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The Trilobite

Volume 74 Number 01 January 2018

NEXT WGS MEMBERSHIP MEETING & PROGRAM Monday, January 08, 2018

Immaculate Heart of Mary Church Hall (Downstairs, Enter at back of building)

1212 South 117th Street (Just North of Greenfield Ave): West Allis, Wisconsin

7:00: Presentation followed by the business meeting as usual Presentation by Andy Wanta, UWM Geosciences Research Interests: I am doing my research on a hydrothermal in the Lassen Volcanic National Park in Northern California. We are analyzing the mineralogy and water chemistry of the hydrothermal ar-eas found in the park in order to better understand what kinds of minerals form around the hydrother-mal features. We are comparing this information to data collected on Mars by rovers to determine if some of the same mineral assemblages exist on both planets.

Wisconsin Geological Society

I think that your members would be interested in our new webpages on the Fossils of Wisconsin.

h�p://wgnhs.uwex.edu/wisconsin-geology/fossils-of-wisconsin/

The content of these webpages was adapted from Common Paleozoic Fossils of Wisconsin by

Ross H. Nehm and Bryan E. Bemis (2002). Photos were generously provided by the Milwaukee

Public Museum unless otherwise noted.

M. Carol McCartney, PhD

Outreach Manager

Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey

University of Wisconsin - Extension

3817 Mineral Point Road

Madison, WI 53705

Phone: 608 263 7393

711 for Wisconsin Relay

The Trilobite January 2018

WGS Minutes December 11, 2017 Immaculate Heart of Mary The business meeting was called to order at 9:03PM by our President John Hammetter. The minutes of the December meeting were printed in The Trilobite. John Eyre made a motion to ac-cept the minutes as published. Another member seconded. The motion was approved. New Memberships: Marge Willms, Fran and Steve Korthof. A motion was made, seconded and ap-proved to accept these new memberships. Guests: Our guest speaker, Mark Borucki Kitty Klein read the Treasurer’s Report for November. A member made a motion to accept the report for audit. Sue Eyre seconded. The motion was approved. Committee Reports:

The Show Committee: No Report Newsletter: No Report.

Mineral & Fossil Study Groups: No Report.

Junior Rockhounds: No report.

Field Trip: Saturday January 20 at Noon for the Chrysalis Boutique tour.

Sunshine: No Report.

Unfinished Business: No unfinished business.

New Business: No new business.

Announcements:

Door Prizes: There were enough prizes for all members present. Adjournment: Jody Rymaszewski made a motion to adjourn. Another member seconded. The motion was approved. The meeting adjourned at 9:09 PM. Barbara Brown, WGS Secretary


CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Field Trip: Saturday January 20 at Noon for a tour of the Chrysalis Boutique Gallery. The Chrysalis mineral and gem gallery is located in the Marshall Building, 207 E. Buffalo, Suite 604. March 3-4, 2018: Appleton WI, Weis Earth Science Museum, “Fox Rocks”, Grand Meridian, 2621 N. Oneida St. Sat 10-5, Sun 10-4 March 10-11, 2018: West Bend WI, Kettle Moraine Geological Society 55th Annual Show Washington County Fair Park & Convention Center 3000 Hwy PV (1 block East of St. Hwy 45) Sat 10-5, Sun 10-4 March 24-25, 2018: Janesville WI, Badger Lapidary and Geological Society Rock and Gem Show Rock County Fairgrounds, Craig Center Building, 1301 Craig Ave. Sat 9-5, Sun 9-4 The Midwest Federation website has an extensive calendar of shows and activities throughout the Midwest. http://www.amfed.org/mwf/Calendar/calendar.html

An extensive list on mineral shows is also at: http://www.the-vug.com/vug/vugshows.html

Cake from our Holiday Pot Luck Buffet. Picture from Steve Klein.


W G S STUDY GROUPS

WGS LAPIDARY STUDY GROUP

The new 2018 classes for lapidary and metal working will begin on Tuesday, January 23rd in the craft room at the McGovern Park Senior Center, 4500 West Custer Avenue, Milwaukee. Those persons who may attend the classes who were chosen by lottery held in the Directors Of-fice have been contacted. A lottery for the clas-ses was required by the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors. The get together for the lapidary study group will be deferred until February. Ed Fyrnys

WGS MINERAL STUDY GROUP

AND FOSSIL STUDY GROUP

The Mineral Study Group and the Fossil Study Group will hold combined meetings on the third Thursday of the month at the West Milwaukee Community Center, 1345 S. 47th St. 1-3PM. Contact John Hammetter before coming to make sure the meeting is on. 414-519-1958

2018 Show Our 2018 Show will again be held at Hart Park the weekend after Mother’s day. May 19 and 20. Mark your calendars. Setup will be after 10:30 on Friday May 18th. Paul Schmidt—Show Chairman [email protected] 414-771-8668

Junior Rockhound meetings are on hold and are no longer being held during monthly Wiscon-sin Geological Society meetings. We are in the process of having a monthly Saturday afternoon meeting. No more information is available at the present time. All of this is in the planning and scheduling stage.

WGS Members, Please Note:

Your Membership Dues are renewed in November.

If you have not renewed by Jan 15, you will be dropped from the Feb. Trilobite mailing list.

$15.00 Single Membership, $20.00 Family Membership

Please remember to send your check to Club Treasurer Kitty Klein 2477 South 73rd Street, West Allis WI 53219

January 2018 The Trilobite

In our walk thru the Periodic Table we now move on to element #5, Boron.

I remember Boron from the 20 mule team Borax that my mother used on washday.

I also have memory of a “super boron gasoline”, its use as a fire retardant and Boric Acid.

A trip to the website www.MineralsEduca>onCoali>on.org. revealed the following addi>onal infor-

ma>on about its uses:

“Boron is extensively used in industry, with over a million tons per year consumed. Boron is used in

fire-retardants, household cleansers, water so?ening agents and detergents. It is also used in solder-

ing and welding as a flux, in making Pyrex glass and in pyrotechnic flares and fireworks. A compound

of boron is used as a semi-conductor in electrical applica>ons. Boron forms a compound with carbon

–boron carbide–which is nearly as hard as diamond and is used as an abrasive, and in equipment

that grinds very hard substances. An isotope of boron is used in nuclear reactors as a shield and con-

trol.

Boron is an essen>al trace element for green algae and other higher plants. It is not believed to be

required by animal life, but it might be necessary as a trace element, building muscle and bone. Cer-

tain boron compounds are thought to be treatments for arthri>s, and boric acid has a widespread

use in medicine as a mild an>sep>c.”

Boron is chiefly found in evaporite minerals, such as ulexite and kernite, which are mined in the

USA, Chile and Argen>na, and colemanite, which is mined in Turkey and in the USA. Other boron-

bearing minerals include borax, tourmaline and datolite.

The reference to datolite surprised me. My sample of datolite came from the copper country and I

did not realize it was a boron compound (CaBSiO4(OH)).

Kernite, also known as rasorite is a hydrated sodium borate hydroxide mineral with form:

Na2B4O6(OH)2·3H2O

Colemanite, is a hydrated calcium borate with the form Ca[B3O4(OH)3]·H2O

Ulexite, is a hydrated sodium, calcium borate with the form NaCa[B5O6(OH)6]·5H2O

Tourmaline is a family of complex sodium, aluminum borosilicates. The most common are:

Schorl Na(Fe2+

3)Al6(Si6O18)(BO3)3(OH)3(OH)

Dravite Na(Mg3)Al6(Si6O18)(BO3)3(OH)3(OH)

Elbaite Na(Li1.5Al1.5)Al6(Si6O18)(BO3)3(OH)3(OH)

The term borax is o?en used for a number of closely related minerals or chemical compounds that

differ in their crystal water content:

anhydrous sodium tetraborate, Na2B4O7

sodium tetraborate pentahydrate, Na2B4O7·5H2O

Sodium borate decahydrate, Na2B4O7·10H2O

The most important boron compound is sodium tetraborate pentahydrate . Large amounts of this

compound are used in the manufacture of fiberglass insula>on and sodium perborate bleach. The

second most important compound is boric acid (H3BO3), which is used to manufacture tex>le fiber-

glass and is used in cellulose insula>on as a flame retardant. Sodium borate decahydrate ,beKer

known as borax, is the third most important boron compound. Borax is used in laundry products and

as a mild an>sep>c.

Con>nued…….


Rio Tinto mines about half the worlds supply of borax from its mine in Boron California on the west-

ern edge of the Mohave desert.

According to the USGS, there are more than 200 other known boron-bearing minerals.

Datolite from Caledonia Mine, Ontonagon County, Michigan

Picture by Rob Lavinski http://www.irocks.com/ via Wikimedia commons

Schorl Tourmaline Brazil

Picture by Mauro Cateb via wikimedia commons

Lithium, Beryllium, and Boron - by John Hammetter WGS President

There is a dearth of lithium (Li), beryllium (Be), and boron (B) in the universe. Why? The Big Bang produced hydrogen, helium, and eventually stars. From main sequence stars we get all the elements on the periodic table up to iron, as each element fuses in turn when the star’s density climbs increas-ingly higher, and from dying star super novas everything past iron to uranium. But for the three lightest solids it’s a different creation story. Lithium, beryllium, and boron get created in stars all right, but they last less than a second, much less, before being fused into heavier elements. Berylli-um 8 quickly fuses with Helium 4 to form Carbon 12, for example. So how do they get formed? Cosmic rays. Out in the vast voids between star systems, much carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and oxygen (O) float in huge clouds of gas and dust waiting for the day when their mass becomes high enough to gravitationally collapse into a new solar system. While waiting for this to happen, ubiquitous cos-mic rays pass through the cloud seldom interacting with anything. Occasionally, a very few of the elements C, N, and O get hit by these rays and their nuclei splits, forming Li, Be, and B. If those at-oms become part of the new star, they are destroyed. But if they become part of a planet like Earth, they survive. That’s why there’s so little of each in our planet’s minerals and so much C, N, and O. Given how unlikely it is for those rare elements to form, it’s a wonder we have any at all. If you can stand the winter cold, check out the Great Nebula in Orion to see one of these clouds where this is happening right now.

Odd fact: Lithium was once used as an anti-depressant and lithium citrate used to be an ingredient in 7-UP. It was called lithiated soda and it had a great mood enhancing effect. It was removed from the formula in 1948. What a shame.


At the December meeting, Mark Borucki, a PHD candidate at UWM gave a very informative and entertaining presentation about the Glacial History of Southeastern Wisconsin. Here is his descrip-tion of what the presentation was to cover. In this presentation, we shall discuss southeastern Wisconsin’s glacial history. This history includes colder and warmer conditions than at present, the waxing and waning of expansive and massive ice sheets, river flow varying from trickles to torrential flood events, and paleo-lakes in the Lake Michi-gan basin that varied from 60 feet higher to 350 feet lower than the present Lake Michigan. We will use stratigraphy (sediments in the subsurface) and landforms to deduce this past geologic chapter. The description may seem a little scientific, but the presentation was so interesting because it relates to our Southeastern Wisconsin area and the geological features we see near us and around us. He did a lot of his studies along the Lake Michigan shore line around Sheridan Park, where one can see many of the layers representing the effects of our recent ice age displayed in the bluffs above the lake. His pictures and descriptions of these explained to me a lot of what I have seen on my beach walks in the area. If you missed our meeting, you missed a great presentation. WGS has supported Mark in his studies through awards from the WGS Scholarship Fund. John and Sue Eyre also gave a presentation on their 31 day rockhounding adventures in Arizona, Utah, and Colorado this past summer. They had great stories and pictures covering the entire trip.

Amniotes The amniotes, (mammals, reptiles, and birds) are differentiated from the anamniotes (fishes and am-phibians), by their terrestrially-adapted egg, which is protected by their amniotic membranes. The evo-lution of amniotic membranes meant that the embryos of amniotes were now provided with their own aquatic environment, which led to less dependence on water for development. This allowed the am-niotes to branch out into drier environments. The anamniotes typically need to lay their eggs in water. In eutherian mammals (such as humans), these membranes include the amniotic sac that surrounds the fetus. These embryonic membranes and the lack of a larval stage distinguish amniotes from tetrapod amphibians. The first amniotes evolved from their amphibian ancestors approximately 340 million years ago dur-ing the Carboniferous period.

Info from Wikipedia.org


The Brunswick Magnetic Anomaly A magnetic anomaly is a local variation in the Earth's magnetic field resulting from variations in the chemistry or magnetism of the rocks. Mapping of variation over an area is valuable in detecting struc-tures obscured by overlying material. The repeated cycles of plate tectonics that have led to collision and assembly of large supercontinents and their breakup and formation of new ocean basins have pro-duced continents that are collages of bits and pieces of other continents. Figuring out the origin and make-up of continental crust formed and modified by these tectonic events is vital to understanding Earth's geology and is important for many applied fields, such as oil, gas, and gold exploration. In many cases, the rocks involved in these collision and pull-apart episodes are still buried deep be-neath Earth's surface, so geologists must use geophysical measurements to study these features.

An example of this is the use of the magnetic variation in successive bands of ocean floor parallel with mid-ocean ridges, which provides important evidence supporting the theory of seafloor spreading, cen-tral to plate tectonics

The Brunswick Magnetic Anomaly, is a feature that forms a line below which encompasses all of Florida, a bit of Georgia, and a tiny bit of Alabama. Many geologists attribute the Brunswick Magnetic Anomaly to a belt of 200 million year old volcanic rocks that intruded around the time the Atlantic Ocean opened. In this case, the location of this magnetic anomaly would then mark the initial location where North America split from the rest of Pangea as that ancient supercontinent broke apart. A new study by Elias Parker Jr. of the University of Georgia has an alternative explanation. Drawing upon other studies that have demonstrated deeply buried metamorphic rocks can also have a coherent magnetic signal, Parker has analyzed the detailed characteristics of the magnetic anomalies from data collected across zones in Georgia and concludes that the Brunswick Magnetic Anomaly has a similar, deeply buried source. The anomalous magnetic signal is consistent with an older tectonic event -- the Alleghanian orogeny that formed the Alleghany-Appalachian Mountains when the supercontinent of Pangea was assembled. Parker's main conclusion is that the rocks responsible for the Brunswick Magnetic Anomaly mark a major fault-zone that formed as portions of Africa and North America were sheared together roughly 300 million years ago -- and that more extensive evidence for this collision are preserved along this zone. One interesting implication is that perhaps a portion of what is now Africa was left behind in the American southeast when Pangea later broke up.

Info from an article by the Geological Society of America. "Magnetic anomaly deep within Earth's crust reveals Africa in North America." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 2 April 2014.


Tafoni

Known as honeycomb weathering or "swiss-cheese rock," tafoni are small, rounded, smooth-edged miniature cave-like openings in a rock surface. Tafoni are most commonly formed in granite, sand-stone, or sandy limestone. They are usually found in desert areas or in intertidal areas along sea shores. They often occur in clusters looking much like a sponge, and are usually found on a vertical or inclined face protected from surface runoff.

At Arches National Park, tafoni are most often found in the Entrada and Navajo sandstones, both of which are made of sand from ancient dunes cemented together by calcite (calcium carbonate, CaC03), which is soluble in water. Moisture wicks through the porous rock, dissolving the calcite and then de-positing it as crystals at the surface when it evaporates. Weathering results in an intricate, lacy struc-ture that often resembles a honeycomb. They can be found along costal California where salt spray causes pitting in the sandstone rocks. As the brine dries out, salt crystals grow in the pore spaces and gradually pry the mineral grains apart. This process, called cavernous or honeycomb weathering, also affects inland sites where the rock it-self contains some salt. Along the coast it just acts much faster and more pervasively. This type of weathering also is a threat to some ancient architectural ruins. Once it begins, tafoni slowly eats away at the surface of these structures, which can eventually lead to their complete de-struction.

At Arches National Park NPS.gov

Along the coast Commons.wikimedia.org

Info from wikipedia.org and NPS.gov


MARKING YOUR TOOLS It makes sense to mark your tools if you ever lend them to friends or take them out to classes or work-shops. Question is how to mark them permanently. For metal tools, I use a very small ball bur run-ning fast in the Dremel or Foredom to "engrave" my initials. Other times I'll form the initials with a number of hits with a center punch. But for hammer handles and other wooden tools, the country boy in me came back and thought "Why not make a branding iron ?" If you'd like to try one, all you need is a little scrap copper or nickel about 22-24 gauge, a piece of heavy brass or copper for a base, about 6 inches of metal rod and a piece of wood for the handle. I formed my initials from a couple 4mm wide strips of sheet nickel. The "S" was one piece, but the "B" was three pieces soldered together with hard. (Remember to form the letters backwards). I then soldered the letters with medium onto a piece of 1/8 inch thick brass bar to act as a heat sink. Finally, I soldered a piece of 1/8 round rod on the back of the brass bar as a shaft to join to a wooden handle.

Bench Tips by Brad

See all Brad's jewelry books at Amazon.com/author/Bradfordsmith

www.BradSmithJewelry.com


Official publication of The Wisconsin Geological Society Inc.

The Trilobite is published monthly, except for the months of July and August. It is mailed without further charge to the members of the Wisconsin Geological Society Inc. Subscription fee to non-members is $10.00 per year. All items printed in the Trilobite may be quoted, unless expressed permissions from contributing authors, newspapers, or magazines prohibits recopying. We ask that recognition be given, and we will also recognize others. Publisher: Lloyd Brown 2446 North 69th Street Milwaukee, WI 53213

The Purpose of the Wisconsin Geological Society, Inc is to: Create an interest in the study of Geology Provide a means for personal development in Geology. Disseminate knowledge concerning all phases of Geology.

The Wisconsin Geological Society, Inc is a member of the Midwest Federation of Mineralogical and Geological Studies, which is a part of the American Federation of Mineralogical Societies.

www.amfed.org/mwf WGS WEBSITE ADDRESS:

www.wisgeologicalsociety.com Names, addresses and telephone numbers listed in the Trilobite are not to be used for any commercial purpose, sold, or given to a mailing list company, or used for personal gain in any way.

Wisconsin Geological Society, Inc Committee Chairpersons:

All-American Club Entry....Barbara Brown;:414-258-5761 UW-Milw Liaison: ....... Jody Rymaszewski: 414-771-4780 Custodian-Librarian: ..... To be announced Education: ..................... To be announced Field Trips:…… ........... Mike Macali: 414-321-9217 Jody Rymaszewski: 414-771-4780 Historian: ...................... Jody Rymaszewski : 414-771-4780 Junior Rockhounds:…... Ed Fyrnys MWF Liaison………...Jody Rymaszewski: 414-771-4780 Nominations: ................ To be announced Parliamentarian: ............ Bear Devitt: 414-278-0323 Study Groups: ............... Fossil: Lloyd Brown: 414-258-5761 Lapidary: Ed Fyrnys: 414-453-3456 Mineral: Lloyd Brown: 414-258-5761 Show Chairman: ........... Paul Schmidt: 414-771-8668 WebMaster: .................. Pierre Couture: 414-475-0186 Sunshine Person:........... Margaret Pearson: 414-464-0781

President: John Hammetter 2507 N. 61st St. Milwaukee, WI 53213 Vice President: Open Secretary: Barbara Brown 2446 North 69th Street Wauwatosa, WI 53213 414-258-5761

Treasurer Kathleen Klein 2477 South 73rd Street West Allis WI 53219 414-321-5298

Director (2017) Pierre Couture 1001 S. 97th St West Allis, WI 53214 414-475-0186 Director (2018) Steven Mayer 1556 Blackfoot Drive Grafton, WI 53024 Director (2019) Ed Fyrnys PO Box 13931 Wauwatosa, WI 53213 Editor: Trilobite Paul Schmidt 8213 Red Arrow Ct. Wauwatosa WI 53213 Ph: 414-771-8668 [email protected]

Director (2018) Steven Mayer 1556 Blackfoot Drive Grafton, WI 53024 414-277-7321 Director (2019) Ed Fyrnys PO Box 13931 Wauwatosa, WI 53213 414-453-3456 Director (2020) Chuck Riel 4320 S. 46th St Greenfield, WI 53220 414-328-3194 Editor: Trilobite Paul Schmidt 8213 Red Arrow Ct. Wauwatosa WI 53213 Ph: 414-771-8668 [email protected]

President: John Hammetter 2507 N. 61st St. Milwaukee, WI 53213 Vice President: Pierre Couture 1001 S. 97th St West Allis, WI 53214 414-475-0186 Secretary: Barbara Brown 2446 North 69th Street Wauwatosa, WI 53213 414-258-5761

Treasurer Kitty Klein 2477 S. 73rd St West Allis, WI 53219 414-321-5298

Wisconsin Geological Society, Inc Committee Chairpersons:

All-American Club Entry....Barbara Brown;:414-258-5761 UW-Milw Liaison: ....... Jody Rymaszewski: 414-771-4780 Custodian-Librarian: ..... To be announced Field Trips:…… ........... Pierre Couture: 414-475-0186 Historian: ...................... Jody Rymaszewski : 414-771-4780 Junior Rockhounds:…... Ed Fyrnys MWF Liaison………...Jody Rymaszewski: 414-771-4780 Nominations: ................ Jody Rymaszewki (1 yr) ................................... Kitty Klein (2 yrs) 414-321-5298 ................................... Steven Mayer (3 yrs) 414-277-7321 Parliamentarian: ............ Bear Devitt: 414-278-0323 Study Groups: ............... Fossil: Lloyd Brown: 414-258-5761 Lapidary: Ed Fyrnys: 414-453-3456 Mineral: Lloyd Brown: 414-258-5761 Show Chairman: ........... Paul Schmidt: 414-771-8668 WebMaster: .................. Pierre Couture: 414-475-0186 Sunshine Person:........... Margaret Pearson: 414-464-0781 Business Agent ............. Margaret Pearson: 414-464-0781


General Membership meetings are held each month (except July and August) on the second Monday of the month at 7:00p.m. in the Parish Hall (lower level) of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church, 1212 South 117th Street; West Allis, Wisconsin.

WGS Members, Please Note:

Your Membership Dues are renewed in November.

$15.00 Single Membership $20.00 Family Membership

Please remember to send your check to

Club Treasurer Kitty Klein (See page 11)

The check should be made out to WGS

The Wisconsin Geological Society, Inc is now in it’s 82nd year

All news, articles, and pictures to be included in the Trilobite should be forwarded to the editor by the 15th of the month. They can be mailed or e-mailed to: Paul and Verna Schmidt 8213 Red Arrow Ct. Wauwatosa WI 53213 [email protected]

The Trilobite Official Publication of: The Wisconsin Geological Society Inc. 2446 North 69th Street Milwaukee, WI 53213

FIRST CLASS

January 2018 Volume 74 Number 01

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