THE 764th MEETING
OF
THE MINERALOGICAL SOCIETY
OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
7:30 p.m., Friday September 14, 2001
Building E, Room 220
Pasadena City College
Pasadena, California
A Forum on Mineralogy Websites
Moderated by
Dave Smith
SEPTEMBER PROGRAM
The September program will be an interactive forum on "Mineralogy Websites" moderated by Dave Smith. Many Societies, including MSSC, Educational Institutions, and Government Agencies have created websites that have mineralogical content. If you presently use the web this will be an opportunity to learn about new sites. If you do not have a computer this will be an incentive to get one. Bring a list of your favorite sites to the meeting, and if Dave Smith can learn how to operate the PCC computers we all will be able to visit some of them.
SPECIAL INVITATION
OPEN HOUSE INVITATION FOR THE MEMBERS OF THE MINERALOGICAL SOCIETY OF CALIFORNIA AND THEIR GUESTS FOR
JEWEL TUNNEL IMPORTS
Saturday, October 13, 2001 at 1:00PM
13100 Spring St., Baldwin Park, CA 91706, 626-814-2257
In place of our regularly scheduled meeting for October we will be meeting at Jewel Tunnel Imports. It will be a great opportunity to purchase minerals at wholesale prices. So plan to be there. Full details will be included in the October Bulletin.
GEORGE ROSSMAN RECEIVES DANA AWARD
The American Mineralogical Society has recently established the Dana Award to honor people who have made outstanding contributions to the science of mineralogy. It is to be awarded based solely on research contributions, without regard to other factors such as teaching and administration.
It is a great pleasure to be able to announce that one of our long time members, Professor George Rossman of Caltech has been elected the first recipient. The medal was awarded this Spring and the nomination and acceptance speeches will appear in American Mineralogist this Fall.
One of George’s long standing interests has been in the origin of color in minerals. That has led to a long series of papers on the interpretation of the polarized optical absorption spectra of oriented crystal samples. From this he has continued on to do equally careful infrared and Raman spectroscopic studies of minerals. These made possible another series of papers on the amount and chemical bonding of hydrogen in minerals.
In the recent past George has given talks at MSSC meeting on topics ranging from the various and sometimes complex causes of color in colored minerals to his adventures in going to the ametrime mines in South America. Most recently he talked on the tourmaline family of minerals, where incidentally rossmanite has just been named in his honor.
AUGUST PICNIC
Walt Margerum
After an uncertain start, due to the key to the Arcadia Woman's Club not working, the Picnic and Swap Meet got started on time. The Arcadia Woman's club provided a nice comfortable setting for the picnic, and setup was accomplished in no time. The attendance was good, and the food was great. As usual there was more food than could be eaten by a crowd twice the size. Thanks to Cathy Casey for doing such a fine job.
Rock Currier gave a slide show and talk on his recent experiences in China. It was interesting to learn that China is taking over the mineral business, not only in the carving and cutting areas, but also in the specimen areas. Even after 50 years of Communist rule the Chinese entrepreneurial spirit is thriving. Their low labor costs make it nearly impossible even for countries like India compete. The slides showed a country rapidly trying to modernize. Everything seems to be a mix of the modern, and the old. It is scary to think what they will accomplish in the next 50 years.
It is always nice to see old and not so old friends, especially those that can't make to the monthly meetings. My only complaint, and it is a small one of which the author is also guilty, is there did not seem to be as many minerals to swap as in the past. I hope that like the recent dip in the Stock Market this is only a temporary phenomenon.
Again, thanks to Cathy Casey, and Rock Currier.
COLLECTOR’S NOTES
Dazzling Datolite Discovery in Malibu
Bob Housley
A significant region of datolite mineralization have just been discovered in the Zuma volcanics exposed along Pacific Coast Hiway in the eastern edge of Malibu. Although the material found so far is all micro, with small vugs and crystal rarely exceeding 2 millimeters in length the site appears to have the potential of becoming one of the most important datolite sites in the west for collectors. Because of that, rather than just simply describing the site in this article I will first give a little background on datolite in general and previous datolite finds in California. Then I will finish up with a short history of the exploration project that eventually led to this discovery.
Datolite is a hydrated calcium borosilicate containing equal amounts of boron and silicon. Although it is by no means a rare mineral, on the other hand its occurrences are fairly restricted because of the requirement for a high boron content in the environment. World wide there are many notable localities. Crystal up to two inches in diameter have been found in the trap rocks of the Delaware River valley and large crystals have also been found in Michigan, Canada, and Mexico (Sinkankas, Mineralogy for Amatuers, p.546). Other notable U. S. occurrences are described in the August 2001 Rock and Gem magazine.
Along the West Coast only a few datolite localities producing smaller crystals are known. Cox Butte in Oregon is a small quarry that could produce nice crystals to about 5 millimeters, but it is on private land and collecting is not allowed. LaCamas Creek and Beaver Falls quarries in Washington have sometimes produced a few small crystals, but do not do so often.
Several datolite occurrences have previously been reported in California. The CDMG Bulletin 189 lists six. The reports of datolite in the Slate Range and in the Calico Mountains are too vague to be useful and are not confirmed. The Crestmore Quarry in Riverside County and the San Carlos mine in Inyo County are listed as only producing massive material. However Fred DeVito has shown me some nice centimeter sized datolite crystals from Crestmore. Another locality near Wilber Springs in Colusa County is mentioned, but not described in detail.
The first good report of datolite in California by Eakle in 1901 described nice crystals up to 5 millimeters in length from veins in altered volcanics exposed along the coast at Fort Point in San Francisco. Good specimens with associated zeolites, apophyllite,and gyrolite can be seen at the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park. However the source area is now off limits to collecting as part of a National Seashore.
Pemberton in Minerals of California deletes references to the Slate Range, the Calico Mountains presumably because of the vagueness, and Colusa County because it was based on a personal communication to Murdoch, but adds two new occurrences. A little datolite up to 2 millimeters was found with rosenhannite in about ten boulders in the Russian River in Mendicino County but could not be traced to the source. A vertical seam of datolite along Clear Creek in San Benito County is also mentioned.
Two further California localities were discovered through the efforts of local collectors and like this one were first reported in the MSSC Bulletin. About ten years ago Fred DeVito reported datolite from granitic boulders in Piru Creek below Pyramid Reservoir. Unfortunately his knack for finding the right boulders seems much better that mine, and I was not yet able to locate any. He has sent me some of the material, though, and the crystals are nice and about 2 millimeters in length. Bill Rader and I also previously reported a small amount of datolite from the western Santa Monica Mountains.
In discussing this new find with Fred I learned of three additional California localities that apparently have not been previously reported. It seems a local collector whose name I could not learn found some very nice sharp, clear datolite crystals from micros up to about 1 centimeter, somewhere described as being 8 miles north of Cloverdale along Hiway 101 in Sonoma County. A small quantity of this was distributed by Si and Anne Frazier, who do not remember the man’s name. The locality could not be the source of the Russian River material, since the matrix does not fit the description.
Fred has also recently found datolite crystals in a road cut 4 miles west of Priest Valley in Monterey County and massive datolite at the Hattler Brothers Quarry at Jamestown in Tuolumne County.
Now moving on to the history, Fred started a project more than ten years ago to find as many species as he could in the Santa Monica Mountains. When I first heard about it I considered it totally silly. Many years later after Fred had moved North I realized that such a project provided just what I needed, as a good motivation to gets some exercise in the outdoors without having to drive too far. Shortly after that I got together with Bill Rader who had earlier become involved and we continued the project until he moved to Texas a little over a year ago.
Two or three years ago Bill and I made a minor discovery of datolite in a cut along Bardman Road off the western Mulholland Hiway near the microwave antenna. Unfortunately this material was limited in extent and weathered so it offered little collecting potential.
Over the years the three of us found and documented a lot of interesting mineral occurrences in these Santa Monica Mountains. Much of the material was micro, but in some case we found nice cabinet specimens also. One of the things that surprised us at first was how extensively mineralized the Conejo Volcanics are. I suppose this can be attributed to the fact that they were erupted in and around shallow seas so hydrothermal circulation was widespread.
Fred was the first to report a number of zeolites and related minerals from the Conejo Volcanics unit of the Santa Monicas including gyrolite, pectolite, and the rare species tungusite, epistilbite, and dachaiardite. Because of the above Bill and I spend much of our exploration time walking over additional exposures of the Conejo Volcanics and there are still more ridges and canyons to cover. In the process among other things we have collected excellent ferrierite, dachiardite, epistilbite, and tungusite.
The Zuma Volcanics are thought to be contemporaneous with the Conejo Volcanics and are exposed to a more limited extent along Pacific Coast Hiway and a short distance inland. A few years ago Bill Rader found some weathered zeolites in a limited exposure of Zuma Volcanics during the Palisades Highlands development. During the last year or so I have been noticing the abundance of veins in the weathered volcanics exposed by recent Caltrans work along Pacific Coast Hiway. Most appeared highly weathered however.
A few months ago I stopped briefly at a cut just past a recently contoured bank and just inside the eastern Malabu city limits. In the rotting rock I found a few firmer pieces that yielded nice little vugs with analcime partly covered with balls of chlorite. I made another brief stop at this spot a little later and found nothing more. Then following the recent CFMS website workshop I had a few hours to spend while I waited for my wife and daughter to join me for dinner.
I decided to spend it really exploring the area around the earlier find. I started by following up a little gully until it joined a dirt road and then running all around the uninhabited hillsides on a network of other dirt roads. Before getting to the first dirt road I was out of the volcanics and did not encounter any more. Eventually I came down a one way paved road that rejoined PCH a quarter of a mile or so east of where I had parked.
Walking back about 100 yards from my car along the base of a contoured area I noticed a small exposure of fresh volcanic rock with narrow veins. One of them showed a small opening with crystals. The veins themselves looked similar to many I had seen going up the gully. They appeared to be the typical chalcedony veins opening up into drusy quartz in the center that are so common in volcanic rocks. However under the loupe the crystals appeared to be calcite. Still a common occurrence in volcanic rocks, calcite in chalcedony.
However the “calcite” appeared to be amazingly sharp and dazzlingly lustrous so I decided to take a few pieces home to examine more closely. Under the binocular microscope the shapes still looked like calcite, but the crystals were clear and glassy with no cleavage. I tested them and they proved to be datolite. For Fathers Day I went back and sampled the area a little more. The nearby veins are also solid datolite with frequent small vugs.
Because of the glassy luster and lack of cleavage these solid datolite veins look at first glance like chalcedony veins with drusy quartz. That probably explains why this very accessible location was not discovered before. I am now anxious to go back and look at some of the veins along the gully that I ignored before. I think I remember that some of them had bigger vugs and bigger crystals.
MINUTES OF THE JULY 2001 BOARD MEETING
The July 2001 MSSC Board meeting was called to order by president Dave Smith at 2:40 pm on Sunday July 22 at Bill Besse’s home. Present besides Dave and Bill were Bob Housley, Rock Currier, Charlie Crutchfield, Ron Thacker, Jim Schlegel, and Walter Margerum.
The minutes of the previous Board meeting and a written treasurers report submitted by Janet Gordon were unanimously accepted.
Being temporarily without a Program Chair we first discussed programs for the next few meetings. Rock Currier pretty much saved the day by agreeing to speak on Mineral Adventure in China at the August picnic and to host a meeting/open house/field trip at Jewel Tunnel Imports in October. That only leaves us to still worry about September.
Next we discussed the Roster and agreed it was time to publish a current version. We also thought it would be a good idea to include a copy of the current bylaws, since they were amended a few years ago. We decided that the new Roster should be available to members in both electronic and printed form. Walter Margerum with some encouragement then agreed to get the information together and prepare both forms for distribution.
We next discussed the Show and Jim Schlegel reported that things are going well and that we have a good group of dealers signed up. He expects we will be ok financially. We unanimously approved a mutual promotion agreement with The Rocksmiths who are planning to retire after this show.
All business being concluded the meeting was adjourned at 5:00 pm.
Respectfully submitted by Robert Housley, Secretary
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
SEPTEMBER
29-30, Downey, CA Delvers Gem
and Mineral Society, Inc.
Woman's Club of Downey, 9813 Paramount Blvd.
Hours: Sat 10-5 Sun 10-4
Manfred Dexling (562) 425-0192
OCTOBER
3-7, Joshua Tree, CA
Sportsmans Club
Sportsmans Hall, 6225 Sunburst Avenue
Hours: Wed thru Sat 8-5 Sun 8-3
Gary Palmer (760) 366-3430
e-mail: sportsmansclub@thegrid.net
web: http://www.thegrid.net/sportsmansclub
13-14, Trona, CA Searles Lake
Gem and Mineral Society
Gem and Mineral Building, 13337 Main Street
Hours: Sat 8-5 Sun 8-4
Bonnie Fairchild (760) 372-5356
web: http://www1.iwvisp.com/tronagemclub/tronagemclub.html
20-21, Santa Rosa , CA Santa
Rosa Mineral and Gem Society
Veteran's Memorial Auditorium, 1351 Maple
Avenue
Hours: Sat 10-6; Sun 10-5
Bonnie Wood (707) 869-9385
email: steekue@ap.net
20-21, Whittier , CA Whittier
Gem and Mineral Society
Whittier Masonic Temple, 7604 Greenleaf Ave.
Hours: 10-5 both days
Jay Valle (626) 934-9764
27, Canoga Park ,
CA Woodland Hills Rockchippers
Third annual show
Canoga Park Community Center, 7248 Owensmouth
Ave.
Hours: Sat 10-5
email: kellyahickman@hotmail.com
NOVEMBER
2-4 Eureka
CA Humbolt
Gem and Mineral Society
Redwood Acres Fairgrounds, 3750 Harris Street
Hours: Fri (kids day) 9-6, Sat 10-6, Sun 10-5
Mike Martin (707) 839-5422
3-4 Fontana,
CA Kaiser
Rock and Gem Club
California Steel Ind; 9400 Cherry Ave.
Interstate 10 to Cherry exit then North about one mile on left
Hours: 9-5 both days
JoAnn Watson (909) 355-7455
3-4 Oxnard
CA Oxnard
Gem & Mineral Society
800 Hobson Way, Oxnard, CA
Hours: Sat. 9-5, Sun. 9-4
"Gems for the Holidays" (Jingle Bell Rocks).
Show Chair: Laura Grayson (805) 482-3052.
Web: http://www.ogms.net
E-mail: webmaster@ogms.net
3-4 Ridgecrest,
CA Indian
Wells Gem and Mineral Society
Desert Empire Fairgrounds, Mesquite Hall
520 S. Richmond Rd.
Hours: 9-5 both days
John De Rosa (760) 375-7905
17-18 Victorville,
CA Victorville Gem & Mineral Club
14800 7th Street
Hours: 9-5 both days
Show Chairman - Gil Gilbert (760) 868-6900
Publicity Chairman - Doug Arnold -
E-mail: oldjasper@earthlink.net
24-25 Barstow,
CA Mojave
Desert Gem and Mineral Society
Barstow Community Center
841 S Barstow Road
Hours: 10-5 both days
Bob Depue (760) 255-1030
