jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Oct 18, 2013 10:45:34 GMT -5
Found coral starting 5 miles downstream of knarly boat ramp. This section 10 miles up stream from usual collecting zone. Will return some day as coral was different in being darker. Long ride on dry sandy road. About like sugar.  This is timber land. Looks like it was cut about 2 years ago. Yellow pine(short leaf) is best for $$$.  Heading down to the flood plain maybe a mile from the river  Well hell's bells. I got to back clean into the river. The local fisherman assured me i would not get stuck. One of them said he seen me there before and i told him it was my first time. He argued the point and i told him it must have been someone else. He was being (southern term SOB) difficult and under influence. I had to back way out in that river. Mr. SOB made me real comfortable. Notice those fine log poles. They had been fished out of the river and stored till they get them. They were old, some cut w/an ax. Sawed for high dollar wood like flooring.  The river had been beat up by a flood back in May of this year and shore/tree damage showed it. The deep channels were blocked in a lot of places making the Devil boat come in handy  Blocked main channel fooled me into an ancient ox bow dead end. Roots sticking up makes for uncomfortable parachute landings.  Found some coral in this lite shoal. You can see the dark spots down under-that is rock.  Some more pics. Starting at the sunrise was another exploration trip the next day. Snuck by the border patrol and used the snobby high dollar Florida concrete boat ramp. Went about 4 miles down and 4 miles up. Coral was all monotone brownish purple and solid. Could have gone about 70 miles to the Suwanee if equipped properly(except 2 shoals that would tear the boat up)  Well, thanks for looking. Here is the flicker set link www.flickr.com/photos/67205364@N06/sets/72157636653734253/ |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 18, 2013 11:16:00 GMT -5
Thanks for the trip in your princess boat. Had that clear cut area been replanted?
Jim
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Oct 18, 2013 12:49:39 GMT -5
In sand country they clear cut everything since it is flat and erosion is not an issue Jim. They replant about a quarter of the time. Often leave seed trees. And cutting when seeds are ripe so that they reseed.
When they do replant they pull up to an 8 foot diameter plow disc behind a D6 sized dozier and row things up.
Or pull a giant chopper drum that amalgamates tree tops and limbs into the ground for accelerated rotting and ease of planter maneuvering .
That brush looks one year old. It is the best browse for deer.That is enough browse to feed 1000 deer-well a lot anyway.
That is prime for long shot deer hunting. Next year sight will be impossible as bush will be over deer.
When the pines are tall enough they control burn to eliminate the deciduous .
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Post by rockpickerforever on Oct 18, 2013 14:37:51 GMT -5
Your truck is 4WD, right? Between the sugar sand and iffy boat put in, it could test your mettle. 'course, I'll bet Mr. SOB would've helped you out of there - hmm. Wherever I go, I always worry more about the two-legged varmints, than the the other varieties.
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Fossilman
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Post by Fossilman on Oct 18, 2013 14:47:56 GMT -5
Great pics james! Does that sand bother the bearings on the boat trailer?
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garock
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Post by garock on Oct 18, 2013 14:55:15 GMT -5
Great Photos Ms James
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Oct 18, 2013 15:18:27 GMT -5
The 2 leggers are always de problemas. Allllways. Jean. Sand will eat stuff up Fossilman. I got lots of chain saw work in Florida. I get sand in the blade. Unlike Georgia clay it makes the chain longer link by link by link. Funniest thing. Then i tell Georgia guys to remove a whole link and they raise hell. I say count links and the measure. They cannot for the life of them figure to why 70 link chain measures same length as 72 link chain. Yes they stretch, but not 2 links in 70. Georgia clay makes a plow disc get smaller in diameter and sand makes it so thin it will crack but still have the same diameter. Sand will eat bearings. Just use bearing buddies so the grease is always coming out and block sand coming in... Thanks Frankie. I will be taking you down there one day. |
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Post by pghram on Oct 18, 2013 15:31:30 GMT -5
I guess you have to watch were you sit in that ox bow. Great pics & story.
Rich
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grayfingers
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Post by grayfingers on Oct 19, 2013 15:00:27 GMT -5
What cool country, kinda makes me think of the movie Gator McKlusky. Nice photo set, So, the white rock ledges in the bank that look volcanic are marine reef? Those Cypress are something else. I would like to make one into a 'surround' fireplace mantle and front, transiting into stonework. I bet the log hunters are a tad bit territorial. . .You could just put on your welding mask next time you see them. . .
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bhiatt
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Post by bhiatt on Oct 19, 2013 15:17:16 GMT -5
This looks like my kind of hangout. I like the pic of the sand road with them trees overhanging. Killer looking place and great pics. Im a little jealous, I must say.
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Oct 20, 2013 8:38:13 GMT -5
Bill, those ledges are limestone. It is dense and cherty. I would say it is sediment settled from the ancient ocean cycles during the hot ages. Very little above ground fossils but plenty of tiny 'in the ground' type critters cemented in to it. All the coral and death plate and bivalves,etc,etc are sitting on top of the limestone walls lest they are in the river since the river dissolved the limestone bedrock out from under them. Geologists call it shelf coral.Cause it sits up on the limestone shelf. It is a lot simpler than lava flows and a vein of agate 'x' washing 800 miles downstream. The coral sits right where it was many years ago since the river velocity never pushes it down stream making the rocky shoal areas basically self contained from their creation. Meaning that you have a colony of life(coral reef) and a few fossils that hung in the reef and ancient man's partying and washing and knapping right there in it's original spot. The 'shelf' coral can be very sparse. This river is as dense as it gets. Some coral is piled 6-8 feet deep(in the soil) sitting on top of that limestone bedrock. If steep hills are around the river may have cut 'gorges' thru the limestone leaving 50 foot walls(big for Florida). And the shelf coral is only accessible by rope climbing up the wall or waiting for high water to collect from a boat. Here is an example of a high shelf. All the coral will be up on top of the white rock wall say 35 feet up. You can see the brownish corals up there but getting them down can be painful. Best to wait till high water. And that has to be timed because the water will go half way up the trees.  |
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Post by pghram on Oct 21, 2013 12:59:12 GMT -5
It gets more beautiful with every photo.
Rich
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Oct 21, 2013 13:15:53 GMT -5
Thanks. It is some pretty territory
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grayfingers
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Post by grayfingers on Oct 21, 2013 14:48:09 GMT -5
James, thanks for the more in-depth overview of the strata there, very interesting indeed. There is a similarity with hunting Montana agate. Though they have been eroded from their host rock and moved by the glaciers, the Yellowstone river moss agate lies in a layer of gravels left by the retreating glaciers which left a band 15 miles wide to either side of the river. It is the river that makes the rocks available. Some of the best un-fractured Montana nodules come from tilled fields within that band, and a few places that are mining gravel. If one can get on private land, it is like gleaning a potato field, fill a 5 gal. bucket in 20 minutes. Hard part is getting on these lands.
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Oct 21, 2013 18:17:40 GMT -5
So like a 30 mile wide snow plow on a locomotive you are saying that the glacier parted the cobbles to the left and to the right and left the band you describe? And you need me to use my 'fire under the buttock' political prowess to win them over  As soon as you have collected 100 five gallon buckets PM me and i will be right over. |
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Oct 21, 2013 18:18:36 GMT -5
That is totally amazing-the power of the glacier.
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grayfingers
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Post by grayfingers on Oct 22, 2013 9:52:44 GMT -5
So like a 30 mile wide snow plow on a locomotive you are saying that the glacier parted the cobbles to the left and to the right and left the band you describe? And you need me to use my 'fire under the buttock' political prowess to win them over As soon as you have collected 100 five gallon buckets PM me and i will be right over. James, the glaciers left a deposit of gravel that wide, the river simply cuts through a small strip through the middle. That is the simple version, I believe this gravel to really be a mixture of ages. I believe the gravel was left as the glaciers retreated at the end of the ice age. These gravels are around 75 feet thick. I believe the gravel is made up from the high terrace benches above the river. 1,000 feet above the river lies Oligocene/Moicene Terrace gravel. (20-30 mya) 350 to 1,000 feet above the river lies Miocene/Pliocene gravels,(10-20mya) and from the 150 to 350 feet above the river lies gravels from the Pleistocene Terrace. (1-5 mya) I believe the glaciers put down a mixture of these gravels in that 30 mile wide band. It was selective where it dumped, there are harder rock formations that were "graveled in" around them. I would dearly love to find deposits still intact, to compare agates, woods and jaspers. This site does some speculating on the subject. They are contrary to my opinion of where the best unfractured agates are found. I think they are referring to in situ as oppose to those working their way up through farm fields. www.yellowstone-jewelry.com/info_pages/montana%20agate%20geologic%20history.htm |
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Oct 22, 2013 10:41:23 GMT -5
So where the river cuts through it Bill gets a small sample ? And mixed with a lot of other things? And those virgin unfractured nodules are sitting up there on private land
staring down on you.
I collect on the Rio Grande. One of the highest high terraces with the biggest cobbles 6-8 inches which is big for the area. On private ranch and is frightening what i find.
It is certainly a Heinz 57 and mixed of 10 to the 10th power varieties. Making it exciting to hunt such variety. But i can not get such precision info your section of Montana because of the
heavy mixing and lack of mountains in south Texas. But the high terrace deposits are good enough for me!
But for you to find unmolested deposits with out river/freeze abuse would be a real good deal. The detective work would be as fun as finding the treasures to me. I like to know the geological
history. It is quite simple in my fairly undisturbed coral beds and that is a big deal to me. If i found a whole coral bed that had been lifted to 6000 feet in Montana i could probably give some
input on how well preserved it is.
You said you would like to find a deposit intact. Are you referring to a glacier deposit?
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grayfingers
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Post by grayfingers on Oct 22, 2013 10:53:57 GMT -5
I actually meant I would like to find intact Terrace gravels,(not moved by the glaciers) to see if/what differences there are in the agates and woods. Though they say they are more fractured, I would like to see the different gravels as they are, and what other quartz based rocks and woods are associated. The (mixed) glacial deposits have topsoil and recent clays and sands over them. These are the ones I think to be best, the glaciers moved them long ago and they are protected well below frost line. I do know a rancher near Glendive that has indicated he would let me check out his gravel pits.
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Oct 22, 2013 17:35:36 GMT -5
I see. The agates i find on the terrace are classic agates from Marfa, Alpine, Woodward Ranch and 100's of other deposits.There is a fellow that has collected on the Rio Grand shelves in S. Texas for a lifetime Bill. He has a magnificent collection and recorded them w/excellent photography. He is one of my favorite collectors. One of his many flicker sets www.flickr.com/photos/97769244@N00/sets/72157600124197841/ I was so enthralled in hunting there for 12 days i had trouble sleeping from excitement and hunted sun up to sun down in a bit of August heat in S.Texas. West Texas is mostly larger super ranches and they are not so keen about handing permission slips out. You western folks have a great geological paradise. |
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As soon as you have collected 100 five gallon buckets PM me and i will be right over.
