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Post by snowmom on May 27, 2014 5:38:36 GMT -5
I have been trying to learn about agates. It has been very confusing because agate definitions encompass so many different looking stones. I kept finding things that looked to me like agates, but everybody kept telling me, no that is not a Great Lakes Agate. There is a stereotype of Great Lakes Agates that says they are only banded or eyed and very bright colored, disregarding the special small agates associated with the UP. Found this little online book (a PDF.) which clears a few things up for me. I think I am finding agates which he describes as "ruins" in this article, and maybe a few of the odder ones described in the last few pages. I wanted to share because I thought it had a lot of useful food for thought. thanks for looking, your comments appreciated. It helps me learn.
rockhoundstation1.com/pdfs-etc/June2009.pdf |
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Post by jakesrocks on May 27, 2014 8:35:11 GMT -5
It's a shame that so many good books are out of print. I've put this one in my ebay wish list. If one comes up for sale I'll let you know.
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mibeachrocks
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since September 2013
Posts: 198
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Post by mibeachrocks on May 27, 2014 8:36:19 GMT -5
Snowmom, The one major thing that I've learned from collecting on the Great Lakes is that it is very difficult to ID rocks for two reasons. First, you never know where they really originated. They could have originated from the Canadian Shield thousands of miles away or closer to home. IDing the type of agate is much easier when you know is origin. Second, IDing beach washed rocks is much more difficult than IDing rough rocks (this is my opinion). With that being said, I enjoy collecting agates (or fragments) from the Great Lakes but I try to avoid IDing. For me it is much easier to just enjoy their beauty. Here are a few that I pulled out of Lake Michigan last year. It is very difficult to see all of the detail with a camera phone but there is plenty of banding on them. What is interesting about these finds is that I picked them out of the lake because they looked interesting. I placed them in my bucket and did not think about them until I got back home. It was not until I sorted through them later that I realized that they were agates.     |
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller 
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,718 
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Post by Fossilman on May 27, 2014 10:29:10 GMT -5
It wouldn't take me to the site,but I'm sure the people here will steer you in the right direction..Thumbs up
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Post by beefjello on May 29, 2014 19:24:37 GMT -5
Thanks snowmom , saved this to my favs and gonna read through it when I get the chance! |
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Post by snowmom on May 30, 2014 4:33:57 GMT -5
mibeachrocks, I couldn't agree with you more. Glacier driven, wave and sand worn rocks simply don't arrive in our hands in textbook form, complete with crystals formed in classic style as they are often when mined or found in unglaciated areas. we have to be able to envision the original stone that may lie inside the stained, degraded, smoothed exteriors. I am learning to look for textures first rather than at color, and that is helping my
searches become more productive. I know anything I find around here except limestone or shale pretty much came with the glaciers from Canada. I have so far made good finds in local gravel as well as getting stuff from the lake (Huron). great finds on the agates. I love the thrill of the hunt!
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