lil’ Timmy’s eyes go wide, his jaw drops… he can barely catch his breath. According to his app, he just found the largest chunk of Osmium ever discovered. His metal is worth well over 20 million dollars!

Lil’ Timmy’s been had.

Lil’ Timmy’s two favorite pastimes have now intersected. What he’s found is not osmium, nor is it silver. It’s Michigan Fool’s Silver: beercanite… melted aluminum.

In this summer season of bonfires and rockhounding, don’t be taken in by our famous Fool’s Silver. It is always. ALWAYS. Always aluminum. Unless it’s heavy and then it’s a lead fishing weight. Have fun!

It’s that time of year again, it’s summer: it’s time for rockhounding during the day and bonfires at night on our beautiful shores.

Zen and the Art of Rockhounding

By JEN HAZELBAKER Rockhound | Writer

Zen defined: a Japanese word for meditation, peacefulness, presence.

Rituals. How many of us have them without even realizing we do? It could be as simple as how you set up and enjoy your morning coffee or tea, or as complex as planning, preparing, and tending a garden. What they have in common is that in one way or another they give us a feeling of zen.

To a Great Lakes rockhound, getting out on the beach and what you do while you’re out there is a ritual in and of itself. It’s what we do to bring about those feelings of zen. We start by thinking of where it is that we want to go; we decide what rocks we want to find, what beach we want to go to, and when we can get there.

This could be a spur of the moment decision to drive an hour to Lake Huron for puddingstones, or a trip to look for agates in the Upper Peninsula that took months to plan. We might comb through posts in the Michigan Rockhounds Facebook group to see what luck others have had at our chosen location, or consult a book on Michigan rocks and minerals.

We think about the tools we’ll need once we’re there: a bag for our treasures, maybe a spray bottle or a rock scoop to pull an intriguing find out of water that is just a little too deep to reach on our own— perhaps a rock hammer or hand lens, appropriate shoes, clothing, water, snacks, and bug repellent.

Once we’re there, though, that’s when the heart of our ritual happens. We breathe in the clean air and revel in the sound of the waves and the wind. We raise our faces to the sun, eyes closed, and smile.

We look at the lake in wonder.

We feel ourselves release the tensions that we carry with us when we are juggling jobs, families, appointments, traffic, and everything else. We look down at the rocks pebbling the beach, bend over, and choose one that catches our eye, and perhaps we say a private word of gratitude to everything that brought us to that moment.

We repeat this over and over again, losing ourselves for minutes and hours, until we regretfully pull ourselves away. Through this ritual, whether we recognize it as such, we’re achieving zen through the art of rockhounding.

Campground Reviews

By JORDAN & ZARA PRIDE

mclain State Park Campground is a beautiful location nestled in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, right at the corridor of the Keweenaw. It's an excellent place to stay at if you plan on sight-seeing the surrounding areas as it's quite in the middle of everywhere you may want to explore. Mclain State Park is secluded, but ideally located in the center of all of the Peninsula's fun activities, and it's only a one hour drive to the furthest reaches of the Keweenaw.

A great way to start your local sightseeing trip is by visiting the A.E. Seamen Mineral Museum of Michigan located in Houghton, where you can view

the largest public exhibit of Great Lakes rocks & minerals. Perhaps metal detecting and mineral hunting sounds exciting; plan a day trip to one of the many tailing piles heading toward Copper Harbor. If yooperlite or agate hunting excites you, head out to Gratiot River County Park in Allouez or one of the many beaches located on the Michigan Rockhounds map on our website.

Mclain is a wonderful state park with humble beginnings as a small roadside campground in 1929. Today, its 443 acres offers hiking trails, fishing, berry picking, swimming, & beach-combing.

You can rockhound right there on the shoreline where there is often a lovely array of rocks, though a sandy vs rocky beach depends on water levels and erosion.

Rockhounds | Writers

Some of the fun rocks you can discover along the shore are quartz, chalcedony, sandstone, agates, & more.

Mclain welcomes tent & RV camping, with over 100 sites available. The campground also has on-site showers, potable water, and picnic tables. A unique feature to Mclain State Park Campground is an automated 70 ft tall offshore lighthouse, the Keweenaw Waterway Upper Entrance Light, built in 1950. It's highly recommended to make reservations ahead of your trip, and if Mclain is all booked, we recommend staying at Twin Lakes State Park located in Toivola. Or if you are heading further north into the Keweenaw, check out the historical Ft. Wilkins State Park located in Copper Harbor. Both of these recommended campgrounds will be covered in later Rockbound issues so stay tuned!

So whether you're searching for a great campground to return to after a long day of adventuring, or a destination campground that has everything you desire, Mclain State Park Campground is the best centrally located hub when you want to access all of the Keweenaw.

Sm OOTH G ROOVES

By TONDA WATERSTREDT Lapidary Artist | Writer

One of the questions that are asked more than any other is: how do I get that "just plucked from the water" look on my rocks without a rock tumbler?

There are a few different ways to achieve that glossy, shiny look for your treasures. One of the easiest and quickest is using a spray-on clear coat. Typically these have a quick dry time and it doesn’t take a lot of equipment or money. Another trick is to use mineral oil to achieve that look. Oil can attract dirt and dust, though, and will need to be reapplied periodically.

The best way to achieve that wet look and also get a higher quality protective coating is to use resin. Resin is a two part process consisting of an epoxy and a hardener.

There are different types of resin available, but for purposes of coating rocks, making jewelry, coasters or embedding objects of any kind, casting resin is the answer. There are many different brands of resin that can be purchased. To get started, select a brand that can be purchased in a small amount and that comes with clear instructions.

Rocks and Resin. It’s not that hard.

COATiNG YOUR ROCkS wiTH RESiN

Once you have selected the resin that you are going to work with, you will need to get a few additional supplies:

• Disposable Cups

• Silicone Stir Sticks

• Silicone Mat (Recommended)

• Disposable Gloves

• Paint Brushes

• Silicone Drying Rack

• Rocks (Obviously)

Now that you have all your supplies it’s time to get started. Keep in mind that resin is created with two components that create a chemical reaction.

Once you mix the 2 components, the resin will begin to cure which causes heat as it hardens; you need to finish within 15-30 minutes in order to keep your hands safe from that heat.

1. Lay out your silicone mat or (alternatively) protective paper on your work area.

2. your drying rack so any drippings will fall on the mat.

3. Place rocks on rack 2” apart.

4. Have your silicone stir sticks and paint brushes laid out.

5. Pour the proper amounts of epoxy and hardener per instructions into separate cups.

6. Combine the 2 epoxy componentsAlways pour resin into the hardener!

7. Hand stir slowly for a minimum of 5 minutes until combined

Once completely combined, you are now ready to coat your rocks. Select a paint brush and simply dip it in the resin and start painting. Use as little resin as possible to coat the rocks to eliminate dripping. You will need to allow 16-24 hours for the resin to dry before flipping the rocks upside down to coat the underside. Once you have your rocks coated on both sides they are now ready to be displayed or used in further resin projects. Have fun!

8. Make sure to scrape sides and bottom of cups— if any swirls are visible, continue stirring.

Didja Google It?

We’ve come to rely upon the internet to answer all of our questions, so Craig McClarren has asked the latest artificial intelligence bots those questions and graded their answers. Hey ChatGPT: What are the laws regarding collecting rocks in Michigan?

In Michigan, the laws regarding collecting rocks depend on the location of the rocks and the purpose of the collection. Here are some general guidelines:

1. State parks and recreation areas: It is generally prohibited to collect rocks, minerals, or other natural materials in Michigan state parks and recreation areas without a permit. However, small amounts of natural materials such as driftwood, shells, and beach glass may be collected for personal use.

T�i� i� c����e���� �n� h�r��fic���� �r�n�, Cha��PT. I� Mi��ig��

Sta�� P��k�, c���ec��n� ro�k� �n� ����r�l� i� ��mos� ��w�y� ��l��e�

�� t� � ���i� � 25�b� ��� �e��. An� f�� s��� �eas��, c���ec��n�

����w�o� i� ac�u���� ���eg�� s� �e���� ��mos� ����� p�� � ��i� i�

�r�n�. I’� ���� �is��p��n�e�, Cha��PT!

2. State forests: In Michigan state forests, it is generally permissible to collect rocks, minerals, and other natural materials for personal use, as long as the collection does not damage the environment or interfere with other recreational activities. However, some state forest areas may have specific rules or regulations regarding rock collecting, so it is a good idea to check with the local office before collecting.

O�, ����� �u�� �i�h�

3. Private property: If you are collecting rocks on private property in Michigan, you will need the permission of the property owner before collecting. This includes collecting rocks from gravel pits, quarries, or other mining sites on private property.

C���ec�

4. Public lands: Collecting rocks on public lands in Michigan, such as national forests or Bureau of Land Management lands, may require a permit or authorization from the managing agency. Different public lands may have different rules or regulations regarding rock collecting, so it is important to check with the local office before collecting.

Va���, �u� �e���ic���� c���ec�

In general, it is important to respect the natural environment and the rights of other users when collecting rocks in Michigan. Collecting rocks should be done in a responsible and sustainable way, and any damage to the environment or disturbance to other recreational activities should be avoided.

G�o� �n�� p�ra�r��� Cha��PT, �u� ��n�� mos� ro��h��n��n� ��

Mi��ig�� oc��r� �l�n� sta��-m�na�e� ����i� �h�������, �ha� �rs�

sta�� p��k� p�ra�r��� wa� ��� mos� ��p�rt�n� �n� y�� �� �ha�

c����e���� �r�n�. H�n�� ��� f����n� �ra�� �n� ��� c�u�i�n���

w����n� t� �ea��r� �� t� ������� ����y���n� ��� �n����e� ���l� y��

The Hunting of the Datolites An

Agony in 6 Fits

Some of you probably know this and to others it will come as a complete shock but Indigo is dead. It was murdered. Or maybe it never really existed in the first place?

Fit the First: The Death of Indigo

In many of my stories, I recount the tales of famous people and how, at their core, they are still just people. What that means is that they are prone to the same failings and foibles that we are all prone to and that they are products of the time that they were born and the decisions that they made as their lives and history played out about them.

Sir Isaac Newton was born in England on Christmas Day in 1642. At this time, England had not yet switched to the new fangled Gregorian Calendar and were still using Ye Olde Julian Calendar.

His father, who was also named Isaac, passed away a few months before his birth.

By MARK JERANEK Rockhound | Writer

ewton was born premature and very small. His mother is quoted as saying that he would have fit in a quart mug.

With the times what they were, there were very few choices for a widow back then. And so when young Isaac was but three years old, his mother remarried a Reverend Smith. Isaac did not like his new stepfather and was put into the care of his grandmother.

Newton attended school at The King’s School located in nearby Grantham and did not perform that well at first. He was sent home when his Stepfather had passed away and his mother considered making him a farmer. The Master of King’s School, Henry Stokes, convinced her to let him return to school. Isaac finished school at the top of his class, partially inspired by revenge on a school bully.

Newton was then accepted to Trinity College. To put things in perspective for you, this was the time of tricorn hats and the end of the Bubonic Plague in England. Carts would go around each morning and collect the dead. I know it is difficult for us to imagine a plague, killing millions, running rampant across a continent. . . But I digress.

Isaac Newton | Licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0, by Skara Kommun

I suppose this is where indigo's story really begins...

Newton was smart. Like wicked smart. By any measure we use, he would be in the supra-genius category. He thought of himself as a ‘Natural Philosopher’, but that moniker- that descriptive- really does not give the man his proper due.

He developed Calculus, worked on the Universal Laws of Motion and Gravity and was one of the first to experiment with prisms and the properties of Light.

Newton was a religious man but was at odds with the Church of the time. He was even labelled a Heretic. He proved that the Earth was not at the

center of the Solar System and so many at the Church, in their mercy, wanted him excommunicated, imprisoned and/or killed.

Because of his religious views, he was convinced that many things in the World, or Universe, stemmed from a Divine Plan of some sort. He applied this thinking to his study of Light. To learn more of his perspective we need to go back a bit further, to ancient Greece...

In 700 BC, there was a tribe of people in the mountainous Northeast of Greece that were known as Dorians and their lands became known as Macedon.

There was a musical mode that they developed that became known as the Dorian or Doric Mode.

If you are a musically inclined person, the scale that they developed has a perfect

Fourth and Fifth, a minor Third and Seventh, and a Major Second and Sixth.

If you are not a musically inclined person, the Dorian Scale can be heard in many songs passed down to us. In more recent times, the Sea Shanty ‘Drunken Sailor’, ‘Scarborough Fair’ and ‘Billy Jean’ by Michael Jackson all use the Dorian Scale.

As the Macedonian people spread and conquered neighboring lands, their culture and music spread as well.

A far-flung and distant result of this was young Sir Isaac Newton growing up listening to chants and songs played in this Doric Scale for his entire life.

Songs written in this scale and hymns and chants performed in this scale sounded ‘right’ to him, sounded divinely inspired. He took those notes of that scale and applied them to his theories of Light and Prismatic Division.

We talk about what was going on in his mind and in the world while he was conducting his experiments and living his life. One of those things that was going on was an economic war between Woad and Indigo.

Woad, as a source of blue dye, had been grown in temperate regions for thousands of years BUT the new Indigo could dye thirteen times more fabric using the same processes of extraction.

And so the color Blue, or Blew, as it was known at the time, went from being a color only the rich or even royalty could afford, to being something that everyone could afford. Merchants and dealers made millions on the Indigo trade.

With these things going on in the world and his religious upbringing and the music that was used for worship ringing in his ears, Newton forced his bias on the scattered light that the prisms showed him and Indigo was born.

Modern scientists agree— there is no reason for indigo to be there as part of the rainbow. It should have never been there. Blue, as an umbrella, already covers Indigo completely.

But he was famous and brilliant and no one really could— or wanted to— step forward and tell him he was wrong. And so our rainbow was born with seven colors instead of six, not because of what the data showed him, but because Newton felt it should mirror the divinely-inspired Dorian Scale of music.

Just in the last few years scientists, rather collectively, have amended their teachings so that the corrected rainbow, the one our kids and grandkids will come to learn and know, is ROYGBV.

These kids will grow up knowing the world slightly differently than we do. We will age and pass and future generations will wonder how we ever could have been so silly for so long, pretending that there was such a thing as "indigo".

Based on the biased word of just one man, the entire world embraced a falsehood for over 300 years. So what does this have to do with rocks? Well I'm so glad you asked...

Think about the gemstones that you know. How many can come in ANY color?

Consider just how rare it is for a mineral to be expressed in more than even ONE color.

Beryls would be one type that can come in a variety of colors. Following the list from our Rainbow we have red beryls, bixbite. Bixbite is a red beryl and also one of the rarest gemstones in the world. Next would be orange and for that the beryl family has morganite and after that comes yellow and a beryl called heliodor.

Green was the heart of the rainbow and where beryls really shine. For green we have emeralds. For blue we have aquamarine in the beryl family and for violet the family has Maxixe or some types of morganite again.

But what about a gemstone that can come in ANY color?

THEY ARE FEW

We are lucky enough, in the Great Lakes Region, to have several gemstones that can come in a seemingly myriad of colors. One that immediately leaps to mind is the agate. I believe agates can come in any color and in almost any shade. For that reason, agates are one of the most interesting gemstones on the planet.

Like snowflakes, you will never find any two that are exactly alike. But our luck is strong here and we have even more options. From the volcanic flows around the Western end of Lake Superior, we also have a gemstone known as...

Datolite

Datolite is a Calcium Boron Nesosilicate and what that means is that it is a mineral that has a structure that allows for traces of other elements, like iron or copper, to be sort of mixed in.

For most of the world— I think all of the rest of the World- datolite appears as just sort of unremarkable pale crystals. But here in the Upper Midwest, environmental conditions during the Midcontinental Rift approximately 1.1 billion years ago were just right for datolite to be produced in its other form. That other form is that of finely textured porcelain-like nodules. From geologic activities in the intervening hundreds of millions of years- particularly mineral-rich waters- these nodules can and do come in every color of the rainbow and

A quick note on the colors of datolite: there simply has not been much analysis of what causes the color variations in the mineral. Much of what you will find on the topic is just speculation with no real science or analysis backing it up.

This first part of my datolite story is dedicated to Blue. What is assumed or believed to be true is that the blue color in datolite is caused by the presence of reduced copper and/or other elements trapped in the structure. Reduced copper is copper that has gained extra electrons through chemical reactions (extra negatively charged electrons reduce the element's electrical charge).

Blue is one of the rarest, if not THE rarest datolite color. I have picked out some blue datolites from different locations around the Western end of the UP of Michigan. Many of the specimens pictured here are from a famous strike of them from some 4400 feet down in the Centennial Mine in the Keweenaw Peninsula, but there are several mines where blue specimens can be found.

Please let me know if you have any questions by tagging me, Mark Jeranek, in posts to the Michigan Rockhounds Facebook Group and I can try to address them before or even in the next installment of this series.

The Michigan Rockhounds team would like to thank all of our advertisers and content creators for their involvement in this huge project! RockBound is a huge stepping stone for us, and rockhounding in Michigan, and we couldn't have done this without any of you. Especially the community; thank you all so much!

If you're interested in bettering RockBound, advertise with us to support our future work, share some feedback in our community post!