General Meeting – Thursday, March 9th (Click Here For More Info)

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General Meeting – Thursday, March 9th

Topic: Rock & Mineral Identification with Roger Danneman, our club Field Trip Guide 

Identifying rocks and minerals found in Washington. This will also be a good opportunity to get your questions answered on identifying rocks and minerals in general.

Mineral identification is the first step in understanding the formation of a rock and its history. You learn to “read the rock” to understand Earth’s history at any given location where the rock is found in an outcrop. This allows geologists and us to understand what the environment was like at the moment the rock formed. Was there a volcano erupting or does the rock tell us that it formed deep inside a magma chamber? Was the rock formed by the burial of an ancient beach? Was the rock formed by compressive forces deep within the crust as continents collided and new mountains were forming? The clues to these widely different environments of formation are “written in the rock.” The first step in understanding the rock’s history is being able to identify, characterize and quantify the minerals that compose the rock. Rocks are fascinating to a geologist because every rock has a story to tell. As we read the rock from one location to the next, it helps us piece together the fascinating story of the Earth. 

Show ‘n Tell: Bring something you want to be identified. 

Updated: March 20, 2023 — 5:43 am

Presidents Message

  • From the Top of the Rock Pile Our annual club picnic went off great. The grass and Arboretum area was not wet or muddy, plus it didn’t rain while we were there. We had the usual club members attend, plus a few new faces. I forgot to count how many people attended, but I estimate around 40. Thank you, Angie and Brian, for shopping for the food and setting everything up. Thumbler’s Tumblers donated a tumbler for our picnic auction and another one for our holiday auction in December. The new double-barreled 15# tumbler sold for $120, approximately one-third the …

Meeting Announcements

  • We are going to show a video of the most unusual and amazing things found in Amber. It isn’t just insects. We are also going to have a recap of how our Gem Show did last month. Show ‘n Tell: An item that has something trapped inside or a picture rock, thunder egg, or geode that looks like it has an insect, animal, or face inside.

  • Maureen will speak on the geology and the movement of the Washington coastline over millions of years. Show ‘n Tell: Favorite rock or mineral from Washington

  • Glen Ripper is a leading authority on Obsidian. He is a walking encyclopedia which should make this an interesting and educational meeting. Show ‘n Tell: Obsidian – let’s see your colors.

  •   We start the day off with a potluck holiday meal. The club provides roasted turkey and ham. Members fill in with their favorite holiday potluck dish. We follow our meal with the election of officers for the coming year. Our final activity is our club auction. It is a great time to pick up great bargains on rough rocks, polished rocks, slabs, fossils, opal, etc. Our Young Tumblers can use their Rock Bucks to purchase auction items. This meeting is also our semi-annual food drive for the Kent Food Bank. Please remember to bring something. The Food Bank has informed us that they need feminine hygiene products and grape or strawberry jelly. People donate loads of peanut butter but never jelly. They also receive very few donations of feminine hygiene products.

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