Quartz Color

How do crystals grow? Quartz is naturally a clear mineral. The colors come from impurities in the quartz. The primary cause of color in rose quartz is titanium. Here are some other popular quartz varieties:

• SMOKY QUARTZ – pale brown to black
• CITRINE – yellow
• AMETHYST – pale mauve to deep violet
• AVENTURINE – most common in green
• TIGER’S EYE – golden to red-brown

Fun Facts

• Rose quartz is the state mineral of South Dakota.
• Garnet is the primary birthstone for January, however, rose quartz is the secondary January birthstone.
• The stone for a fifth wedding anniversary is rose quartz.
• Rose quartz is associated with the heart chakra.

Rose Quartz Equals Love

Love doesn’t have to be sappy and romantic. Yeah, people do sometimes view rose quartz in that way, but it’s more than that. Lots of people believe in the powerful properties of stones. Rose quartz is said to help its bearer with compassion, kindness and feeling good about yourself. Those are qualities we can all use!

A bonus is that rose quartz is also said to bring about calm and ease stress and anxiety. If you’re rock collecting for kids, maybe it’s the perfect stone to keep in your pocket on test and exam days!

Rose Quartz Equals Beauty

Through the ages, rose quartz has been said to bring beauty.

Rose quartz has been found on face masks in ancient Egyptian tombs. Isis, the Egyptian goddess of life, is said to have used rose quartz as she scrubbed her face each day. She hunted the Nile River for the stones and rubbed them on her cheeks and around her eyes.

In ancient Rome, people did the same thing and rubbed rose quartz around their eyes and cheeks to restore tired skin and reduce wrinkles.

Today, this practice continues as you can go down any store’s beauty aisle and find rose quartz face rollers for sale.

Legends & Myths

One day as Adonis was hunting, he was attacked by a boar. Aphrodite went to help Adonis. She cut herself on a thorn and it caused her to bleed. As she held a dying Adonis in her arms, their blood mixed and fell on nearby clear quartz staining it a pinkish red. Legend says this was the beginning of rose quartz and also its connection with love.

Cupid is also said to have brought rose quartz to the world to spread love.

This Rock & Gem Kids column about rose quartz previously appeared in Rock & Gem magazine. Click here to subscribe! Story by Pam Freeman.

The post Exploring Rose Quartz first appeared on Rock & Gem Magazine.

Our national parks and national monuments are a treasure trove for anyone interested in fossils and paleontology. Although most of the National Park Service’s 177 parks and monuments are involved with fossils in some manner, ten exist specifically to protect, preserve, study, and interpret paleontological resources.

These ten paleontology-oriented parks and monuments represent a huge span of geological time from the late Triassic Period 225 million years ago to the Pleistocene ice ages just 15,000 years ago. The fossils they display range from tiny insects to the bones of huge dinosaurs. The largest of these “paleontology parks” covers 379 square miles, the smallest just a few acres. The oldest dates to 1906; the newest was established only in 2015.

Here’s a nutshell account of our paleontology-oriented national parks and monuments:

Petrified Forest National Park
(www.nps.gov/pefo)

Perhaps the best-known of the paleontology-oriented parks and monuments, it covers 346 square miles in northeastern Arizona 26 miles east of Holbrook. Early pioneers were intrigued with its abundance of brightly colored, petrified logs. This area became a national monument in 1906 to protect its paleontological resources from commercialization and rampant collecting. Designated a national park in 1962, it now welcomes 660,000 visitors each year.

Petrified Forest is among the world’s top sources of Triassic Period fossils. Although famed for its iconic, multicolored fossil logs and bizarre badlands topography, the park also yields fossils of amphibians, predatory reptiles, and most importantly, the earliest-known dinosaurs. Recent fossil recoveries continue to provide new insight into dinosaur evolution during the Late Triassic Period, a time that paleontologists call the “dawn of the dinosaurs.”

The park’s bedrock consists of exposed sediments of the Chinle Formation, which were deposited between 216 and 205 million years ago by streams and rivers that flowed over plains and through low hills and swamps. Periodic flooding swept logs and animal carcasses onto sandbars, where they became buried and fossilized.

Paleontologists have identified more than 200 paleobotanical species through the study of leaf, stem, seed, frond, and cone fossils. Only a dozen of these are trees, the most common being Araucarioxylon arizonicum, a 180-foot-high conifer.

Petrified Forest National Park displays petrified wood at its two visitor centers. The outstanding paleontological exhibits at the Rainbow Forest Museum at the southern end of the park include full skeletal mounts of the Triassic dinosaurs, reptiles, and amphibians creatures that once roamed the area.

Fossil Butte National Monument
(www.nps.gov/fobu)

Located in southwestern Wyoming 15 miles west of Kemmerer, this monument area protects part of the fossil-rich Fossil Butte Member of the Eocene Green River Formation. Established in 1972, Fossil Butte National Monument covers 13 square miles and hosts 20,000 visitors annually.

During the Eocene Epoch some 50 million years ago, this region was a subtropical-lake ecosystem. Fifty-mile-long Fossil Lake, the smallest of three fresh-water lakes, deposited fine-grained sediments that were a near-perfect host for the fossilization of detailed, articulated skeletons, particularly those of fish.

Today, Fossil Buttes is recognized as a world-class paleontological site. Fish are by far its most abundant fossils and the 27 identified species include paddlefish, stingrays, gars, herrings, and perches, all preserved in great detail and as long as 20 inches. Also among this monument’s fossils are those of 10 mammal species, including bats and horse-like, lemur-like, and otter-like mammals; 15 species of reptiles; 30 species of birds; several species of arthropods and amphibians; and innumerable plant fossils. Many fossils are of life forms that are rarely preserved elsewhere.

The Fossil Butte Visitor Center displays more than 300 fossils and presents excellent video programs. It also provides an opportunity to observe an operating fossil-preparation laboratory and conducts summer programs in which visitors can help paleontologists excavate a fossil quarry (all fossils remain with the national monument’s scientific program).

Dinosaur National Monument
(www.nps.gov/dino)

Located in the northwest corner of Colorado and adjacent Utah, this site hosts 300,000 visitors per year. It became a national monument in 1915 with only 80 acres but has since been expanded to 312 square miles. In 1909, Carnegie Museum paleontologist Earl Douglass discovered a 150-million-year-old Morrison Formation stratum that is rich in dinosaur fossils. This stratum had once been a sandbar in a large Jurassic river where dinosaur carcasses had collected and became buried and fossilized. By 1923, paleontologists had recovered 350 tons of fossilized bones that were reassembled into 23 nearly complete skeletal mounts.

This monument’s main attraction is the recently rebuilt Quarry Exhibit Hall which houses the world-famous “Wall of Bones”—a partially excavated rock wall within the Carnegie Dinosaur Quarry with more than 1,500 exposed dinosaur bones. Visitors can also view full skeletal mounts of such large dinosaurs as the carnivore Allosaurus and the plant-eaters Diplodocus and Stegosaurus. The Carnegie Dinosaur Quarry has yielded 11 species of dinosaurs and excavations continue today. The monument’s most recently identified new dinosaur species, the large plant-eater Abydosaurus mcintoshi, was unearthed in 2010.

Florissant National Monument
(www.nps.gov/flfo)

This monument, located 35 miles west of Colorado Springs, Colorado, is the premier source of 34-million-year-old plant and insect fossils from the late Eocene Epoch.

Since excavations began in the 1870s, its thinly laminated, fine-grained shale has yielded more than 50,000 museum-grade fossil specimens representing 1,700 plant and insect species.

Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument was created in 1969 to halt the commercialization and rampant collecting that was destroying this paleontological resource. Today, the national monument hosts 60,000 visitors each year.

During the Eocene Epoch, Colorado had a warmer and wetter climate with plant systems similar to those that thrive today in subtropical, coastal lowlands.

Florissant was then the site of a shallow, 15-mile-long lake bordered by a dense forest that supported many aquatic and terrestrial life forms, along with dense populations of spiders and insects, the latter including dragonflies, cockroaches, aphids, flies, beetles, wasps, ants, and butterflies. Intensive nearby volcanism produced ashfalls and mudslides that buried and fossilized many of these life forms.

The Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument Visitor Center, rebuilt in 2013, displays hundreds of plant and insect fossils and has state-of-the-art, interactive exhibits. Near the Visitor Center is the “Trio,” a group of three massive, petrified sequoia stumps that originate from a common root system.

Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument
(www.nps.gov/hafo)

This destination is located in southwestern Idaho 80 miles from Boise. The seven-square-mile monument, established in 1988, protects a rich deposit of late Pliocene Epoch fossils and the largest source of Hagerman horse (Equus simplicidens) fossils.

The Hagerman Horse, the earliest single-toed horse, evolved 3.5 million years ago. The monument’s Hagerman Horse Quarry has also yielded more than 200 species of flora and fauna that include fossils of mastodons, saber-toothed cats, bone-crushing dogs, fish, frogs, voles, and beaver, which collectively provide a superb glimpse of life prior to the great ice ages when modern flora and fauna first appeared.

The Hagerman sediments, which were deposited in a floodplain environment, are a continuous stratigraphic record spanning 500,000 years that represents such paleontological ecosystems as wetlands, grasslands, and grassy savanna. The excavations started by the Smithsonian Institution in the 1930s continue today.

Although no in situ fossils can be seen at Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument, its visitor center displays hundreds of prepared fossils, including a full skeletal mount of a Hagerman horse. The monument hosts 26,000 visitors each year.

Agate Fossil Beds National Monument
(www.nps.gov/agfo)

Located near the western Nebraska town of Harrison, this monument was established in 1997 and named for the nearby Agate Springs Ranch. Hosting 15,000 visitors per year and covering 18 square miles, it is the premier fossil site for 20-million-year-old Miocene Epoch mammals. A densely packed, two-foot-thick bone bed has yielded fossils of Miohippus, the direct ancestor of the modern horse, and those of bear dogs, rhinoceroses, and camel-like mammals.

Among the monument’s most unusual trace fossils are “devil’s corkscrews,” well-defined, six-foot-high, corkscrew-shaped casts in sedimentary rock that are the fossilized burrows of Paleocastor, a forerunner of modern beavers. The Agate Fossil Beds National Monument Visitor Center has exhibits of fossils, casts, slabs (large masses of rock embedded with fossilized mammal bones), and murals depicting Miocene Epoch paleoenvironments. The monument’s four miles of trails pass historic bone quarries.

Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument
(www.nps.gov/tusk)

This noted monument is found near Las Vegas, Nevada, was established in 2014 and covers 35 square miles. First excavated in 1933 by American Museum of Natural History paleontologists, the site has yielded fossils of late Pleistocene Epoch Columbian mammoths, camels, ground sloths, dire wolves, horses, and North American cave lions that lived 12,000 years ago. The Columbian mammoth fossils include those of both adults and juveniles.

Once a lush, late Pleistocene wetland, Tule Springs is one of the world’s greatest assemblages of Ice Age fossils. It is the first place in the United States where paleontologists used radiometric dating to determine the age of fossils. In 1962, Nevada State Museum paleontologists conducted the “Big Dig,” excavating mile-long trenches that revealed thousands of additional bones. Some paleontologists expect future excavations to reveal evidence of contact between humans and late Ice Age mammals. The newly established Tule Springs National Monument does not yet have a visitor center, but trails with interpretive signs access excavations with visible, in situ fossils.

John Day Fossil Beds National Monument
(www.nps.gov/joda)

Consisting of the separate Sheep Rock, Painted Hills, and Clarno units, this national monument is located in east-central Oregon. Established in 1975, it covers 22 square miles and hosts 210,000 visitors per year. Its sedimentary strata contain well-preserved plant and animal fossils representing 40 million years of geologic time from the late Eocene Epoch 45 million years ago to the late Miocene Epoch 5 million years ago. This monument’s unusually lengthy sequence of burial and fossilization is due to repetitive events of volcanic ash and stream deposition of volcanic sediments.

In 2005, the monument opened its Thomas Condon Paleontology Center, a state-of-the-art facility named for the prominent 19th-century Oregon scientist who first collected the local fossils. Located in the Sheep Rock Unit near Dayville, Oregon, the center displays more than 500 fossils and offers video presentations, scientifically accurate murals depicting paleoenvironments, and viewing windows to observe activity in a fossil-preparation laboratory.

Badlands National Park
(www.nps.gov/badl)

Located in southwest South Dakota 80 miles southeast of Rapid City, this site hosts more than one million visitors per year. The park’s three separate units cover 379 square miles of sharply eroded, brightly colored buttes, pinnacles, and gorges.

Badlands became a national monument in 1939 and a national park in 1978. Its profusion of fossils first attracted scientific and public attention in the 1870s.In 1899, the South Dakota School of Mines (now the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology) began paleontological investigations that continue today.

The park’s sediments contain both 75-million-year-old late Cretaceous Period marine fossils and 30-million-year-old Oligocene Epoch mammal fossils, the latter including those of rhinoceroses, horses, saber-toothed cats, and camels. National Park Service and South Dakota School of Mines & Technology paleontologists recently spent 15 summer seasons recovering 13,000 fossilized bones. Badland National Park’s Ben Reifel Visitor Center displays hundreds of fossils including several full skeletal mounts. Its Fossil Exhibit Trail passes several sites with visible, in situ bones.

Waco Mammoth National Monument
(www.nps.gov/waco)

This site was established in 2015 and is the most recent addition to the National Park Service’s fossil-rich locations. In its first year, Waco Mammoth National Monument hosted nearly 70,000 visitors. Covering just five acres, it is also one of the smallest national monuments. Since an arrowhead collector discovered this Pleistocene Epoch fossil site in 1978, it has yielded 24 complete, fossilized skeletons of 68,000-year-old Columbian mammoths, including those of an adult-juvenile nursery herd.

The site opened in 2009 after a “Dig Shelter” was built to protect the in-situ bones. Waco Mammoth National Monument is jointly operated by the National Park Service, the city of Waco, and Baylor University. This new national monument does not yet have a visitor center, but visitors may take guided tours into the Dig Shelter to view in situ bones. Prepared fossils are exhibited at the Mayborn Museum Complex on the nearby Baylor University campus.

To enjoy a more in-depth exploration of Waco Mammoth National Monument, be sure to review the March 2019 issue of Rock & Gem to find an article by fellow contributor, Helen Serras-Herman.

Parks Bring Paleontology Alive For Juniors

All these paleontology-focused national parks and monuments participate in the Junior Paleontologist Program, a part of the National Park Service’s popular Junior Ranger Program. Its goal is to develop awareness among young people, primarily ages 6 to 12, of their national parks and monuments and of the paleontological resources that they protect. The Junior Paleontologist Program offers ranger-led outings, special activities, and educational materials that explain the geologic history, how fossils are formed and preserved, and how paleontologists excavate, study and interpret fossils. Those who complete the lessons and activities earn the National Park Service’s Junior Paleontologist badge.

The National Park Service’s National Fossil Day is celebrated each October during Earth Sciences Week. National Fossil Day is designed to promote public awareness and stewardship of fossils, foster a greater appreciation of their scientific and educational value, and to explain the National Park Service’s involvement with fossils. It includes ranger-led discussions, tours to selected paleontological sites, and hands-on fossil-excavation activities.

Many paleontology-oriented national parks and monuments have volunteer opportunities for adult Paleontology Assistants. Applicants should possess hands-on skills in working with fragile, irreplaceable fossils and some experience in the basic paleontological fields and laboratory methods. Paleontology Assistants work in a variety of jobs, including assisting in field excavations and laboratory fossil preparation.

South Dakota’s ‘Ghost’ Monument

One other paleontology-oriented national monument should be mentioned—Fossil Cycad National Monument. If this name is not familiar, it is because Fossil Cycad is a “ghost” monument that no longer exists. It once included the site of a remarkable deposit of 120-million-year-old cycad fossils near Edgemont in southwestern South Dakota. Cycads are tree-sized plants related to ferns. With their unique branching and reproductive systems, these Cretaceous Period cycads help paleontologists to understand the evolution of flowering plants. After the site was discovered in 1892, it quickly attracted hordes of both private and commercial collectors.

In 1922, a Yale paleobotanist, concerned with the rampant, non-scientific collecting of the fossils, personally homesteaded the land to protect it. Two years later, he turned the half-square-mile property over to the National Park Service which designated it a national monument. But because its supervision was assigned to Wind Cave National Park 20 miles away, the new monument had no direct protection and the now-illegal fossil collecting continued.

By 1935, all visible fossils had been destroyed or removed. In 1957, Fossil Cycad was delisted as a national monument and turned over to the Bureau of Land Management.But today, the experience with the former Fossil Cycad National Monument is serving as a lesson. Its cycad fossils are now part of a traveling exhibition making the rounds to national parks and monuments to illustrate the need to protect the nation’s paleontological resources.

When visiting our paleontology-oriented national parks and monuments, always remember that unauthorized collection of fossils or any other materials is prohibited.

For additional information on the Junior Paleontologist Program and National Fossil Day, visit www.nps.gov.

This story about paleontology in the national parks previously appeared in Rock & Gem magazine. Click here to subscribe! Story by Steve Voynick.

The post Paleontology in the Parks first appeared on Rock & Gem Magazine.

The Cambrian trilobite ALBERTELLA longwelli has a very small pygidium or tail section, but it ends with two very long, rearward-pointing spines.

It has a wide cephalon that ends in long, outwardly-pointing spines. The third thoracic segment is also ornamented with long spines.

ALBERTELLA longwelli is a very showy trilobite and is quite rare in the formation where it is found, the Carrera Formation in Pike County, Nevada.

DID YOU KNOW: Trilobites, an extinct form of arthropod related to insects, crabs, crayfish, and horseshoe crabs, are among the most prevalent invertebrates with hard body parts to appear during the Cambrian Period. These creatures are called trilobite due to the three distinct “lobes” running vertically through the body section.

About the columnist: Joseph “PaleoJoe” Kchodl is a paleontologist, educator, veteran, author, fossil dig organizer/guide, business owner, husband, father, and grandfather, and fossil fanatic. For decades, he’s spent hours in classrooms around the Midwestern United States and beyond, speaking to school children about fossils and fossil hunting. Visit his site to purchase fossils, contact PaleoJoe, visit www.paleojoe.com.

Plus, learn more about PaleoJoe and his daughter PaleoJen and their paleontology exploration partnership in an the article “Fueling a Passion for Paleontology“.

If you enjoyed what you’ve read here we invite you to consider signing up for the FREE Rock & Gem weekly newsletter. Learn more>>>

In addition, we invite you to consider subscribing to Rock & Gem magazine. The cost for a one-year U.S. subscription (12 issues) is $29.95. Learn more >>>

The post Trilobite of the Week: ALBERTELLA longwelli first appeared on Rock & Gem Magazine.

There are many species of CERAURUS trilobites around the world, including Canada and the United States. Each species has subtle differences.

This CERAURUS pleurexanthemus specimen comes from Trenton Falls, New York. It averaged around one inch in length, including spines.

Its semi-circular Cephalon, or head section, ends with slightly laterally rearward pointing spines. The glabella is inflated with small furrows. The glabella also is covered by tubercles or small bumps.

CERAURUS pleurexanthemus also has a narrow axial lobe and wide pleural lobes. The pleural lobes end in short spines. The pygidium is micropygious, meaning it is quite small with two long, rearward-pointing spines.

DID YOU KNOW: Trilobites, an extinct form of arthropod related to insects, crabs, crayfish, and horseshoe crabs, are among the most prevalent invertebrates with hard body parts to appear during the Cambrian Period. These creatures are called trilobite due to the three distinct “lobes” running vertically through the body section.

About the columnist: Joseph “PaleoJoe” Kchodl is a paleontologist, educator, veteran, author, fossil dig organizer/guide, business owner, husband, father, and grandfather, and fossil fanatic. For decades, he’s spent hours in classrooms around the Midwestern United States and beyond, speaking to school children about fossils and fossil hunting. Visit his site to purchase fossils, contact PaleoJoe, visit www.paleojoe.com.

Plus, learn more about PaleoJoe and his daughter PaleoJen and their paleontology exploration partnership in an the article “Fueling a Passion for Paleontology“.

If you enjoyed what you’ve read here we invite you to consider signing up for the FREE Rock & Gem weekly newsletter. Learn more>>>

In addition, we invite you to consider subscribing to Rock & Gem magazine. The cost for a one-year U.S. subscription (12 issues) is $29.95. Learn more >>>

The post Trilobite of the Week: CERAURUS pleurexanthemus first appeared on Rock & Gem Magazine.

Cornetite is a mineral wherein the word “b-e-a-u-tiful” is an apt description. It is well known and greatly appreciated for its rich and sparkling colors, often presenting in a deep blue, green-blue, or a lush shade of green.

It is an uncommon secondary copper mineral, hence the luxurious blues and greens, and it is often found in oxidation zones of copper sulfide ore bodies, as explained at www.geologypage.com.

Its locality is primarily the Democratic Republic of the Congo, most specifically the Star of the Congo (Kalakaluka) mine, which is located near Lubumbashi; additional prolific localities include the Kalabi and Lukini mines, both in the Katanga Province, Congo. The Lubumbashi region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is the country’s mining capital. It was founded in 1910, a year after the Kalakaluka mine began ore mining operations. The region is located in the southeastern tip of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, along the border with norther Zambia, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica.

The featured aesthetic cornetite specimen in this Mineral of the Week was mined in the Kalakaluka Mine (Star of the Congo), Congo. It is considered small cabinet size (9.7 x 8.1 x 3.8 cm). The specimen (featured at different angles within the photos presented) is on offer by Bob and Lisa Williamson and open to bids at mineral-auctions.com.

Although the Kalakaluka mine is still visited on occasion by locals looking for any remaining ore specimens, the copper mine is currently abandoned. It became a leader in cobalt ore mining in the first quarter of the 20th century and was known by various names during its active operation.

If you enjoyed what you’ve read here we invite you to consider signing up for the FREE Rock & Gem weekly newsletter. Learn more>>>

In addition, we invite you to consider subscribing to Rock & Gem magazine. The cost for a one-year U.S. subscription (12 issues) is $29.95. Learn more >>>

The post Mineral of the Week: Cornetite first appeared on Rock & Gem Magazine.

The Ordovician trilobite HOMOTELUS bromidensis is often found in mass death assemblages. It is theorized that they perished due to a catastrophic event during the mating period. Today, modern horseshoe crabs gather by the tens of thousands for mating.

HOMOTELUS bromidensis is a very wide trilobite that has a cephalon and pygidium roughly the same size. Both the cephalon and pygidium are unornamented and quite flat. Its eyes were small and crescent shaped. It typically has only eight body segments.

Found in Carter County, Oklahoma, HOMOTELUS bromidensis averaged around two inches in length.

DID YOU KNOW: Trilobites, an extinct form of arthropod related to insects, crabs, crayfish, and horseshoe crabs, are among the most prevalent invertebrates with hard body parts to appear during the Cambrian Period. These creatures are called trilobite due to the three distinct “lobes” running vertically through the body section.

About the columnist: Joseph “PaleoJoe” Kchodl is a paleontologist, educator, veteran, author, fossil dig organizer/guide, business owner, husband, father, and grandfather, and fossil fanatic. For decades, he’s spent hours in classrooms around the Midwestern United States and beyond, speaking to school children about fossils and fossil hunting. Visit his site to purchase fossils, contact PaleoJoe, visit www.paleojoe.com.

Plus, learn more about PaleoJoe and his daughter PaleoJen and their paleontology exploration partnership in an the article “Fueling a Passion for Paleontology“.

If you enjoyed what you’ve read here we invite you to consider signing up for the FREE Rock & Gem weekly newsletter. Learn more>>>

In addition, we invite you to consider subscribing to Rock & Gem magazine. The cost for a one-year U.S. subscription (12 issues) is $29.95. Learn more >>>

The post Trilobite of the Week: HOMOTELUS bromidensis first appeared on Rock & Gem Magazine.

The axial lobe is thinner than the pleural lobes. It has a large glabella that is slightly furrowed. The glabella is also inflated at the front. The thorax is composed of between seven and eight segments.

HEMIRHODON amplypyge grew to around 5 inches long. This trilobite can be found in the House Range of mountains in Millard County, Utah.

DID YOU KNOW: Trilobites, an extinct form of arthropod related to insects, crabs, crayfish, and horseshoe crabs, are among the most prevalent invertebrates with hard body parts to appear during the Cambrian Period. These creatures are called trilobite due to the three distinct “lobes” running vertically through the body section.

About the columnist: Joseph “PaleoJoe” Kchodl is a paleontologist, educator, veteran, author, fossil dig organizer/guide, business owner, husband, father, and grandfather, and fossil fanatic. For decades, he’s spent hours in classrooms around the Midwestern United States and beyond, speaking to school children about fossils and fossil hunting. Visit his site to purchase fossils, contact PaleoJoe, visit www.paleojoe.com.

Plus, learn more about PaleoJoe and his daughter PaleoJen and their paleontology exploration partnership in an the article “Fueling a Passion for Paleontology“.

If you enjoyed what you’ve read here we invite you to consider signing up for the FREE Rock & Gem weekly newsletter. Learn more>>>

In addition, we invite you to consider subscribing to Rock & Gem magazine. The cost for a one-year U.S. subscription (12 issues) is $29.95. Learn more >>>

The post Trilobite of the Week: HEMIRHODON amplypyge first appeared on Rock & Gem Magazine.

The mineral orpiment provides a great lesson in the importance of knowing mineral composition as it relates to storage and display.

The orpiment specimen is on offer by Luciana Barbosa and open for bids at mineral-auctions.net. 

This arsenic trisulfide mineral has a Mohs hardness of 1.5 to 2. It is also a photosensitive mineral, which is known to produce a white film if exposed to light for long periods of time, according to information at minerals.net. With this being the case, it’s recommended orpiment be stored in an enclosed space away from direct exposure to light. In addition to its sensitivity to light and more fragile structure, as an arsenic trisulfide it does contain a certain amount of arsenic, which makes it toxic to handle.

Despite the fragile, light sensitivity of this arsenic-based mineral, it often presents as a brilliant gemmy butterscotch color, as well as bright yellow, orange, and orange-red. Adding to the striking color, the crystal formation is commonly prismatic, chisel-shaped, and appears triangular in shape, and the mineral is formed as a hot-springs deposit, according to information published at Britannica.com.

Among the most common locations orpiment is found are deposits in Iran, Macedonia, France, and Peru. Plus, a recent addition to that list is the area of Humboldt Co., Nevada, and the locality of the featured specimen, Tooele Co., Utah.

While the mineral’s toxicity is well known today, Middle Eastern artists were known to use orpiment as a form of paint during ancient times.

The science of mineralogy is a truly fascinating way to study history.

If you enjoyed what you’ve read here we invite you to consider signing up for the FREE Rock & Gem weekly newsletter. Learn more>>>

In addition, we invite you to consider subscribing to Rock & Gem magazine. The cost for a one-year U.S. subscription (12 issues) is $29.95. Learn more >>>

The post Mineral of the Week: Orpiment first appeared on Rock & Gem Magazine.

OLENELLUS fowleri is almost circular in shape. Its cephalon or head section is very large and broad and is the distinguishing feature of this trilobite. It is very highly ornamented with many rearward projecting spines.

The eyes are set very closely on the head section and are rather large. It has a small tail section. The central or axial lobe is very thin, and both pleural lobes are quite large.

OLENELLUS fowleri is a rare and spectacular trilobite find.

DID YOU KNOW: Trilobites, an extinct form of arthropod related to insects, crabs, crayfish, and horseshoe crabs, are among the most prevalent invertebrates with hard body parts to appear during the Cambrian Period. These creatures are called trilobite due to the three distinct “lobes” running vertically through the body section.

About the columnist: Joseph “PaleoJoe” Kchodl is a paleontologist, educator, veteran, author, fossil dig organizer/guide, business owner, husband, father, and grandfather, and fossil fanatic. For decades, he’s spent hours in classrooms around the Midwestern United States and beyond, speaking to school children about fossils and fossil hunting. Visit his site to purchase fossils, contact PaleoJoe, visit www.paleojoe.com.

Plus, learn more about PaleoJoe and his daughter PaleoJen and their paleontology exploration partnership in an the article “Fueling a Passion for Paleontology“.

If you enjoyed what you’ve read here we invite you to consider signing up for the FREE Rock & Gem weekly newsletter. Learn more>>>

In addition, we invite you to consider subscribing to Rock & Gem magazine. The cost for a one-year U.S. subscription (12 issues) is $29.95. Learn more >>>

The post Trilobite of the Week: OLENELLUS fowleri first appeared on Rock & Gem Magazine.

CRYPTOLITHUS ulrichi has a very broad Cephalon bordered by a wide “brim,” which has a large number of pits or holes. It has been theorized that this trilobite was a filter feeder and that the wide brim and pits assisted in feeding.

The trilobite has six thoracic segments and a thin axial or central lobe. The pleural lobes are wide and unornamented. The Cephalon is roughly semi- circular and has two long genal spines. The Cephalon also has a large bulbous glabella.

Found near Nebo, Oklahoma, CRYPTOLITHUS ulrichi grew to around 1 inch with spines.

DID YOU KNOW: Trilobites, an extinct form of arthropod related to insects, crabs, crayfish, and horseshoe crabs, are among the most prevalent invertebrates with hard body parts to appear during the Cambrian Period. These creatures are called trilobite due to the three distinct “lobes” running vertically through the body section.

About the columnist: Joseph “PaleoJoe” Kchodl is a paleontologist, educator, veteran, author, fossil dig organizer/guide, business owner, husband, father, and grandfather, and fossil fanatic. For decades, he’s spent hours in classrooms around the Midwestern United States and beyond, speaking to school children about fossils and fossil hunting. Visit his site to purchase fossils, contact PaleoJoe, visit www.paleojoe.com.

Plus, learn more about PaleoJoe and his daughter PaleoJen and their paleontology exploration partnership in an the article “Fueling a Passion for Paleontology“.

If you enjoyed what you’ve read here we invite you to consider signing up for the FREE Rock & Gem weekly newsletter. Learn more>>>

In addition, we invite you to consider subscribing to Rock & Gem magazine. The cost for a one-year U.S. subscription (12 issues) is $29.95. Learn more >>>

The post Trilobite of the Week: CRYPTOLITHUS ulrichi first appeared on Rock & Gem Magazine.