Alaska Pebble Patter
October 2013
ALASKA PEBBLE PATTER
October 2013
Official Bulletin Of The
Chugach Gem & Mineral
Society
Chugach Gem & Mineral Society
P.O. Box 92027
Anchorage, AK. 99509-2027
http://www/chugachgms.org/
CHUGACH GEM & MINERAL SOCIETY maintains
memberships in:
AMERICAN FEDERATION OF MINERALOGICAL SOCIETIES
Northwest Federation of Mineralogical Societies
Chugach Gem & Mineral Society meetings are held at First United Methodist Church, 725 west 9 th Ave. Anchorage, AK.
Enter from the rear parking lot, south of 8 th Avenue between G & H Streets.
BUSINESS MEETING – 2nd Thursday of each month at 7:00 PM.
– 4th Thursday of each month at 6:30 pm.
Bring an entrée, side dish, salad, or dessert (plus serving utensil) to serve at least 5 people.
Also bring your own plate, silverware and drink.
Most importantly, bring a rock to show!
POTLUCK MEETING
Annual membership fees: Individuals - $20.00; Families (2 or more) - $25.00; Bulletin only - $10.00
Lifetime membership fees: Individuals - $200.00: Families (2 adults & children under 18) - $250.00
This Issue:
1. Officers and Chairpersons for 2013: page 2
2. Websites of the Month: page 2
3. Upcoming Events: page 2
4. Corrections: page 3
5. Business Meeting Minutes for September: page 3
6. 2013 Field Trip Schedule __updated 10/15/13: page 4
7. The Zite App by Doug Smith; page 4
8. Field Trip Report: pages 4-7
9. Items For Sale: page 7
10. Carol’s Puzzle: page 8
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October 2013
CHUGACH GEM AND MINERAL SOCIETY OFFICERS AND CHAIRPERSONS
ELECTED POSITIONS FOR 2013
APPOINTED POSITIONS FOR 2013
PRESIDENT: Andres Macias 274-2204
PROGRAMS: Greg Durocher 337-2553
FIRST VICE PRESIDENT: Phillip Elrod 349-5457
FEDERATION LIAISON: Tom Cooper 262-9759
SECOND VICE PRESIDENT: Kyle Johnson 520-808-1220
FIELD TRIP: Bonnie Hepburn 274-0941
TREASURER: Nancy Danford 694-3288
PARLIAMENTARIAN: Norval Kane 243-4648
RECORDING SECRETARY: Bobbie Turnbow 337-6280
NEWSLETTER EDITOR: Chris Teutsch 694-6586
CORRESPONDING SECRETARY: Nancy Danford 694-3288
SUNSHINE: Dorothy Arnold 279-3876
MEMBERSHIP: Chris Teutsch 694-6586
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SEPTEMBER WEBSITES
Provided by Greg Durocher
Here's the full URL for our club's FB page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Chugach-Gem-and-Mineral-Society/157967464259784
Rock shops: http://geology.about.com/od/rockcollecting/qt/Rock-Shops.htm?nl=1
When sharks ate dinosaurs:
http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2013/08/20/when-sharks-ate-dinosaurs/
USGS website: (http://www.usgs.gov), USGS Facebook and Twitter:
https://www.facebook.com/USGeologicalSurvey?v=wall and @usgs, respectively.
Science questions on Alaska can be addressed directly to Greg at: (askusgs@usgs.gov or by visiting
the Anchorage office.
UPCOMING EVENTS:
Our October potluck is Thursday, the 24th, at 6:30 p.m. Our program will be the fall Semi-annual Silent
Auction. Bring some treasures to sell relating to rock hounding! 10% of the sales are collected to support the
Alaska Science Fair.
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October 2013
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CORRECTIONS:
On page four of the September edition of the Pebble Patter I wrote that it was Sheila and Andres Macias who
brought in the High Country News article on Dinosaur Wars. That was an error. It was Bonnie Hepburn that
brought in the article. My apologies. __ct.
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BUSINESS MEETING MINUTES
CGMS meeting called to order on 10 OCT 2013 by Acting President, Phillip Elrod, at 7:00 pm.
~Visitors were welcomed.
~ Bobbie Turnbow read last month’s CGMS Business Meeting Minutes. Motion made and seconded to accept
minutes as read. Motion passed unanimously.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
~ Financial Secretary: Nancy Danford unavailable, Bobbie Turnbow reported all financial records were in
order.
~ Corresponding Secretary: Nancy Danford unavailable.
~ Sunshine Report: Dorothy Arnold unavailable.
~ Membership Report: Chris Teutsch reports we have a total membership of 113 for 2013.
~ Federation Representative: Tom Cooper was not available.
~ Pebble Patter: Chris Teutsch reports trip notes are always appreciated.
~ Upcoming Trips: Bonnie Hepburn unavailable. The November Rock Show is the last trip for
2013.
~ Scholarship: Andres Macias unavailable.
~ Science Fair: Andres Macias unavailable.
OLD BUSINESS:
~Website: Phillip Elrod has information from Adelain and will get it to Anita Williams.
NEW BUSINESS:
~ Nominating Committee consists of Greg Durocher, Phillip Elrod, and Chris Teutsch.
~Rock and gem show: Jillian Malone is taking over for Anita this year. She addressed the positions needing
volunteers. She can be reached at 907-252-0008.
~ 24OCT13 program will be the semiannual silent auction. Bring rocks to sell and money to buy new ones!
FIELD TRIP REPORTS: Phillip Ellrod reported on his trip to Cache Creek Cabins. Discovered the 20 patented
acres with buildings, equipment, and land are for sale. Only $455,000. Anita Williams reported on the potluck
at Phillip Elliot’s. Joe Turnbow reported on his visit with the White Mountain Gem & Mineral Club in Show
Low AZ.
PROGRAM: After a short break, Chad Holt, from USGS, gave us a very informative presentation on the
Denali region. Thanks Chad!
Meeting adjourned at 9:15 pm
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October 2013
Respectfully submitted by:
Bobbie Turnbow, CGMS Recording Secretary
2013 Chugach Gem and Mineral Society
Year End Activity Schedule
Club membership is required for all club trips
Date
Nov 8-10
Days
Fri-Sun
Activity Name
AMA Rock and
Mineral Show(KF)*
Leader(s)
Michelle
Demaree and
committee
Comments
Get your displays ready for this year’s
show!
Last updated: 2/8/2016
(KF): Kid Friendly; Note: Children's supervision is solely the responsibility of their parent(s).
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The Zite App
I’ve tried multiple news sites for smart phones that claim to provide articles on specific topics of interest, and
most are disappointing. If you ask for news about “fossils”, you’ll be lucky to get the general category of
“biology” or “geology,” and often just info about “science” news. An exception is the free app Zite. I selected
such categories as fossils, meteorites, paleontology, evolution, geology, and astronomy, and got exactly those
news items. And not months-old news, but postings from minutes to a few days ago. And not blog-o-sphere
rants about these topics, but scientist and professional journalist articles. Plus great pictures and links for more
info. Examples include descriptions of the dinosaur track ways along the Yukon River, analysis of the
Chelyabinsk meteorites, a video interview of those that saw the September 23rd meteorite fall in Brazil, the
world map of asteroid impact sites, a 90 foot dinosaur fossil just found by the pipeline crew in Alberta, a
historical review of the “Granite Wars” (understanding the mechanisms of the great variability among
plutonic and volcanic rocks), analysis of Yellowstone zircons showing the super volcano is less likely to erupt
soon, and new theories of Earth’s core formation. Check it out! __Doug Smith
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October 2013
FIELD TRIP REPORTS
UAA Geology Department Fieldtrip:
Friday, September 20, about eighteen people showed up at the UAA Rock Garden for the UAA Geology
Exhibit, led by Dr. Kristine Crossen. Dr. Crossen heads up the UAA Geology Department as well as teach
courses in Glacial and Quaternary Geology, Geomorphology, Permafrost, Sedimentation and Stratigraphy,
Historical Geology, Geoarchaeology, Geology of Alaska and conducts Anchorage and Kenai Field Studies as
well as UAA Geology Field Camp. Among other studies, Dr. Crossen has done extensive research into the
Holocene history of the Bering Glacier.
Bonnie Hepburn, our trip leader organized a very successful fieldtrip that included indoor and outdoor
geology exhibits, a tour of the geology department and of course, a slide presentation by Dr. Crossen on the
Bearing Glacier. Photos provided by Bonnie Hepburn. In doors were hundreds of rock, mineral and fossil
specimens. What made these display special is that all of them are from Alaska.
UAA outdoor Rock Garden
UAA Rock Garden Displays
Annual rings are countable. Fen for scale
Petrified wood from Wishbone Hill
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Dr. Crossen describing petrified wood
Indoor Displays of Alaskan Minerals
Alaska Pebble Patter
October 2013
CACHE CREEK GOLD PANNING
The Cache Creek gold panning field trip finally materialized the last weekend in September. Phillip Elrod __
trip leader, Brian Silva and Chris Teutsch piled into the truck and headed up the highway towards Trapper’s
Creek and the unpaved road to Petersville and Cache Creek. There we met with Ken and Winona Lee, our
hosts and owners of Cache Creek Cabins, a destination for hunters, miners and recreational gold panners.
Cache Creek is part of the Yentna-Cache Creek Mining District of the upper Susitna Valley and has been
heavily mined for gold for at least eighty years.
Perhaps the three of us could be considered as “Johnny-come-lately” but still we found what we were looking
for, Gold! The photos included here will attest to that. Did our finds pay for the gas? Well no. But then, we
did have fun.
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Alaska Pebble Patter
October 2013
Brian Silva and Chris Teutsch hard at work at a promising gold panning site. Phillip Elrod is photographer and sluice
box feeder.
Here you see some respectable gold in what we
affectionately labeled “a hubcap.”
Actually, the
silvery container is the bottom of a soda can and the
gold in it would be worth $30-$40. Phillip Elrod
took these photos and that is why he is not in the
picture. We were just too busy to bother with a
bunch of photos since there was gold to be worked
out of the gravels of Cache Creek.
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Alaska Pebble Patter
October 2013
This trip to Cache Creek was also fortuitous for us since we learned that the Lee’s have put their property __
twenty acres of patented land, all of the improvements and equipment up for sale. It is uncertain if future
CGMS fieldtrips to this location will be possible. We’ll keep in touch with Ken and Winona who live in Kenai
throughout the winter.
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ITEMS FOR SALE
Kurt Rein is selling these items:
Item #1: Raw Australian Opals of various sizes, qualities and prices.
Item # 2: Pixie Grinder w/four grinding wheels and end polisher. Kurt mentioned that this machine could be
configured in different ways to meet your grinding/polishing needs. This machine is brand new and still in its
original box. Asking price: $800.00. Kurt’s asking price is considerably less than the over the counter price.
Call Kurt at: 344-5554
CAROL’S PUZZLE
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Alaska Pebble Patter
PUZZLE ANSWERS
9
October 2013