Delvers Gem & Mineral Society, Inc. - mailing address: 1001 West Lambert Rd. #18, La Habra, CA 90631-1378

DELVINGS The Newsletter of the Delvers Gem & Mineral Society

Volume 69 Number 12 December 2016

Fossil Cone Shell of the Imperial Sea- LACMIP collection, photo A. Hoekstra

Holiday Party & Installation of Officers, December 3rd No regular meeting during the month of December

DELVINGS December 2016 Page 2

Saturday, December 3rd – the Delvers Holiday Party, and Installation of Officers

1318 North Kroeger Ave., Fullerton

4:30 to 5:30 Hors d'oeuvre and crafts; 5:30 Sit-down Dinner

Chuck Pierce: 714-595-3862 , charliepierce48@hotmail.co

We will have a round-robin gift exchange. To participate, bring a wrapped gift worth about $5

One approach from the 91 Frwy is to take Raymond Avenue north.

Turn left onto Melody Lane, after 0.2 miles turn right onto Kroeger Ave

Jewel Tunnel Wholesale Warehouse

Saturday December 10th, 10 AM – 4 PM

Members and friends of the Delvers Gem and Mineral

Society are invited to attend an open-house at Jewel

Tunnel Imports on Saturday December 10th, 2015.

Jewel Tunnel Imports is a leading wholesale distributor of

mineral specimens, crystals, fossils, tumbled stones and

many different kinds of lapidary items like balls, eggs,

jewelry etc. made from different minerals. We have a

warehouse in excess of 10,000 sq. feet full of mineral

related natural history items, perhaps the largest of its kind

in the United States. To see some of the inventory ahead of

your visit, please see our website jeweltunnel.com.

This popular annual event is just for mineral and geology

oriented groups such as the students and faculty of various

colleges and universities and members of local gem and

mineral societies. These open houses, by invitation only,

held a few weekends preceding the winter holidays, offer a

chance for individuals belonging to these groups to buy

minerals and crystals at wholesale prices and to learn

something about the wholesale gem and mineral business.

Refreshments will be served.

Jewel Tunnel Imports is a wholesale only warehouse and

this invitation is only for the date of the open house. If you

wish to return during the year to purchase items you will

need to obtain your own resale permit from the

California State Board of Equalization. For the open

house, 9% sales tax will be charged unless you can

provide your resale permit. All sales are final.

DELVINGS December 2016 Page 3

Dues for 2017 remain unchanged at $7.50 per person and are payable now Pay at the January meeting or mail a check to: Doreen Wong, 10050 Mattock, Downey, CA 90240

Taps from the Gavel – Fred Dexling, President

I hope that the Thanksgiving Day was joyful for all our members. I hope that family and friends

joined in a meal and thanking for all the good things that happened during the year.

The changes to the constitution were passed and are in force. For the society, I thank “Chuck” and

Casey for hosting the Christmas party. It takes a lot of time to plan, prepare and host a party.

Many thanks to Nancy Bird for the very effective job she did as Federation Director representing our

society at the CFMS. Nancy will be our VP for the coming year. Her many contacts in our hobby will

enable her to invite excellent speakers. As president, I appoint Guynell Miller as our 2017 Federation

Director. Please give her your help, if needed, so that she has success.

The board will meet on Jan. 13th before the regular club meeting to discuss and pass a 2017 budget.

The budget in recent years has been somewhat static so it should not take much time to approve.

Yes, I also wish all our members the best this holiday season (no snow and many presents).

Board Meeting Minutes, 11/11/16– by Teresa Taylor, Secretary

A quorum of the board was present, and several members (remember, all members are invited to attend the board

meetings). After discussion of a family/household rate, the board tabled discussion of dues until next year. There

have been dealer inquiries about a 2017 show. Board members expressed concerns concerning lack of manpower

for a show next year. The club has been asked to provide a speaker, on rocks and geology, for Cerritos Cub Scout

Troop 72: Andrew Hoekstra volunteered to speak to the scouts.

General Meeting Minutes, 11/11/16 – by Teresa Tayor & Andrew Hoekstra

A proposal to revise the club constitution was passed by the membership, and the 2017 officers and

directors (below) were elected. The treasurer reported more than $11,000 in the bank (not including

several bills still to be paid, including $275 for directors’ insurance approved a majority of the board).

Displays included jewelry crafted by Teresa Taylor, and star stones (asterism) brought by Chuck

Pierce. Dale Harwood showed arsenopyrite from the historic silver mining district of Hidalgo del

Parral, Chihuahua; chalcopyrite from the Tri-State Mineral District near Joplin, Missouri; celestite

from the Tule mine, Muzquiz, Coahuila; tetrahedrite from Concepcion del Oro, Zacatecas; and

spectacular “burning crimson” garnets (almandine-pyrope series) in graphite schist from the Red

Ember Mine (Two Fat Guys Claim), Evanston Massachusetts. Andrew Hoekstra displayed fossils from

Imperial County and gave a short presentation on why these are interesting. We then had a great

silent auction which yielded more than $120 for the club: thanks to al l who donated items for the

silent auction. About seventeen members and six guests were present.

The 2017 Officers and Directors President: Fred Dexling Vice-President: Nancy Bird Secretary: Teresa Taylor Treasurer: Doreen Wong

Editor: Andrew Hoekstra Directors (2): Dale Harwood & Guynell Miller

DELVINGS December 2016 Page 4

SHOWS, FIELD TRIPS, AND EVENTS

Dec 3-4: FIELD TRIP – Clear Creek, Coalinga, serpentine, plasma agate & jadeite. http://www.oxnardgem.com, https://www.facebook.com/OGMS.Excursions/

Dec 3-4: SHOW, Barstow, Mojave Desert Gem & Mineral Society. 841 S. Barstow Rd. (10-5 daily).

Dec 9-10: TAILGATE, Rialto, Orange Belt Mineralogical Society. 105 S. Pine Ave., Rialto (9-dusk daily). OBMSTailgateInfo@gmail.com

Dec 26 – 30: Viewing Stone (Suiseki) Show at the Huntington Library & Gardens (regular admission), sponsored by the California Aiseki Kai club. http://www.aisekikai.com/index.html

Viewing Stone (Suiseki) on its custom Daiza (base) at the 2016 Aiseki Kai show – photo A. Hoekstra

Tom Wolfe Lapidary annual holiday open house. http://tomwolfeminerals.com/about-us/

15% discount on faceted stones, cabochons, petrified wood, and more. http:/wolfelapidary.com/

Dec 2 & 9 from 5-9PM, Dec 3 & 10 from 9AM-9PM, and Dec 4 & 11 from 11AM-5PM

8725 Palos Verdes Avenue, Westminster. Directions? 714-897-9634, tomwolfeminerals @earthlink.net

Fossils from the “Imperial Sea” – by Andrew Hoekstra

About 6 million years ago, the Gulf of California extended northward through the Coachella Valley, and even

reached Whitewater, north of Interstate-10. The water was warmer than that along our present coastline, as

evidenced by fossils of animals now living in the southern Gulf of California or on Mexico’s Pacific coast. We

know the water was clear from the nine species of colonial corals found as fossils. The giant megalodon shark

roamed the sea. Left behind is sandstone with limestone layers - the Latrania Formation of the Imperial Group.

Continued next page…

DELVINGS December 2016 Page 5

Fossil corals from the Coyote Hills, Latrania Formation, Imperial County – LACMIP collection, photos A. Hoekstra

Fossils of this warmer “coral sea” can be found in the Coyote Mountains, south of Anza Borrego State Park,

including at the suggestively-named Fossil Canyon. Besides many corals, there are tropical marine snails such

as cones, conchs and helmet shells. Also common are tropical sand dollars and “sea biscuits”. Many of the

species have close relatives in the Caribbean Sea. At the time there was no Isthmus at Panama: the Pacific and

Atlantic oceans were joined, allowing animals to migrate in either direction. Most of these fossils are poorly

preserved and the shell has dissolved, leaving only molds and casts (casts of shell interiors are called “steinkerns”

and can sometimes be identified to species). Certain fossils retain shell material, including scallops and sand

dollars, because their shells are made of the mineral calcite (more resistant to acidity than the aragonite of

which most mollusk shells are made) or because of a higher magnesium content in the shell. Calcite and

aragonite are both calcium carbonate, but different molecular structures result in different physical properties.

Fossil “sea biscuit” and sand dollars from the Latrania Formation – LACMIP collection, photo A. Hoekstra

DELVINGS December 2016 Page 6

After 5 million years ago, the Colorado River began to dump increasing amounts of silt, scoured from cutting

the Grand Canyon. Corals and most other animals are absent from the mudstone and siltstone badlands left

behind as the lowermost Deguynos Formation. The later, upper portions of the Deguynos are silty sandstones

with layers of shells, deposited by storms or in channels of the ancient delta. Among the marine mammal

remains found are bones of walrus, which also lived along the Southern California coast at that time (walrus

were temperate or subtropical before one variety evolved to become an arctic specialist).

Badlands left by the silting delta can be seen at places both inside and outside the state park. Although fossils

are generally scarce in the badlands, oyster shell coquinas are locally abundant. At the Yuha Buttes (south of

Interstate-8) fossils to look for include a large, thick and heavy oyster (Pycnodonte heermanni); these, and

the smaller oysters, scallops, jingle shells, and barnacles are all preserved with a dark grey color. Their shells

are all calcitic - aragonitic shells are rarely found here. It is important to note possible preservational bias lest

erroneous conclusions be made regarding ancient animal communities (study of the process of fossilization -

what happens to the remains of an organism after death until its fossil is retrieved - is called “taphonomy”).

The “Elephant Knees” above the Mud Hills, Fish Creek, Carrizo Badlands, Anza Borrego State Park Behind (around to the south) and atop the ridge are beds of oyster fossils- photo A. Hoekstra

Collecting Restrictions

Fossil Canyon and a large portion of the Coyote Mountains are inside the Coyote Mountains Fossil Site Area of

Critical Environmental Concern or in a wilderness area and collecting there may be restricted. Collecting is not

necessarily prohibited in an ACEC or a wilderness area: inquire at the El Centro office of the BLM. Collecting

limited quantities of fossils from the Yuha Desert ACEC was allowed at the time of my visit and apparently is

still. No collecting of any rocks or fossils is allowed (without special permit) within Anza Borrego State Park.

DELVINGS December 2016 Page 7

To learn more about fossils left by the “Imperial Sea”:

http://www.sdnhm.org/archive/research/paleontology/FossilTreasuresABDCh2.pdf

http://www.sdnhm.org/archive/research/paleontology/FossilTreasuresABDCh3.pdf

http://nsm.fullerton.edu/dsc/images/DSCdocs/2014Notadroplefttodrink.pdf, pages 130-143

https://www.blm.gov/style/medialib/blm/ca/pdf/pdfs/elcentro_pdfs.Par.0f9ac3ce.File.dat/yuha_blm.pdf

https://www.blm.gov/style/medialib/blm/ca/pdf/elcentro/maps.Par.46703.File.dat/blmlands_yuha.pdf

http://www.desertusa.com/desert-california/photos/yuha-map.jpg

Sights of Imperial County: above – Salvation Mountain, built by Leonard Knight from 1984 until 2011

Below - The Desert Tower, built by Ben Vaughn in 1922-23, and a few of the stone animals carved by Merle

Ratcliffe during the 1930’s in the rocks next to the tower: National Register Historic Places/CA Landmark 939

Delvers Gem & Mineral Society, Inc. - mailing address: 1001 West Lambert Rd. #18, La Habra, CA 90631-1378

Delvers Gem & Mineral Society

DELVINGS, c/o A. Hoekstra, editor

16643 Chicago Ave.

Bellflower, CA 90706

FIRST CLASS MAIL

No Regular Meeting of the Delvers Gem and Mineral Society

During December

Holiday Party & Installation of Officers at the Pierces’ on December 3rd, 2016

The Delvers is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization promoting education in the earth sciences, including the study of minerals, gems and fossils and the lapidary arts. Founded in 1948, the club was incorporated in 1954 in the City of Downey, CA. Visitors are always welcome at our monthly meetings. The Delvers support a scholarship for geology students at Cerritos College. http://delversgemclub.wordpress.com/

And we also can be found at facebook

The Delvings newsletter is published monthly. Submissions and suggestions are welcome. Articles and photographs not otherwise credited are the responsibility of the editor. Permission to reproduce original material published herein will generally be granted, provided that the editor is notified and confirms the author's consent, and the sense or meaning of the material is not altered.

Delvings Editor, Andrew Hoekstra: delvings@yahoo.com