January 24 Through February 4—TUCSON, ARIZONA: Annual show
Welcome to the GemologyOnline.com Forum
A non-profit Forum for the exchange of gemological ideas
It is currently Thu Mar 28, 2024 8:37 am

All times are UTC - 4 hours




Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 13 posts ] 
Author Message
 Post subject: Alien abduction zone.
PostPosted: Thu Aug 22, 2013 4:02 am 
Offline
Gemology Online Veteran

Joined: Sat Jul 14, 2012 5:11 pm
Posts: 657
Attachment:
File comment: This one is for Tim!. Reward is a remote part of the Qld gemmies, and has had some really unusual stuff happen over the years. People have disappeared, strange lights are seen in the sky at night, and it has a quite erie feel about it at times. Personally, I don't like the place, and won't go prospecting there.
breakfast nook  reward 005.jpg
breakfast nook reward 005.jpg [ 68 KiB | Viewed 2258 times ]
Attachment:
File comment: On the road to Reward diggings.
breakfast nook  reward 006.jpg
breakfast nook reward 006.jpg [ 45.6 KiB | Viewed 2258 times ]


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: Alien abduction zone.
PostPosted: Thu Aug 22, 2013 2:32 pm 
Offline
Moderator
User avatar

Joined: Thu Dec 13, 2007 3:42 pm
Posts: 4091
Location: the Netherlands
:D

Heh... it's not that bad... In fact, Reward is one of my favorite places on the fields. Especially Washpool, the most western bit.

The Rosellas like it there...

Image

The redclaws are to die for:

Image

And look at the sunset at Reward:

Image

The volcano you see in the distance is Mt Leura, one of the bigger plugs in the area from which you can get quite a good idea of how active the area must have been. Look at all those plugs!

Image

Right to the west of all those plugs lies the Drummond Ranges, proof of the tectonic action that caused all this activity:

Image

In regard to the geology of the area: we all tend to think that the stuff we dig to 10 feet down has its origin below us. After all, it's 10 feet down! But that isn't the case... The stuff we find below us now used to be somewhere above our heads when it was first deposited. Weathering and erosion take place far faster than we can imagine. What impact differences in composition of the top layers can have is nicely visible in this image from a mullock heap that's probably just a few years old:

Image

The geology of the gemfields is something that intrigues me immensely. We'll have to start a discussion on it one day here on the board cause I'm yet to read a satisfying explanation and I'm pretty sure I've read and heard most existing theories.

Whatever the geological story behind 'm, they tend to be awesome bits of earth:

Image


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: Alien abduction zone.
PostPosted: Thu Aug 22, 2013 6:47 pm 
Offline
Gemology Online Veteran
User avatar

Joined: Wed Dec 16, 2009 5:03 am
Posts: 921
Location: Paris
Hi Tim ,

Wwah ! :smt007

_________________
danielle

"I always believed in being myself"- Thelonious Monk


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: Alien abduction zone.
PostPosted: Thu Aug 22, 2013 8:42 pm 
Offline
Gemology Online Veteran

Joined: Tue May 28, 2013 9:44 pm
Posts: 711
Location: Las Vegas
Tim, That's an excellent idea! i too have been fascinated with the Australian geology for years, and also with Greenland and Iceland.

Barry, Do you know if there is a chemical element that may have caused all the tree's to die in that area? It looks really odd to see lush land next to a dead zone.

_________________
Life is to short to worry about what others think of you.


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: Alien abduction zone.
PostPosted: Fri Aug 23, 2013 1:52 am 
Offline
Gemology Online Veteran

Joined: Sat Jul 14, 2012 5:11 pm
Posts: 657
Gary, the trees are all dead because of the "ringbarkus bastardus", a species of Qld cattle farmer, bringing that area into grass production.
And thankyou for the offer of the rough, that would be great.
Barry


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: Alien abduction zone.
PostPosted: Fri Aug 23, 2013 4:46 am 
Offline
Moderator
User avatar

Joined: Thu Dec 13, 2007 3:42 pm
Posts: 4091
Location: the Netherlands
Quote:
"ringbarkus bastardus", a species of Qld cattle farmer


Heh...


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: Alien abduction zone.
PostPosted: Fri Aug 23, 2013 7:59 am 
Offline
Gemology Online Veteran

Joined: Tue May 28, 2013 9:44 pm
Posts: 711
Location: Las Vegas
"Gary, the trees are all dead because of the "ringbarkus bastardus", a species of Qld cattle farmer"

:lol: :smt105 :smt105

Ill send the rough this weekend,i think ill toss in some stuff you cant mine in your area..cheers!

_________________
Life is to short to worry about what others think of you.


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: Alien abduction zone.
PostPosted: Fri Aug 23, 2013 5:51 pm 
Offline
Gemology Online Veteran

Joined: Sat Jul 14, 2012 5:11 pm
Posts: 657
Hey, thanks Gary, I look forward to it.
Tim, you've probably already read this, but I'm interested in your "take" on it.
I am a complete believer in Jims theory, and have applied his thinking to what we have been doing, and also to some claims in other areas, that friends own. We have had success every time we try his advice.
www.australiansapphire.com/sapphire_for ... theory.htm


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: Alien abduction zone.
PostPosted: Fri Aug 23, 2013 9:00 pm 
Offline
Gemology Online Veteran

Joined: Tue May 28, 2013 9:44 pm
Posts: 711
Location: Las Vegas
"And thankyou for the offer of the rough, that would be great"

No problem Barry! but i do need a shipping address to send them too if you could PM with that please so i can send them out on the marrow. :)

_________________
Life is to short to worry about what others think of you.


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: Alien abduction zone.
PostPosted: Fri Aug 23, 2013 9:12 pm 
Offline
Gemology Online Veteran

Joined: Tue May 28, 2013 9:44 pm
Posts: 711
Location: Las Vegas
That was a good read Barry, Makes tones of sense to me. The rounding and irregular formation with the pitting looks exactly like material partially dissolved in a molten bath of fire then brought to the surface. what has me puzzled thou, iss if the corundom was formed before it was thrust up to the surface or if it is a deep formation in magma it self? That might explain the irregular crystals due to pressure during formation.

_________________
Life is to short to worry about what others think of you.


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: Alien abduction zone.
PostPosted: Fri Aug 23, 2013 9:17 pm 
Offline
Gemology Online Veteran

Joined: Tue May 28, 2013 9:44 pm
Posts: 711
Location: Las Vegas
one more inkling, if you have watched lava flows from Hawaii you would see how slow moving lava tube's some times find an underlying week point in an all ready established lava flow that has cooled. I'm wondering if there is some deposits in flows like that, where there might be layers of ash and lava with a tube that might have given time to form better material. The more i think on it , the more questions come to mind. your thoughts Tim?

_________________
Life is to short to worry about what others think of you.


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: Alien abduction zone.
PostPosted: Sat Aug 24, 2013 11:44 am 
Offline
Moderator
User avatar

Joined: Thu Dec 13, 2007 3:42 pm
Posts: 4091
Location: the Netherlands
Quote:
Tim, you've probably already read this, but I'm interested in your "take" on it.


Jim's right on the money.

The following is a bit technical but with some googling of terms that raise a question mark it is quite readable and the best info on the topic I can find:

http://australianmuseum.net.au/Uploads/ ... mplete.pdf

The above article offers explanations of how the stones ended up where they are now. Robertsen and Sutherland point towards pyroclastic deposits - the layers Barry recognizes as volcanic ash - and subsequent erosion and re-depositing of those layers in alluvial lenses. Of further importance is to note that the authors recognize multiple eruptions over tens of millions of years. It is difficult to grasp the extend of it all. The theory offers a good explanation for the patchiness of the sapphire bearing gravels and can even explain the observation of miners like Jim Elliot that sapphires found in a certain area resemble each other but differ greatly from the stuff you find a couple of hundred meters down the road. They may come from a completely different eruption, happening millions of years (and erosion) later.

Barry, have a look at the 'volcanic ash' from your hole under some magnification. How do the individual fragments look? Sharp edged or rounded?

The theory of corrosion of corundum crystals during transport is a widely accepted idea these days.

A good article on Corundum and its association with alkali basalts can be found here: (download)

Finally, here's a nice video that helps to understand it all:



Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: Alien abduction zone.
PostPosted: Sat Aug 24, 2013 5:37 pm 
Offline
Gemology Online Veteran

Joined: Tue May 28, 2013 9:44 pm
Posts: 711
Location: Las Vegas
Interesting video Tim, i dont know if your familiar with Las Vegas Nevada's geology at all. The city sits in the center of a ring of uplift events, where the center has subsided into a valley. Las Vegas means " the springs" and if you dig in some area's 3 meters to 5 meters down you will hit ground water that flows like a river. While 10 meters away you could dig to china and see no water at all. We do have old mines out here where they used to get copper and silver, but they are 50 to 70 miles from the city. I will have to take pictures of the back sides of the surrounding mountains to show the uplift event, the back side of each is slightly different but all were once part of the ocean floor with tide pools ect. most of the region is covered in layers of ether sand stone or volcanically ejected stones. i will have to add pictures with a plot on a map of where each picture was taken. this may take me a few weeks but im sure you will enjoy the research.

_________________
Life is to short to worry about what others think of you.


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 13 posts ] 

All times are UTC - 4 hours


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 6 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Search for:
Jump to:  
Powered by phpBB © 2000, 2002, 2005, 2007 phpBB Group
Gemology Style ported to phpBB3 by Christian Bullock