Agates & Geodes from SW, Greene County; Ohio.

I have found some agatized horn coral that is native to Ohio it was found in the Beavercreek area. I have also found some flint ridge flint that looked very much like an agate with banding and quartz crystals in the center.
George

Fire up the saw, lets see whats in the center of some of them biggns. Later Clyde

Oh, and welcome aboard! Glad to have you here.

Man, those are some neat looking rocks. I wouldn't not be able to stand the suspense of not seeing what those babies look like inside!! Can you slice them? Aren't you kind of curious as to what the inside holds for ya?

Welcome ddoke !~ I think you are on to something !!! cut em open ! Start with pic number 4 from the top and prove everyone wrong !

Thanks for commenting on my haul, it took literally about 6 (or so) weeks out (not counting the heap stack of others I got locked away) fielding to find those specimens; and they were definitely a wilderment to me when I first found "just one of them" - I thought to myself "What an Agate..here.. Moldavite does work!" (That last parts an inside joke though)

That's how I feel when I'm out legging it (in nature) and turning over caliche caked rocks; I'm always wanting to see more Agates, & less (as my brother calls them) poop-rocks..lol. I like the Indiana Jones, jonesing that rocks bring; there's no other feeling like picking up a weighty nodule of agate, dousing it in a cool stream and trying to thumb away the mud and descry whats on the inside.

Thank you for the Welcome Slabs by the way, that is too awesome & the way for a prospector to have his/her name up-in-lights - too cool!

I have some ideas on the possible places of origin for the erratics we've been finding. I've parked myself in a chair for nearly two days and have been able to draw up a surfeit (stomach full) of Ice Age information; so much that I might as well have been in a daffy ice chest myself: because sitting still for hrs in a nippy basement in the dead of winter sure gives you goose flesh! Anyways onto the point : the first point of interest that I had was The Ancient Teays (Taze) River. In looking at the how the Teays ran before the (2million year old Pre-Illinoian) Pleistocene glaciers' disruption, it is noted that it runs near to or in the following: NC, MO, IA, IL, IN; OH, WV, VA . The Teays River also had an alternative course where it ran (the former) Erigan River (here is a brief article on the Teays Drainage System & The Erigan: www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=2868)

as well as another article just on The Teays: www.nytimes.com/1983/11/29/science/a-great-lost-river-gets-its-due.html?&pagewanted=all

Apparently The Teays River began in the Piedmont plateau region of North Carolina (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piedmont_%28United_States%29) with it running as so:

With Illinois being en route with the flow the Teays - see!





In a PDF I am reading titled greene_pp_report_wmap I am reading that The Teays flowed through OH, exiting the state in Mercer Co. It goes on to say that The Teays River flowed several miles north of Greene Co. (past where I currently am in Beavercreek, OH), yet it goes onto say: "yet some of it's major tributaries had their headwaters in Green County (Kulibert, 1977). "The Hamilton River, the largest tributary of the Teays in Ohio, originated in Green County (Stiut et al., 1943).

Then it goes on to say: "Flowing to the southwest, the Hamilton River joined the Teays in south-central Indiana (Norris et al., 1956)." "In Greene County, the depth to the bedrock surface in the main Hamilton River channel is greater than 250 feet (Norris et al., 1956). "Stout et al. (1943) also identified a small set of Teays tributaries which flow to the north in Green County."

And finally: (quoted)

During pre-Illinoian (Kansan) glaciation, ice blocked the Teays flow, causing damming and lake formation. Even though Kansan ice never reached Greene County, the effects of blocked drainage and subsequent lake formation are evident. Fine-grained deposits, called Minford Silts, are the direct evidence of this episode of slackwater deposition. Remnants of the Minford Silts are found at depth in some of the northerly flowing tributaries of the Teays in Greene County.

When water eventually overflowed the drainage divides and established new drainage patterns, Deep Stage was born. Deep Stage was a period of deep erosion of existing river valleys to a level below the elevation of Teays Time (Norris et al., 1956). Deep Stage drainage followed Teays drainage in Greene County very closely as the southwesterly flowing Hamilton River was not ponded by pre-Illinoian ice (Norris et al., 1956). The Illinoian ice
advance brought Deep Stage to a close with a drainage similar to current patterns in the county.

More on the Hamilton River (one of the Headwaters of the Teays): from a PDF titled: THE BEDROCK SURFACE AND FORMER DRAINAGE SYSTEMS OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, OHIO1

The greater part of the county (Montgomery Co.)
was drained by a large Teays tributary named by Stout 4 the Hamilton River. The Hamilton River flowed southward through Montgomery, Butler, and Hamilton Counties, then turned westward and entered the Teays River somewhere in Indiana. The former course of the Hamilton River through Montgomery County is defined by the bedrock contours shown on the accompanying plate. In Teays time it entered Montgomery County from the east near the boundary line between Mad River and Van Buren Townships. From this point the Hamilton flowed northwestward to about the Middle of Mad River Township and from there it flowed westward to Dayton, cutting that part of its valley now occupied by the Mad River.

The Mad River is in Riverside OH: this is a location in which I find my best Agates & it just so happens to have been the former location of a Teays River Headwater, the now entombed Hamilton River. Plus with the extensive network that the Teays ran from North Carolina to Illinois it seems almost undeniable that with all the glacial activities from the various Ice-Ages that The Teays could have been uplifted like the Minnelusa Limestone in Black Hills, South Dakota. With the tailings of that uplift deposited in the Chadron formation and strewn for miles in South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming & rumor of even being found as till in Colorado!

Possible Fairburn from CO:



So I guess what I am trying to say is, what if the Sedimentary Agates & Geodes we are finding both in Greene County OH & in County Illinois (which may be along the former Teays River) are from an uplift that began somewhere along the former 2 mil yr old Teays River - wouldn't that be something? Kind of like finding a coin from the Atocha! What do you think?

Also there's evidence that IOWA has its own native Agates so why not us?

(Sedimentary) Iowan Agate, Cheswick Quarry:



And for an extra-special read up on how glaciated the area is where I live - read this: Makes Sense! ;D

Two end or terminal moraines are found in Greene County (Goldthwait et al., 1961). End moraines are ridge-like structures composed primarily of till, with rolling or hummocky terrain. From west to east the two end moraines are the Cuba and the Reesville Moraines. Both moraines were deposited by Scioto Lobe ice (Norris et al., 1956). Kames and kame moraines are the major ice-contact features found within the county. Kames are irregular ridges of stratified sand and gravel deposited by flowing water in cracks
and crevaces in the ice. In Greene County kames join together to form moraines. Kame moraine complexes are found along Beaver Creek, in the Little Miami Valley from Alpha to Yellow Springs, and east of Fairborn. Because of the configuration of the ice during the Wisconsinan glacial period, Greene County has extensive deposits of outwash. Outwash is sand and gravel deposits that are well
sorted by moving water in front of the ice sheet. Norris et al. (1956) have classified outwash deposits in Greene County as outwash-plain, valley-train, and as stratified outwash layers. The retreat of early Scioto Lobe ice caused meltwaters in front of the ice sheet to deposit an extensive outwash plain west of Xenia and in portions of Beavercreek Township (Norris et al., 1956). Like a kame deposit, an outwash plain thins away from the ice sheet. Subsequent erosion undoubtedly removed some of this sheet of outwash, yet a great deal still remains. Valley-train deposits are composed of outwash deposited in pre-existing drainage channels. Meltwater carrying large amounts of glacially derived sediments poured down these channels as the ice melted. The water washed out the finer material, leaving coarse outwash sand and gravel deposits. Valley-train deposits are present in the Little Miami, Mad River, and Beaver Creek valleys. Several deep gorges were cut in the bedrock during the time of valleytrain deposition. Gorges at Yellow Springs, Clifton, Bellbrook, and in southern Beavercreek Township were all eroded while valley-train outwash was being deposited elsewhere
(Carman, 1972 and Norris et al., 1956).

Wow! I knew of the teays , but had`nt read into that much . The map of the teays , where it shows in east central Illinois is right here ! The Vermilion River Valley ,now ! The quarry i spoke of , that is tilted , is only one mile from the river ! The whole chunk, that is now a quarry, was moved ?! More later! That does look like a fairburn. The cheswick is very nice , not all geodes are hollow ;D Does make sense about the geodes , I have not found a geode that shows possitive glacial maring . But have not found a formation they are coming from either .