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The Sarnia Rock & Club (SRFC) Jan/Feb 2018

T h e N a r r o w s N e w s

Sarnia, Ontario, Canada

Meetings are held on the 2nd Friday of each Month Sept - May 7:30 PM TWIN LAKES TERRACE 1310 Murphy Rd, Sarnia ON

The Narrows News is published five times/year – Jan, March, May, Sept, Nov.

1 SRFC Meeting Information 6-7 Locations Of 2 SRFC Executive, Presidents Message 8 Chinese Tourist Destroys 3 Groups, Club News 9 Brad’s Bench Tips 4 What Is Petrified Wood 10 Puzzle 5 How To Identify Types of Petrified Wood

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The Sarnia Rock & Fossil Club (SRFC) Jan/Feb 2018

President’s Message SRFC Executive Hi Burrrr its cold outside, I guess the government forgot to tell Mother President: Nature about global warming. I guess we shouldn’t complain, we do live in Ivan McKay the North and I have seen it worst then this. Welcome everybody to 2018, hope everyone had a good Christmas Vice President: holiday. Now is the time to get back into the swing of things and start

Mark Nilsson planning for the future. If anybody has any ideas for field trips please bring it up at our meeting. We also need a program presentation for our

meetings. If you have an interesting story or know of someone that can do a Past President presentation please bring it up at a meeting so we can make arrangements Wayne Wilcocks for it to be presented.

Chris Risk is having a closing out sale at his store in Glencoe. He has Secretary: a good selection of rocks, he also sells musical instruments. If anyone is Cathy Bathurst interested you can talk to him at the meeting or you can contact him by phone at 226-427-2033. Treasurer: Hope to see everyone at our meetings. Stay warm and enjoy life. Ian Clarke

Ivan G McKay, President (519) 287-2506 Card Secretary: [email protected] Sandi English

Publicity:

Mary Rastall

Bulletin Editor: Ivan McKay

Clu b Representative: Ivan McKay/Mary Rastall

CCFMS Liason:

Ivan McKay

Group Leaders: Gp1: Mark Nilsson Gp2:

Children’s Program: Adam Wisniewski

Web Site

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The Sarnia Rock & Fossil Club (SRFC) Jan/Feb 2018

MEETING GROUPS

At each meeting the people in each group are responsible to get a speaker or entertainment for after the meeting and before the social time. They are also responsible for any clean up that is needed. Group leaders are in BOLD.

Group 1, Feb, Apr, Sept, Nov Group 2, Jan, Mar, ,May, Oct Dec Bjelis, Vlado & Family Ali, Bibi Pot Luck Christmas Dinner Bly, Kevin Bathurst, Cathy, Charles Everybody bring something Brzezynski, Betty Clarke, Ian, Shirley Jagt, Hank, Mary Halbauer, Kelvin Leduc, Cheryl Jackson, Melanie Leistra, Sydney McKay, Ivan, Eleanore Levesque, Jacques Nixon, Gary, Tim Nilsson Mark, English Sandra Rastall, Mary, Steve Risk, Chris Robinson, Dave Robinson, Jassie Smith, Barb, Dave Wisniewski, Adam, Ethan Wilcocks, Wayne, Dorothy Williams, Peter

Club News

Our Jan Meeting will be held on the 12th at 7:30 PM at Twin Lakes Terrace, 1310 Murphy Rd, Sarnia. Enter through the front door and turn right. The meeting will be held in the area off of the TV lounge. A tutorial on rock cutting will be shown.

Our Feb Meeting will be held on the 9th at 7:30 PM at Twin Lakes Terrace. No presentation at this time. Will bring it up at Jan Meeting.

Membership dues for 2018 are due now, if you have not paid yet please pay for it at the Jan Meeting or contact Ian Clarke at 519-542-2038 to make arrangement to pay your dues. If dues are not paid this will be your last newsletter. Thank You.

Chris Risk is having a closing out sale at him rock shop in Glencoe. Anyone interested as to what he has you can talk to him at the meeting or by phone at 226- 427-2033

Remember, if the weather is bad outside; please bring some dry footwear to wear inside at the meeting

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The Sarnia Rock & Fossil Club (SRFC) Jan/Feb 2018

What is Petrified Wood? How Does it Form? Where are their Locations?

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

What is Petrified Wood? Petrified wood is the name given to a special type of fossilized remains of terrestrial vegetation. It is the result of a or tree-like having completely transitioned to stone by the process of . All the organic materials have been replaced with (mostly a silicate, such as ), while retaining the original structure of the stem tissue. Unlike other types of which are typically impressions or compressions, petrified wood is a three-

dimensional representation of the original organic material The process occurs underground, when wood becomes buried under sediment or and is initially preserved due to a lack of which inhibits aerobic . -laden water flowing through the covering material deposits minerals in the ’s cells; as the plant’s and decay, a stone mold forms in its place. The organic matter needs to become petrified before it decomposes completely. A where such material has petrified becomes known as a petrified forest.

How Does It Form? Elements such as manganese, iron, and copper in the water/mud during the petrification process give petrified wood a variety of color ranges. Pure quartz crystals are colorless, but when contaminants are added to the process the crystals take on a yellow, red, or another tint. Following is a list of contaminating elements and related color hues:

 carbon – black  – green/blue  cobalt – green/blue  copper – green/blue  iron oxides – red, brown, and yellow  manganese – pink/orange  manganese oxides – blackish/yellow

Petrified wood is a fossil in which the organic remains have been replaced by minerals in the slow process of being replaced with stone. This petrification process generally results in a quartz mineralization. Special rare conditions must be met in order for the fallen stem to be transformed into or petrified wood. In general, the fallen plants get buried in an environment free of oxygen (anaerobic environment), which preserves the original plant structure and general appearance. The other conditions include a regular access to mineral rich water in contact with the tissues, replacing the organic plant structure with inorganic minerals. The end result is petrified wood, a plant, with its original basic structure in place, replaced by stone. Exotic minerals allow the red and green hues that can be seen in rarer specimens.

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The Sarnia Rock & Fossil Club (SRFC) Jan/Feb 2018

How to Identify Types of Petrified Wood By Sally Taylor; Updated April 25, 2017

Identifying petrified wood types can be a difficult and sometimes impossible task. Some pieces of wood lose so much of their original structure during the petrifying process that it is impossible to recover enough information to identify them. Some types of wood are distinct enough that novices can recognize them with only a 10x magnifying glass. Even the best specimens of some wood species take training and high-magnification equipment to identify.

First Clues The quality of the wood will determine whether the piece can be identified. Original cell structure is sometimes completely destroyed by the petrification process. If you can see patterns in the wood, there is a good chance the piece can be identified. Knowing what types of grow in the areas in which the wood was found can also help in identifying your piece. If a specimen can be narrowed down to a few possibilities, some types can be ruled out because they would most likely not be found with known species of that area. The rest of the identification process requires magnification. Cell Structures Some cell structures are evident with magnification of only 10x. Others may need up to 800x magnification. Cells (tracheids) of different classes of wood are arranged in different patterns. For instance, when looking across the wood as you would when viewing growth rings, a tree has small round cells that form fairly straight lines. Angiosperm (oak, walnut, sycamore) have vessels rather than tracheids, which are similar, yet they don't form neat rows nor are they always round. Ginkgo has yet a different cell formation which is similar to corn. Knowing the cell structure of different forms of wood is necessary for proper identification. Rays And Other Distinctive Features Rays are important indicators of wood types. Rays are lines of small cells that run from the center of the round to the bark. In some types of wood, these rays are thin, sometimes only one or two cells wide, and in others they are wider or of different widths. Fruit-bearing trees have many widths of rays while pine has narrow and uniform rays. Some woods have other distinctive features. Pine, for example, has "resin ducts." These ducts look like cells but are much larger. If they are found in wood with small straight lines of cells and narrow rays, no further examination is necessary to know the wood is pine. Examination Methods Examination is often done by making a cube of the wood so it can be seen from different axis angles. The wood cubes are finely sanded to take out scratches that can hinder identification. If high levels of magnification are necessary, thin slices of wood only a few cells thick are used. The examiner must know the aspects of different woods, so some education is involved in the process, too. Technology is making identification easier with computer software that can aid in the identification process. This software can be purchased online by anyone who wishes to pursue the field of fossilized wood identification.

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The Sarnia Rock & Fossil Club (SRFC) Jan/Feb 2018

Where are their Locations?

Areas with a large number of petrified trees include:

Argentina – the Sarmiento Petrified Forest and Jaramillo Petrified Forest in Santa Cruz Province in the Argentine have many trees that measure more than 3 m (10 ft) in diameter and 30 m (100 ft) long. Australia – has deposits of petrified and opalised wood. Chinchilla, Queensland is famous for its ‘Chinchilla Red’. Belgium – Geosite Goudberg near Hoegaarden. Brazil: 1- Geopark of Paleorrota, there is a vast area with petrified trees. 2- Monumento Natural das Árvores Fossilizadas (Fossil Trees Natural Monument) in Tocantins: petrified of dicksoniaceae (specifically Psaronius and Tietea singularis) and arthropitys 3- Petrified forests of dicksoniaceae (specifically Psaronius and Tietea singularis) and arthropitys can also be found in the state of São Paulo 4- Floresta Fóssil de Teresina near Rio Poti, Piauí, (around 280-270 million years ago). Canada – in the of southern ; Petrified wood is the provincial stone of Alberta. in Nunavut has a large petrified forest. In and around the North Saskatchewan river, around the Edmonton area. China – in the Junggar Basin of Xinjiang, northwest China government has issued a crackdown on collecting of this material, but large slabs and even large meeting tables have been made out of the colorful petrified wood. Czech Republic, Nová Paka – The most famous locality on Permian- rocks in the Czech Republic. Ecuador – Puyango Petrified Forest (es). One of the largest collections of petrified wood in the world. Egypt – petrified forest in Cairo-Suez road, declared a national protectorate by the ministry of environment, also in the area of New Cairo at the Extension of Nasr city, El Qattamiyya, near El Maadi district, and Al Farafra oasis. France – petrified forest in the village of Champclauson Germany – the museum of natural history in Chemnitz has a collection of petrified trees, from the in situ Chemnitz Petrified Forest, found in the town since 1737. Greece – Petrified Forest of Lesvos, at the western tip of the island of Lesbos, is possibly the largest of the petrified forests, covering an area of over 150 km and declared a National Monument in 1985. Large, upright trunks complete with root systems can be found, as well as trunks up to 22 m in length. India – a geological site known for its petrified wood Thiruvakkarai Village in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The site is protected by the Geological Survey of India. Petrified wood covers a large area in this site. Petrified Wood has also been discovered in Dholavira in Kutch, , dating back to 187-176 million years. Indonesia – petrified wood covers several area in Banten and also in some part of Mount Halimun Salak National Park. Italy: 1-Foresta fossile di Dunarobba, petrified forest near Avigliano Umbro, Umbria (Central Italy), age . 2- Foresta pietrificata di Zuri – Soddì, petrified forest near Soddì (Province of Oristano, ), age -. Libya – Great Sand Sea – Hundreds of square miles of petrified trunks, branches and other debris mixed with Stone Age artifacts Namibia – petrified forest of Damaraland New Zealand: 1- on coast contains many petrified wood examples. 2- Fossil Forest, Takapuna, Auckland, New Zealand

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The Sarnia Rock & Fossil Club (SRFC) Jan/Feb 2018

Saudi Arabia – petrified forest north of Riyadh Thailand – Bantak Petrified Forest Park in Ban Tak District Ukraine – petrified trunks near Druzhkivka United Kingdom – many examples of petrified submerged forests can be found at low tide around the coast of England and Wales. 1- , , 2- Fossil Forest, Dorset, England United States – petrified wood sites include: 1- Petrified Wood Park in Lemmon, South Dakota 2- Ginkgo/Wanapum State Park in State 3- Petrified Forest National Park in 4- Petrified Forest () in California 5- Mississippi Petrified Forest in Flora, Mississippi 6- Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument near Florissant, Colorado 7- Yellowstone Petrified Forest and Gallatin Petrified Forest, Yellowstone National Park, 8- The south unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park outside Medora, 9- Gilboa Fossil Forest, 10- Escalante Petrified Forest State Park in 11- Desert in the Upper Rogue River Valley near Medford, Oregon

Artificial Petrified Wood

Artificial petrified wood has been produced in a Washington laboratory. In the process, small cubes of pine are soaked in an acid bath for two days, then in a silica solution for another two. The product is then cooked at 1400 °C in an argon atmosphere for two hours. The result was silicon carbide ceramic which preserved the intricate cell structure of the wood.

You Know You're A Rockhound If:

 You prefer baryte roses to real ones.  Your dream holiday destination is Coober Pedy or Far North Queensland.  Your garage is so full of rocks that the car won't fit in.  You collect Interesting specimens, including the brown unknown ones, just in case they might turn out to be something special.  You've ever sorted through a mullock heap.  You've ever dumpster dived at a marble warehouse.  You colour co-ordinate your clothes and shoes to match your pendants.  The sign on the side of the road says "Falling Rock" and you pull over to wait.  You like to examine the rocks in your driveway.  You treasure ancient, fossilised animal dung.  You spend hours searching the ground while everyone else around you gets bored.

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The Sarnia Rock & Fossil Club (SRFC) Jan/Feb 2018

Chinese tourist destroys with three swift kicks what nature took 3,000 years to build

Man makes three attempts to kick off top 30cm of limestone feature in act of senseless vandalism

Limestone stalactites – such as in the Reed Flute cave in Guilin, China – grow just 10cm per 1,000 years. It takes nature hundreds of thousands of years to create limestone stalagmites in scenic caves, but only a few seconds for a badly behaved tourist to damage them. Such was the case in southwest China when a young man deliberately destroyed a 50cm stalagmite at a cave in Songtao county, Guizhou province, adding yet another entry to the list of Chinese tourists’ obnoxious behaviour, the Beijing Youth Daily reported on Friday. Surveillance cameras caught the white-shirted man trying to kick off the stalagmite on the side of the main path in the cave, while other tourists were taking photos of the natural marvels. He made three attempts to eventually knock off a 30cm-long tip and then walked away without taking it, the footage showed. The scenic attraction’s administrators contacted local police, but the man has not yet been found. Cave enthusiast Wang Dayong told the Beijing Youth Daily that it takes an excruciatingly long time – many thousands years – for a stalagmite to form from the ground up, drip by drip, or stalactites, which form downwards from cave ceilings, and they can hardly be restored. Similar stalactite damage has also been reported in Shandong and Liaoning provinces, the newspaper said. “This is a deliberate action,” an internet user commented. “We should have a black list to prevent badly-behaved tourists from entering similar scenic spots.” Lawyer Chen Hao said such vandalism should be denounced. He suggested that the cave’s administration have the broken stalagmite appraised at a laboratory. “Police will detain the man if the appraisal value is above the threshold of criminal charge. If not, the administration office can sue the man for compensation,” Chen said.

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The Sarnia Rock & Fossil Club (SRFC) Jan/Feb 2018

Brad's Bench Tips

MINI DRILL PRESS

If you find yourself drilling a number of small holes for your work, you might want to look at the small, inexpensive drill presses now available. They take up just minimal space on your bench and are always ready to give you nice straight holes. Some models even have a variable speed control. I've been very pleased with a low-priced one that's been well-used in my classes for over a year.

Because these machines are only a foot high, they're limited as to the size of workpieces that can fit into the machine and the size of the drill bits you can use. But I've had no problems with drill bits up to about 3/16" (4.5mm), even drilling steel.

The machines are sold by a number of companies. If you do get one, be sure to buy a spare belt because they are generally not available at local hardware stores. ------

LASER WELDING

A question came up recently about how to solder some jump rings to hold blue briolettes onto a necklace. We've all heard about ways to do some soldering close to a stone, and some of us have sized a ring without taking the stones out of their mounts. We've used wet paper towels, sand, cooling gels, and my favorite of suspending the stone in a dish of water. All techniques bank on the principal of using a small, hot flame to do the job quickly before the stone gets hot enough to crack or change color.

But each job is somewhat of a gamble. Some stones are hardy and some are frail. Jades and jaspers will generally take some heat, but I'd never chance it with the likes of topaz or . Trying to shield a stone from the torch is always a betting game, and sometimes you lose.

If soldering something close to a stone is too risky, perhaps it's time to consider a no-heat method like laser welding. Most jewelry stores have laser welders these days, and the cost of having it done is quite affordable. They used to have problems doing silver, but now seem to do it routinely.

I've used a local shop twice recently, once for a piece with little that a "friend" asked me to repair and for a second piece where I needed a safety catch and didn't want the torch heat to expose all the solder lines again

Learn New Jewelry Skills With Brad's How-To-Do-It Books Amazon.com/author/bradfordsmith

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The Sarnia Rock & Fossil Club (SRFC) Jan/Feb 2018

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