page 4 March "January" "February" "" "April"

Club Meeting

February 2nd

7:30 Board Members

meet at 6:15

Refreshments Phyllis, Lynnette,

Kathy, and Debbie Rathburg.

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Oakland County Earth Science Club February 2011 www.OCESC.com

GUIDE, it might be a nice little book to have, also. It's cost is $10.36 instead of the $12.95 Checks made out to the club will be acceptable through the March meeting. --Eleanor

Cranbrook’s Special Fossil Display “World of Dinosaurs”

This would be a great time to take yourselves, and your childrena and grandchildren to Cranbrook Institute of Science to see not only the wonderful minerals but also the superb dinosaur special exhibit: World of Dinosaurs: Land, Sea, and Air Three generations of the Wollams’ clan will be visiting the more than sixty fossil skeletons of dinosaurs of all sizes, along with excellent information about the different groups, and nicely showing the development from dinosaurs to birds. Encompassing a massive 6.000 sq. feet on two levels, with more than 60 skeletal mounts, cast and restored from original specimens, World of Dinosaurs immerses the visitor with dinosaurs and the remarkable reptiles of the air and sea that shared their world. World of Dinosaurs is not to be missed! From The Conglomerate, Dec 2010, Stan Woollams

See science.cranbrook.edu for show information

February Program Hi Club Members Sorry I could not be with you at the last meeting. For February Refreshments we have Phyllis, Lynnette, Kathy, and Debbie Rathburg. Our program will be provided by Linda Whitehead. She has a speaker for us on "Micro mounting" I am sure it will be interesting. In March we have Pam Brady to talk about Frogs & Toads We do not have a volunteer fior March refreshments. Please let me know if you are willing, we need 2 families. Thanks for all your help --Betty Cockerham DUES DUES DUES Thanks to all of you hove paid your club dues. Now for those who didn't, there is still time. Please see me at the February meeting. Cost of dues--$20 per year --Eleanor ------FIELD GUIDE BOOKS ------At the January meeting you had a chance to look at MICHIGAN ROCKS & MINERALS, A FIELD GUIDE TO THE GREAT LAKES, and many of you signed up. The cost will be $11.96 per copy, instead of $14.95, which is a great deal. There will be a sending charge, but I won't know that until we have a final count. After looking at LAKE SUPERIOR ROCKS & MINERALS, A FIELD

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Upcoming Events (events can be found at www.rockngem.com or www.amfed.org/mwf/Calendar/) For detailed information, please visit individual club’s website. Roamin’ Club Auction- Feb 26-27, Sat. 11-6, Sun. 12-6, Schoolcraft College Visatech Center Bldg, 18600 Haggerty Rd, Livonia MI, free Admission and parking; Rough, Crystals, fossils, slabs, hourly verbal and silent auctions, children’s auctions, door prizes, and more. Info- Clarence Sterling 248-969-2196 Mich Gem & Min. Society Show, March 18-20, Fri 10-7, Sat. 10-7, Sun. 10-5. Jackson Cty Fairgrounds, 200 W. Ganeson St Jackson MI. Jewelry, minerals, fossils, dealers, demos, geode cracking, more. Info- John Lamont 765-647-4894 Metro Rock Swap- March 26, 10 am- 5 pm, Democratic Club of Taylor, 23400 Wick Rd, Taylor MI, free Admission and parking; swap, sell, buy. Minerals, fossils, jewelry, beads, slabs, lapidary items, books. Info www.midwestmineralogicalandlapidarysociety.com ***** February Birthdays ***** 2 GEORGE LANDINO 3 DEBORAH LOWMASTER 16 BROOKE KEITH 20 DENNIS BARLOW 25 ROBERTA THOMAS 27 PATRICA CACERES Itacolumite, The Rock that Bends (article from The CMS Tumbler, Nov. 2010, via The Conglomerate, et. al) It will bend and when turned over it will bend in the opposite direction. No known practical use has been found for this bend[ing] rock, but it is a source of gold, and some diamonds, in Brazil and India. It is also found near clay with diamonds in it, in these countries. Itacolumite is a metamorphic rock. The rock is a most extraordinary kind of sandstone and will bend under its own weight, and slabs of it will bend, even if the slabs are thick. The rock’s flexibility is caused by symmetrical quartz grains that interlock and therefore rotate against each other when it bends. There is also some mica in it that helps elasticity.

2011 Refreshments Jan. Feb. Phyllis Keene, Lynnette West, Kathy ---Debbie Rathburg Mar. April May June Banquet-Potluck Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Club Banquet-everyone bring a dish (each month needs two volunteers –please consider)

2011 Programs Jan. Chuck Miller, ‘The Rock Cycle’ Feb. L. Whitehead(host’s) “Micro-mounting” Mar. April Silent Auction May P. Brady, “Mich Native Frogs & Toads” June -- Sept. -- Oct. – Nov. Club Member Swap/Sale Dec. --Banquet --Betty Cockerham, Program Chair

“Iron rusts from disuse; stagnant water loses its purity and in cold weather becomes frozen; even so does inaction sap the vigor of the mind.” Leonardo da Vinci

Photo: Lt. Elizabeth Crapo, NOAA Corps

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Minerals of chlorite and talc are also found flexible. Itacolumite is porous, to some degree, from water running through the rock. OCES BOARD MEETING JANUARY 5, 2011: Meeting called to order 6 :20 pm. Attending: President Dan Woerner, Linda Whitehead, Leon Pearson, Bob Albertson, Nancy Mathura, Dwight Keith, Tom Pierson, Gerry Runkle, Roberta Thomas, Nancy Pfauth and Tony West. The December Minutes needed to be corrected as follows: Leon Pearson made the suggestion that the club could vote on reading the By-Law changes a second time (they had already been published in the Petoskey Stone and read once to the membership). The motion to dispense with the second reading was voted on and approved by the membership. The December Minutes were approved with the corrections. Treasurer’s Report: We will need volunteers or board members to audit the club’s books. Our donation to Waterford Parks & Recreation was greatly appreciated. Grinding Room: Eleven people were there; all equipment is running now. One motor will have to be replaced. Motion to replace saw blade and keep old one for back-up was approved. Silent Auction: Motion, to give bonus “bucks” to those volunteers who work at the Silent Auction or the Detroit show, was approved. Also, the club will pay the $1 Grinding Room fee for those volunteers who will be doing the sorting for the auction. Incorporation: MMS sent valuable information and Leon will ask George Matyas for a copy of their incorporation papers. Beading Classes: Since Eleanor had to postpone her silver classes, Tony said he would be teaching beading classes on Saturdays. Sign-up sheet available. Also, he has information on his upcoming Oregon trip. Speakers: Linda will have speaker for February; $50.00 fee may be paid. Kids: Rose will have gem trees as a project for January and February. Dues: $20.00 dues are payable today; see Eleanor. Our program for tonight is Chuck Miller. Adjourned at 6:55 pm. OCES JANUARY 5, 2011 GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING: Meeting called to order at 7:35 pm by President Dan Woerner. The December Minutes were approved with the changes noted in the Board Minutes. Treasurer’s Report: $20.00 annual dues are to be paid today; see Eleanor. Two volunteers are needed to audit the club’s books. Tom Pierson and Dave Whitehead will take on the job, at their convenience. Grinding Room: Eleven people attended last time. To help alleviate over-crowding, beginners will be on Monday and advanced members on Tuesdays . There will be a class run through Waterford Park & Rec that will be on Wednesdays for five weeks. Treasurer’s report was approved. Also, bonus “bucks” will be given for volunteering for the Silent Auction or the Detroit Show and can be redeemed at the auction. Tony West will be offering beading classes on Saturday afternoons at his home[editor’s note: class has been moved to the Church]. Sign up available. Oregon trip ( Memorial Day) info is available; see Tony for details. Eleanor has a sign-up sheet for ordering the “Michigan Rocks and Minerals” book. Sorting for the April auction begins Jan.21st at the CAI building ($1 fee will be waived for volunteers[editor’s note: $1 fee to be paid by the club for each of the volunteers]). The Web Site has updates and links to other related sites. Prize winners in the drawing were Jason Woerner, Dennis Barlow and Eleanor Snyder. Our speaker tonight is Mr. Chuck Miller. Chuck is a geologist, has been an instructor in Virginia and is a member of MMS. He will give a talk on thermal convection, weather and how minerals come together. Meeting adjourned at 9:05 pm. Respectfully submitted, Chris Shull, Secretary.

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needle-like millerite crystals in hematite, Smithsonian Museum

Millerite, Violarite, and Polydymite, Part I

by David F. Hess, MWF Mineralogy Assistant MWF Newsletter, March 2009

Millerite, because of its common occurrence in elegant, radiating hair-like sprays, has always been a favorite mineral of collectors, especially in the eastern and mid-western United States and Germany, where fine occurrences abound. The closely related minerals, violarite and polydymite, because of their particular interest to Midwest Federation collectors and common association with (and alteration from) Millerite, are also considered in this article. Physical properties of millerite include a metallic luster and brass-yellow color, but because of incipient alteration, bronze-yellow and silvery gray colors are common. The crystals are in the hexagonal (rhombohedral) system, but because of the common acicular development, the hexagonal nature is rarely apparent, except by X-ray diffraction. Common habits are radiating hairs; finely columnar masses; intergrown mats; and tufted crusts. Cleavage is fair, rhombohedral in two directions. Hardness is 3 to 3 1/2. Specific gravity ranges from 5.3-5.6. Millerite is brittle and has an uneven, splintery fracture. Streak, as is common in metallic sulfides, is green-black. Millerite is nickel sulfide (NiS) and is dissolved by HNO3 and aqua regia. Minor Co, Fe and Cu may be present in the crystal structure. Violarite and polydymite present a series from (Fe,Ni)3S4 to Ni3S4 respectively. Violarite occurs in grains, veinlets, and hairs and has perfect cubic cleavage. It has a violet-gray color. Polydymite occurs as small, twinned octahedral crystals (isometric crystal system) but more commonly as gray to black hairs and unusual, curved strands with branches. They are enriched sulfides in the linnaeite group (a cobalt-iron sulfide) and can be tested for chemically in the same way as millerite. Millerite, violarite and polydymite are relatively low temperature minerals, thus can occur in sedimentary or else late-stage hydrothermal environments where they follow, in sequence, higher temperature nickel, iron, or copper minerals. The characteristic environments for millerite are cavities or geodes in limestone, dolomite, and other carbonate rocks; late stage sulfides in gabbro (dark, coarse-grained rocks) and intrusive copper nickel deposits; more rarely, late stage sulfides in veins; in some serpentinites and serpentinized marbles; and in ankeritic-sideritic veins in sandstone-coal deposits. Violarite and polydymite are known in the first three types of environments. Associated minerals can include calcite, dolomite, ankerite, barite, pyrite, marcasite, pyrrhotite, pentlandite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite, galena, hematite, nickeline (formerly niccolite), breithauptite, quartz, grossular garnet, uvarovite garnet, and others. Alterations of millerite are common, usually emerald green or yellow-green in color and include morenosite, retgersite, and honessite (hydrated nickel sulfates); zaratite (nickel carbonate) and pecoraite (garnierite – a nickel silicate) as well as the aforementioned sulfides, violarite and polydymite. Millerite can be confused with acicular rutile and tourmaline, but these minerals have completely different associations, and with capillary pyrite or marcasite, but these specimens usually have a square or rectangular cross-section when carefully examined. The central United States and Canada have numerous millerite and polydymite occurrences in Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky,Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Manitoba. Except for Manitoba and Minnesota, most of these are in limestones and dolomites of Devonian and Mississippian age.

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At the Wallace Stone Pit, Bayport, Michigan (Devonian age), growths of millerite mats on chalcopyrite are characteristic… Southern Indiana has many millerite locations in geodes and cavities within the Borden Formation and Harrodsburg Limestone, usually as small to moderate size silvery- gray, hair-like sprays. Associates include calcite in Highway 37 road cuts five miles north of Bloomington, Indiana, and yellow barite, quartz, calcite, and dolomite in Highway 37 cuts near Harrodsburg, Indiana. Erd and Greenberg (1960) found a clear calcite crystal at Bloomington Crushed Stone Company Quarry with inclusions of millerite, low-temperature pyrrhotite, marcasite, barite, pyrite, and smythite (another iron sulfide) in the one crystal. Geodes in the Carwood Formation in Jackson County, Indiana, contain millerite. An unusual occurrence of millerite as woven mats in the hollows of crinoid stems is noted in Montgomery County, Indiana, in the Borden Formation. Some millerite is also associated with asphalt and chert in the Levias Member of the Mississippian-age St. Guinevieve Limestone in Lawrence County, Indiana. The Ropes Gold Mine, Ishpeming, Michigan, has small amounts of millerite associated with the pyrite and gold in Precambrian-age serpentinite. Finally, radiating hairs of silvery millerite have been collected near Tompson, Manitoba.

Rock Shop Tips

• When working with a stone like onyx or marble, soak the stone in water for a couple of days before cutting. The absorbed water will keep the saw oil from being absorbed a d will result in a higher polish.

• A good way to tell how solid a large slab migt be is to heat it in hot water. The surface will dry

immediately. If there are holes or fractures in the slab, every one will soon be lined with water. Mark the lines with a pencil (or sharpie) to orient the slab for your project.

• Have you polished a fine dark cab only to find white specks of oxide in the cab after spending a

lot of time on it? Dark materials such as black agate, petrified wood and dark jasper, can be cleaned by using black jewelers rouge and muslin buff. The buff will remove most of the white compound and the rouge will render it invisible.

Tips from, Pegmatite Bulletin, Oct. 2010 by way of The Conglomerate Jan 2010, et. al

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Meeting Address: OAKLAND COUNTY EARTH SCIENCE CLUB c/o Christ Lutheran Church 5987 Williams Lake Road Waterford MI 48329 Club Web Site—www.OCESC.com General Meeting: First Wednesday each month, September through June at 7:30 PM Board Meeting: Same day as General meeting, at 6:15 PM General and Board meeting are held at Christ Lutheran Church. Purpose: To associate the member families, to promote activities that help families learn about Earth sciences and lapidary arts, and to cooperate with other similar organizations. Grinding classes and workshops are held a the C.A.I. building- 5640 Williams Lake Rd. Open hours in the grinding room- $1.00/person/day payable to the C.A.I. Building. Officers - 2011 Co-Presidents: Tony West, 887-2615 Dan Woerner 698-9531 Vice-Pres: Dwight Keith, 681-3029 Secretary: Chris Shull 625-3250 Treasurer: Leon Pearson 673-5479 Directors Bob Albertson (11-13) 623-6081 Nancy Mathura (11-13) 673-9637 Edward O’Neil (10-12) 586-838-4816 Marie Petinga (10-12) 563-5737 Nancy Pfauth (11-13) 623-9263 Tom Pierson (11-13) 673-9403 Gerry Runkle (09-11) 625-0598 Eleanor Snyder (Emeritus) 698-4386 Roberta Thomas (11-13) 625-5083 Katherine Van Hoy (Emeritus) 698-4386 Linda Whitehead (10-12) 363-1305 Membership Dues: Annual Membership dues (due each February): $20.00 per family unit or individual. Students pay $7.50 if not covered by family membership. Club name tag is $5.00 per person. ALL adults are required to wear their name tag. Contact: Eleanor Snyder.. Editor: Laura Sheffer, e-mail: LSHEFFER1@COMCAST.NET Midwest Federation Library: Rentals are open to all club members- contact John Blue Phone 440-238-4412, e-mail jblue@n2net.net

OCESC is a member of MWF-AFMS

Committees: Programs/Refreshments- Betty Cockerham Classes- Tony West Field Trips- J. Rives Children’s - R. Woerner Membership- E. Snyder By-Laws- C. Roller, P. Brady, L. Pearson Library- L. Whitehead Historian- (open) Silversmith- E. Snyder Scholarship- R. Seibert Rock Raffle- Shows- E.Snyder, K. Van Hoy Sunshine- S. Klopfer Publ.- L. Sheffer, R. Seibert Web site- D. Whitehead Grinding Room- L. Pearson Banquet-N. Lill, L.Pearson, N. Pfauth

Newsletter Contributions- All Members:

Articles and items of interest are welcome! – Please send them to the editor (US Mail or E-mail) by the 13th of the month. See below for Editor’s address.