Colorado Earth Science

Paleo Poetry

2012-01-25T09:13:00.000-08:00

The Student Paleontologist: on the Pathway to Discovery

By Steven Wade Veatch

Ancient worlds, long lost and hidden behind the murky mists of time,
wait for students to discover the new answers most sublime—
to inspect, reconstruct and peer into an ancient, primordial world:
allowing student paleontologist’s answers to be inexorably unfurled.

The light of knowledge burns with passion by young scholars so enthused
as the exciting tools of these new scientists are imaginatively used
to study fossil bones, petrified trees and cones, and an impression in shale,
pollen and spores, tree ring’s revelations, even a trace fossil dinosaur trail.

The fossil materials are brought back carefully in jackets to the paleo lab,
where workers clean and stabilize fossils such as the impressive petrified crab.
Carefully examined with a microscope and viewed on a digital screen;
observations are made, hypothesis created—all based on what is seen.

Only a very small part of the fossil world has been currently uncovered—
while many more fossils of all sizes and shapes are waiting to be discovered.
Now it’s the student’s turn to work and ponder the pieces of data and reconstruct
these ancient worlds and add their findings to science that will eternally instruct.

The "Trio" at the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, Florissant, CO

Poet's/scientists note: When I was in 3rd grade, before this area was a monument, I went to the fossil beds. It had a lasting impact on my life. Since then I have worked hard to protect and be a part of the research that continues at the fossil beds. I served as President of the Friends of the Florissant Fossil Beds for 5 years and have conducted several research projects that have been published by the Geological Society of America. I have also contributed a chapter to two scholarly books about the fossil beds. I thank Ranger Shawn Frizzell for her constant support and Charles Frizzell for an outstanding watercolor to go with my poem.

Tepee Buttes: Late Cretaceous Submarine Springs of El Paso and Pubelo County

2011-12-03T12:41:00.000-08:00

Introduction
Rising abruptly from the plains east of Interstate 25, between Colorado Springs and Pueblo, Colorado, are cone-shaped hills of limestone and shale known as the Tepee Buttes. These distinctive features formed from carbonate precipitation around spring vents on the sea floor during the Late Cretaceous Period — between 75 and 76 million years ago (Kauffman et al., 1996). The Tepee Buttes, ranging from a circular form to a more common elliptical shape, can be up to 60 meters wide and rise as high as 10 meters above the plains. A limestone core or pipe in the center supports each butte. The central core of each limestone pipe is vuggy (full of holes) and generally no more than a few meters wide.

Figure 1. View of Tepee Buttes. These features are aligned along early Laramide faults that parallel the Front Range. Image by Clyde Hoadley, used with permission.

Fault zones control the placement of the buttes, with butte fields commonly aligned in clusters along block faults or fracture zones formed during the Laramide uplift (Howe and Kauffman, 1985). The faults and fracture zones created submarine springs and seeps on the seafloor that vented methane and nutrient-rich fluids from the underlying Pierre Shale and Niobrara Formations (Arthur et al., 1982). Methane gas also bubbled out along some of the fractures and made the long ascent to the surface of the vast Cretaceous Interior Seaway.

Figure 3. NAPP vertical color infrared aerial photo of Tepee Buttes (8/20/88). A cluster of Tepee Buttesseen to the left of the meandering stream. Image reduced from original 1:40,000 scale. Colorado Springs is approximately 33 kilometers to the north; Pueblo is 38 kilometers to the south.

Vent Sites
Chemically enriched waters, produced by vents, supported chemosynthetic communites (Collom, pers. comm.). Mats of oxidizing bacteria, living on chemical energy contained in compounds such as methane and hydrogen sulfide, blanketed the sediments around the vents (Howe and Kaufman, 1985). Aerobic bacterial oxidation of methane is thought to cause carbonate precipitation and lithification of the mounds (Kaufman et al., 1996). The fossils associated with the Tepee Buttes indicate these structures were formed at a depth of 30 to 100 meters (Kaufman 1967; Howe 1987). These springs were intermittently active over a period spanning 1.25 million years (Kaufman, 1984).

Figure 4. Aerial photograph of a Tepee Butte. Small format aerial photography (SFAP) provides low-height, large-scale imagery using a lightweight 35mm camera format. Photo date 11/00 by S. Veatch

Figure 5. Low-oblique view of Tepee Buttes aligned along a fault. The airplane used for the project was a Cessna 172 P, flown over the site high enough to capture the target in a single frame. Photo date 11/00 by S. Veatch.

Figure 6. Aerial overview of Tepee Butte field in southern El Paso County. Photo date 11/00 by S. Veatch

A repeating pattern of rocks and fossils developed around the limestone mounds. The vent core rocks contain few fossils and are a vuggy limestone formed from carbonate mud with fecal pellets from marine organisms. Fossilized tube worms are attached to rocks, just as with modern tube worms around present-day seafloor vents. Tube worms, with their feather duster-like appendages, lived in tiny calcareous tubes near the vents. The tube worms adapted to the mineral-rich waters, formed a symbiotic relationship with bacteria, and thrived. Only their hollow tubes remain in the Buttes.

A dense limestone coquina of shells occurs around the vuggy core of the limestone pipe.

Figure 7. Nymphalucina occidentalis is the dominant fossil around the vent core. Horizontal length is 3.2 cm. Image courtesy of Wayne Itano, used with permission.

Nymphalucina occidentalis, a fossil lucinid bivalve, is the dominant fossil around the vent core. This marine creature thrived in conditions around the margin of the methane vents. Modern lucinids are not known to occur in such high density populations, making this occurrence unusual (Kaufman et al., 1996).

A richly fossilferous limestone, containing different kinds of molluscs, adjoins the coquinas (Kaufman et al., 1996). These massive deposits, which hold up the core, also contain Inoceramus, a genus of large and somewhat flat Mesozoic pelecypods (clams). These clams had a distinctive shell with concentric wrinkles. Inoceramus went extinct near the end of the Cretaceous.

Figure 8. This baculite (uncoiled ammonite) was found in the lower part of a Tepee Butte. This specimen, from the Rudy Weber collection, measures approximately 5 cm. Image by Mike Estlick.

Figure 9. A trombone-shaped ammonite, Solenoceras sp., coils back on itself. The part that coils back, like a hairpin, is missing. Image by Mike Estlick.

Figure 10. This vase-shaped Cretaceous sponge, collected along the bank of a Tepee Butte near Boone, Colorado is one of the simplest multi-cellular organisms. A skeleton consisting of needle-like spicules strengthened the body of the sponge. Image by Mike Estlick.

Flank breccias, the most distant rock from the core, formed from marine cements and slump block material. Bacterial mounds and tube worms are also found here. The fossil remains of foraminifera and radiolaria—single-celled organisms—occur in the rocks forming the buttes (Howe and Kauffman, 1985). The Pierre Shale, containing only a few fossils, surrounds the vents, thus the mounds were a type of "oaisis" on the sea floor.

Summary
Tepee Buttes are carbonate mounds formed around methane springs and vents on the seafloor of the Cretaceous Interior Seaway. The buttes are aligned in linear fields along Laramide faults.

At the center of each butte is a vuggy limestone core, partially filled with cements. A large Nymphalucina occidentalis paleocommunity surrounds the limestone core that supports the mound. The flanks of the mound hosted a diverse paleocommunity of bacteria, algae, and molluscs. The Pierre Shale, with few fossils, surrounds the Buttes. Few ancient vent sites have been studied, as they are relatively rare. The recognition of Tepee Buttes in Colorado as vent sites provides paleontologists the opportunity to study paleocommunities that are found around these ancient methane spring deposits.

Acknowledgments
This paper stems from a field trip through the Fossil Study Group of the Colorado Springs Mineralogical Society. The first trip was made April 8, 2000 under the direction of John Harrington. A number of subsequent field trips have been made to this site. I thank Christopher Collom, Mount Royal College, Calgary for informative discussions at the field site and Beth Simmons, Metropolitan State College, Denver for valuable reviews of the manuscript.

References:

Arthur, M. A., Kauffman, E.G., Scholle, P.A., and Richardson, R., 1982. Chemical and paleobiological
evidence of the submarine spring origin of carbonate mounds in the Pierre Shale (Cretaceous of Colorado). Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 14: 435.

Howe, B. 1987. Tepee Buttes: A petrological, paleontological, paleoenvironmental study of Cretaceous submarine spring deposits (Master's thesis). University of Colorado, Boulder. 218 p.

Howe. G. and Kauffman, E.G. 1985. The lithofacies, biofacies and depositional setting of Tepee Buttes,
Cretaceous submarine springs, between Colorado Springs and Boone, Colorado, in Kauffman, E.G. (ed.), Cretaceous biofacies of the central part of the Western Interior seaway. A Field Guidebook (4th North American Paleontolgical Convention, Boulder, Colorado, August 12-15) p. 155-175. Department of Geological Sciences. University of Colorado, Boulder.

Kaufman, E.G. 1967. Coloradoan macroinvertebrate assemblages, central Western Interior, United
States, in Kauffman, E.G., and Kent, H.C. (eds.), Paleoenvironments of the Cretaceous seaway in
the Western Interior, p. 67-143. Colorado School of Mines Special Publication, Golden, Colorado.

Kaufman, E.G. 1984. Paleobiogeography and evolutionary response dynamics in the Cretaceous Western Interior seaway of North America, in Westerman, G.E.G. (ed.), Jurassic-Cretaceous biochronology and paleogeography of North America, p 274-306. Geological Association of Canada Special Paper 27.

Kauffman, E.G., Arthur, M.A., Howe, B., and Scholle, P.A. 1996. Widespread venting of methane-rich
fluids in Late Cretaceous (Campanian) submarine springs (Tepee Buttes), Western Interior Seaway, U.S.A. Geology 24: 799-802.

November guest authors and I write about ancient sea urchins in Colorado Springs

2011-11-30T12:25:00.000-08:00

Ancient Sea Urchins of Colorado Springs: The Incredible Porcupines of the Sea
Steven Wade Veatch, Western Interior Paleontological Society
Beth Simmons, Western Interior Paleontological Society
John Harrington, Colorado Springs Mineralogical Society (Fossil Group)

During the Mississippian Period, between 360 and 320 million years ago, Colorado was under a broad ocean. As the uplift of the Ancestral Rockies began at the end of the Mississippian Period, the ocean began to withdraw in episodic phases. The Glen Eyrie Formation formed during the transitional time between the Mississippian and the Pennsylvanian Period. In this rock formation, consisting of shales, sandstones, and limestones, are fossils of the marine plants and animals that thrived in this shallow, retreating sea. The Fountain Formation, an arkosic (rich in feldspar) mixture of rocks, sands, and shales overlies the Glen Eyrie Formation (Taylor, 1999).

Just west of Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs the remains of fossil sea urchins were found weathering out of the Glen Eyrie Formation. The fossil site is located about 3 kilometers from the beginning of Rampart Range Road in the Garden of the Gods Park. Sea urchin fossils from this time interval are rare in the fossil record.

Today, beachcombers find all manner of sea urchins washed up on the shore. Sea urchins populate the ocean floor from the beach down to abyssal depths. They belong to the phylum Echinodermata; the spiny skinned invertebrate animals. There are five classes in this phylum: starfish (asteroids), sea lilies (crinoids), brittle stars (ophiuroids), sea urchins (echinoids) and sea cucumbers (holothurians). Fifteen other classes, found in the fossil record, do not exist today. Overall, there are about 6,000 species (Sprinkle and Kier 1987). Echinoderms are one of the few invertebrates that never escaped the oceanic realm.

Sea urchins have a hard calcareous outer skeleton shell known as a test. Narrow ambulacral plates lie along the grooves of the shell where the tube feet emerge. Broad interambulacral plates hold spines (Case, 1982). Sea urchins use their spines, like a porcupine uses quills, to discourage predators. The spines are also used for locomotion, camouflage, and for catching drifting algae to eat. An elaborate hydraulic system provides the power for feeding and motion in this group. Seawater is the hydraulic fluid.

Because sea urchins are generally one of the first marine organisms to show signs of stress if something is wrong with the water, the Environmental Protection Agency uses them as an indicator organism for water quality near shores and in bays. When conditions are poor, sea urchins will stop moving, their spines will droop, and they will die.

Figure 1. Aerial view of the Glen Eyrie castle in Queens Canyon. General William Palmer, founder of Colorado Springs, built Glen Eyrie an English Tudor–style castle in 1904. Aerial photo by S.W. Veatch

G.I. Finlay designated the type section (original description) of this formation in 1907 at the Glen Eyrie estate, about 5 miles northwest of Colorado Springs (Finlay, 1907). The Glen Eyrie Formation lays under the Fountain Formation and is poorly exposed. The Glen Eyrie Formation consists of 3 meters (10 feet) to 110 meters (360 feet) of gray to black alternating sandstones, coaly shales, and marly limestone (Chronic and Williams, 1978). The alternating sequences, called cyclothems, are repeated sequences of rocks caused by the periodic rise and fall of the sea level.

The Glen Eyrie Formation is rich in marine plants and invertebrates, consistent with organisms found in late Mississippian and early Pennsylvanian strata, suggesting that this formation is transitional between Mississippian and Pennsylvanian times (Chronic and Williams, 1978). This makes the Glen Eyrie Formation somewhat older than previously thought (Early to Middle Pennsylvanian).

Recently Echinoderm fragments were found weathering out of a shale bed in the Glen Eyrie Formation just west of Garden of the Gods. These fragments not only included crinoids but also echinoids identified as Archaeocidaris dininnii (Chronic and Williams, 1978). Archaeocidaris was first described in 1841 by Louis Agassiz (Shrimer and Shrock, 1972). Agassiz later formulated the theory of a great Ice Age.

Archaeocidaris usually occur in large groups, and when the first one was found at this fossil site, the search was on in the area for more. Dozens of additional specimens soon emerged from the shales. Because of a favorable local environment that included plenty of food and protection from waves and currents, these animals banded together. Like modern sea urchins, living in groups improves spawning and provided some measure of protection.

Archaeocidaris, a cidaroid, was the ancient ancestor of the modern sea urchin. Small cidaroids first appeared in the Mississippian Period. The cidaroids were the only echinoids that did not become extinct by the close of the Paleozoic. Cidaroids are distinguished from most other echinoids by their simple ambulacral plates, large, knob-like tubercles centered in interambulacral plates, and barbed spines (Figure 2). Modern cidaroids or "pencil slate urchins" are restricted to tropical waters, and in the fossil record cidaroids are regarded as an excellent indicator of very warm and shallow conditions (Orr, pers. comm.).

Figure 2. Polygonal interambulacral plates that form part of the Archaeocidaris test are on the left. Spines (on the right) fit on the large knobs or tubercles in the center of the plates. Spines are rarely preserved as fossils. Specimens from the S.W. Veatch collection. Image by Mike Estlick.

Archaeocidaris had a spherical calcareous skeleton or test made of moderately thick plates arranged radially in two types of double columns. The first double column, termed the ambulacrum (plural-ambulacra), had two pores in each plate, for the projection of tube feet. Hydraulically powered tube feet aid in locomotion, anchoring, feeding, sensing the environment, and respiration.

The second double column, the interambulacrum, alternates with the ambulacra. Archaeocidaris had a distinctive arrangement of four columns of plates in each interambulacrum. Moveable spines were joined onto a single large tubercle on each interambulacral plate (Figure 3). Skin and cord-like muscle, covering the test, moved and rotated the spines in almost any direction around the tubercle. The barbed Archaeocidaris spines apparently provided protection from predators and allowed locomotion.

When a sea urchin dies, the tissue that holds the plates together decays, and the plates disassemble. This process, aided by predators and wave action, produces a cover of plates on the seafloor. Whole sea urchin tests are exceptionally rare. All of the Archaeocidaris dininnii fossils found at the Rampart Range Road site are represented by separate plates and spines.

Modern sea urchins have pedicellariae, modified spines with pincers used to prevent small organisms from attacking or settling on the test and to catch food (Parker and Kalvaas, 1992; Kato and Schroeter, 1985). It is probable that Archaeocidaris had pedicellariae, but pedicellariae are fragile and do not ordinarily fossilize.

A sea urchin's mouth, or peristome, is located in the center on the lower (ventral) surface of test. The opening is large and within it are beak-like jaws called pyramids and five curved calcareous teeth. Combined, the pyramids and teeth form an unusual chewing structure called Aristotle's lantern. New teeth grew to replace worn-down ones. Archaeocidaris, just like modern sea urchins, probably ate seaweed or decaying organic mater.

While their mouth was located on the underside of their body, wastes were excreted through the anus at the top of the animal. The small size of this opening reflected the little amount of excreta produced. A circle of plates called the apical system surrounded the anus, or periproct. The geometry and orientation of plates within the apical system are used by paleontologists in the classification scheme (Orr, pers. comm.). When the periproct is enclosed within the apical system, sea urchins are termed regular. Sea urchins that have a periproct outside the apical system are known as irregular and have a bilateral symmetry.

Classification

Phylum: Echinodermata
Subphylum: Echinozoa
Class: Echinoidea
Order: Cidaroida
Genus: Archaeocidaris
Species: dininnii

There are few outcrops of the Glen Eyrie Formation in the area; the unusual exposure west of the Garden of the Gods yields sea urchin fossils. These ancient animals reveal a very different age—a span of time when Colorado Springs was under a sea and home to a large number of marine creatures.

Acknowledgments:

We thank Dr. William Orr for his helpful and constructive review of the original manuscript. We are grateful for the field studies made possible by the Colorado Springs Mineralogical Society (Fossil Group).

References Cited:

Case, G.R. 1982. A Pictorial Guide to Fossils. Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, NY, 515 p.

Chronic, J. and Williams, C.A. 1978. The Glen Eyrie Formation (Carboniferous) near Colorado Springs. Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists 1978 Symposium, p. 199 - 206.

Finlay, G.I. 1907. The Gleneyrie Formation and its bearing on the age of the Fountain Formation in the Manitou region, Colorado. Journalof Geology 15: 586-589.

Kato, S. and Schroeter, S.C. (1985) Biology of the red sea urchin, Strongylocentrotus franciscanis, and its fishery in California. Marine Fisheries Review, 47(3):1-20.

Parker, D. and Kalvass, P. 1992. Sea Urchins. in, W. L. Leet, C. M. Dewees, and C. W. Haugen, (eds.) California'sLiving Marine Resources and Their Utilization p. 41-43. Sea Grant Extension Publication UCSGEP-91-12, Sea Grant Extension Program, Wildlife and Fisheries Biology Department, University of California, Davis, CA.

Shimer, H. W. and Shrock, R.R., 1972. Index Fossils of North America. The M.I.T. Press, Cambridge, p 217.

Sprinkle, J. and Kier, P.M. 1987. Phylum Echinodermata In Boardman, R.S., Cheetham, A.H., Rowell, A.J. (eds.) Fossil Invertebrates. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Palo Alto, CA. p 596 -611

Taylor, A.W. 1999. Guide to the Geology of Colorado. Cataract Lode Mining Company, Golden, CO, 222 p.

Happy Halloween : Colorado Country Life

2011-10-25T11:46:00.000-07:00

I am taking a break from my earth science blog to have some Halloween fun, Colorado style. This is a very special time of year in Colorado. The aspen leaves change and the days become cooler.

On the way to visit a pumpkin patch with my wife we had to stop by a dinosaur footprint site on Skyline Drive near Canon Cañon City. It was fun to look at the many trace fossils, including worm burrows and dinosaur footprints in the sandstone. The dinosaur footprints were from the worm's eye view, or looking at the bottom of the prints after they were uplifted by tectonic forces.

Ankylosaur tracks.

Theropod track over an Ankylosaur track. The meat-eating dinosaur is hunting for its next mead

A worm burrow can be seen in this ancient sandstone

Next it was time to take my wife and her friends to Diana’s Pumpkin patch in Cañon City. Everyone went into the corn maze but me—I decided to relax in a rocking chair with an ice cold Coke. I got a plastic glass and had the vendor pack it with ice. It was perfect.

Yes, even for a geologist, Diana's Pumpkin Patch is more fun than a barrel of pumpkins.

The pumpkins were seemingly endless at the pumpkin patch.

Amanda did not get lost in the corn maze.

There were even white pumpkins in the patch.

The best part of a Colorado Country Halloween party is to carve your pumpkin, then carefully set on a stump, and from a safe distance, take aim with a shotgun and shoot the pumpkin off of the stump. If you are a good shot nothing is left of the pumpkin other than fine debris. Black ants come out and drag the tiny fragments down into their nests. I have a live action video below so that you can see this true Colorado Country custom, first invented by gold miners. Click on the little triangle pointing to the right to see this amazing event.

Soon snow will come and limit rock, mineral, and dinosaur fossil hunting. In Colorado we use the winters to: ice fish; research; and plan our next spring and summer adventures.

S. W. Veatch

A Day at the Pioneer's Museum in Colorado Springs

2011-09-22T20:30:00.000-07:00

TODAY I HAD A GREAT DAY AT the Colorado Springs Pioneer’s Museum working with over 90 fourth grade students on the wonders of rocks, minerals, and Indian artifacts from the museum’s collections. I worked with the students on how to keep a lab book and how to do scientific photography and photography or specimens as they might appear in a popular magazine. The following are some selected images the students made during our time at the museum.

This is an image of a calcite sand crystal from South Dakota that one of the students made. These interesting specimens are thought to have been formed by the action of ground water or by spring deposition and are composed of calcite (CaCO3) and coarse wind-blown sand from an ancient dune deposit field. The absence of mud and silt and the well-rounded sand grains, along with wind-etched surfaces, indicates dune origin. The crystals are composed of about 37 % calcite and the rest is mainly sand inclusions.

Figure 1. Calcite sand crystals from South Dakota
Image by Patrick Henry Elementary School third grade student

A NUMBER OF THE ELEMENTRY STUDENTS knew that his material was an igneous rock—a lava flow that was filled with small holes of various sizes from escaping gas. When I pointed out how the object had been fashioned into a bowl; the rock went immediately from the ordinary to the realm of the extraordinary. In addition to a lava rock, the students now had an archaeological artifact with many stories that had to now be discovered by the students such as: who made the object; what was it used for; how old it is; and why was it shaped just that way and with that material?

Figure 2. Indian artifact made of basaltic lava flow,
Image by Patrick Henry Elementary School third grade student

ONE OF THE THIRD GRADE STUDENTS from Patrick Henry Elementary I worked with today took this image of a spectacular spear point found in the Pikes Peak region and stored in the collections of the Pioneer’s Museum. This lithic shows superior workmanship, which suggests it was perhaps an object used in ceremonies centuries ago. Each student’s imagination was stirred to find out more about the archaeological object. It was pure joy for me to watch these kids work with this perhaps sacred object with the care and curiosity of budding scientists.

Figure 3. A beautiful spear point was positioned for photography
by a small amount of "silly putty." The students
thought this was very cool. A scale is always
kept in the picture so scientists will know size.
Image by Patrick Henry Elementary School third grade student.

Migmatites:A Mixture of Igneous and Metamorphic Rocks

2011-09-03T16:35:00.000-07:00

Metamorphism transforms pre-existing rocks into distinctly new rocks (metamorphic) as the result of high temperatures and high pressures. Metamorphic rocks, when raised to temperatures and pressures at or near their melting point, form a migmatite— a rock that has almost melted and characteristically produces a fantastic display of mixed igneous and metamorphic rocks. A migmatite, intermediate between metamorphic and igneous rocks, is a mixed rock in which at least one part is igneous.

This migmatite, a mixture of igneous and metamorphic rocks, is actually a glacial erratic deposited by a retreating glacier at the end of the Ice Age in the Rocky Mountain National Park. This migmatite is along the shore of Sprague Lake. Photo date Aug, 2004, by S. Veatch.

High temperatures cause partial melting with segregation of granitic melt bands that form swirled banding. This banding reveals that the light colored minerals (felsic) have undergone melting and flow while the dark colored minerals (mafic) have not yet reached their melting point and have been contorted by flow. If a rock undergoes extensive metamorphism and light and dark minerals have been segregated, it is gneiss. If a rock undergoes partial melting with segregation of granitic melt bands it is a migmatite. To find out if a rock is a migmatite, carefully look at the felsic layers, if they have completely melted and re- crystallized, the rock is a migmatite. If re-melting has not taken place, it’s a gneiss.

The swirled banding of light-colored felsic minerals and dark-colored mafic minerals seen in this boulder are characteristic of a migmatite. Photo date Aug, 2004, by S. Veatch.

Murder at the Bordenville School

2011-08-25T20:08:00.000-07:00

Silverheels Mountain dominates the northwest rim of South Park, Colorado. A large igneous stock (body) intruded this 13,817-foot mountain, causing extensive metamorphism (heat and pressure) throughout the area. Ore-forming solutions spread into small fissures and fractures associated with the emplacement of the stock and deposited pyrite, quartz, and some gold. Over eons of time glaciers and the Tarryall Creek, with headwaters on the east slope of Mount Silverheels, eroded and carried gold nuggets to gravel deposits across southeastern South Park. Gold placers, scattered along Tarryall Creek, attracted prospectors to the area who quickly established the Tarryall Mining District in July, 1859. In the late 1860s, pioneer ranchers settled in the Tarryall Creek bottom lands and spread out into the meadows of the surrounding country. As the gold began to play out a deadly gunfight at the school house shattered the peaceful valley, and left the members of the school board shot to doll rags. This is the story of that infamous shootout.

By 1865, two brothers: Timothy and Olney Borden; began ranching in the Tarryall valley and established a supply and lumber operation for the South Park mines to the north and west. The site soon became known as Bordenville. The older brother, Timothy Borden, was born in New York state in 1826, and later moved to Iowa. In 1861, Timothy Borden left Iowa to work in various gold mines in Summit County, Colorado. Olney Borden, the younger brother, landed near Golden, Colorado to try his hand at mining. In 1865, the Borden brothers decided to work together and rode out to the Tarryall Creek area to start their dream of ranching. Because the Bordens owned the best water rights, they built a sprawling ranch covering 2,000 acres. With the ranch established, Olney Borden found time to look for a wife—his efforts brought him in contact with a rich widow from St. Louis and he married her in 1880. The Bordens were among the most prosperous and respected families in South Park.

Bordenville, Colorado. Photo date 6/99 by S. Veatch

On the way to the rich Leadville mines, travelers (following the lure of gold and silver) came north along the lower Tarryall road from Colorado City and stopped at Bordenville to rest and get supplies before continuing on to the new goldfields. In addition to ranching, the Borden brothers operated a sawmill, a general merchandise store, and a post office. The town developed into an important ranch, lumber, and supply center for the South Park mines.

Bordenville reached its peak in the early 1880s with a population of about fifty. By this time the town had a stage stop, a blacksmith, and a mineral surveyor. The Bordenville school stood near a two-story ranch house. The School Board had met on May 6, 1895 to devise a plan to keep the motherless children of Benjamin Ratcliff in school. Ratcliff, whose wife had recently died, lived back in the remote mountains with his children. Ratcliff mistakenly thought the School Board had met in an attempt to keep his boisterous children out of the school. Benjamin Ratcliff, enraged over this flawed and misguided notion, rode out from the hills to the schoolhouse where he dismounted, tied his horse to the rail, entered the school, and opened fire on all three of the school board members: Samuel Taylor, Lincoln McCurdy, and George Wyatt (McConnell, 1964). Both Taylor and McCurdy died before they hit the floor; and Wyatt, mortally wounded, slowly slid down against the blackboard and died.

A Bordenville cabin. Photo date 6/99 by S. Veatch

After the carnage Ratcliff rode to Como and turned himself in to the town marshal. The people of Jefferson, just seven miles north of the Bordenville School, tasted blood and threatened to lynch Ratcliff; however a trial took place and convicted him of the murders. Ratcliff ultimately hanged at the state prison in Cañon City. His body was returned and buried in the hills near Bordenville. The town did not want him in the consecrated ground of the Bordenville cemetery.

Bordenville began to decline after the railroad went through South Park, north of Tarryall, and when the local mines played out (Eberhart, 1974). Postal service ended in 1884. By 1900, Bordenville lost its status as a town; however it remained a focal point for neighboring ranches. Today, Park County 77 passes by the few remaining buildings of Bordenville. Across from Bordenville, the Tarryall Creek peacefully meanders through the verdant valley—past the old Borden place. Eagle Rock rises up in the distance. The Bordenville cemetery, on the hill next to what remains of the town, is the final resting-place of Timothy and Olney Borden. Mrs. Ratcliff’s grave has a marker showing she died in 1882. Somewhere in the quiet hills behind the cemetery are the remains of Benjamin Ratcliff.

View of Eagle Rock to the southeast. Photo date 6/99 by S. Veatch

References:

Eberhart, P., 1974. Guide to the Colorado Ghost Towns and Mining Camps, Sage Books, Chicago, 476 p.

McConnell, V., 1964. Bayou Salado: The Story of South Park, Sage Books, Chicago, IL, pp. 250-252.

From the Ice Age to Hartsel’s Ranch: A Mineral’s Travels Through Time and Over Landscapes

2011-08-24T19:51:00.000-07:00

Figure 1. This smoky quartz specimen traveled many miles during the later part of the Ice Age until it finally came to rest on land that was once part of the Hartsel Ranch. From the J. Doolittle collection. Photo date 3/04 © by S. Veatch

Recently, a well-traveled smoky quartz specimen was found in a section of land in South Park. The collection site was once a part of Sam Hartsel’s sprawling ranch that he started to build in the 1860s. This single piece of smoky quartz (Figure 1) was washed out from a nearby mountain by glacial melt-waters. The smoky quartz chunk was tumbled and abraded many times during its journey by stream. Once it was washed out on a vast South Park field, fierce Pleistocene dust storms blew small particles of sand which struck the smooth surface of this tumbled mineral, leaving a frosted appearance on the surface. An examination of the smoky quartz specimen under a petrographic microscope revealed the pitted surface.

Although glaciers did not extend out of the mountains, evidence of Pleistocene glaciation is prevalent throughout South Park (figure 2.). This glacial past is seen in various ways: (1) modification of the landscape by glacial melt-water and (2) outwash sediments that were spread over the land (silt, gravel, and cobble terrace deposits).

Figure 2. View of the double summits of Buffalo Peaks, a South Park landmark. Photo date 3/04 © by S. Veatch

Living Archaeology: Culturally Scarred Trees Legacy of Ute Tribes

2011-06-23T09:46:00.000-07:00

For centuries native Americans peeled away the outer bark of ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) to obtain the tree's soft inner bark (cambium layer) for food and medicine. In addition to using the inner layer of bark for food and a medicinal tea, the Utes used the sap to waterproof containers and the bark to make cradleboards. Peeling scars the tree.

Culturally scarred tree. Note ragged edge at top, probably cut with sharpened stone and pulled down. Photo date 1998 by Jo Beckwith.

Today these centuries-old trees, known as culturally scarred or peeled trees, mark the presence of Ute Indians who once lived here long ago. Culturally scarred trees are defined as "a tree that has been altered by native people as part of their traditional use of the forests." Culturally scarred trees are an important part of the archaeological and historical record of the Utes.

Culturally scarred tree near Guffey, Colorado. Healing tissue generally obscures tool marks. Photo date 1998 by Jo Beckwith.

Culturally scarred trees provide information about Ute lifeways, including subsistence patterns, population movements, ritual events, and social organization of the Utes during the time they occupied this area. Additionally, scarred trees disclose areas of occupation, mark paths the Utes followed, and indicate food resources.

When peeling trees, the Utes would make a horizontal cut through the bark on the outside of the tree with a hatchet or sharp stone. Hatchets cut straight lines while a sharp stone left jagged lines. After making a cut on the tree, a sharpened branch or pole was inserted under the cut and the bark was pried away from the tree. Strips of inner bark were then removed from the outer bark with a scraper. The oval or rectangular-shaped scars left by the Utes on ponderosa pine trees can be very large—up to eight feet long and two feet wide.

Not all scars found on trees were made by Utes. Forest fires leave a triangular-shaped scar with the widest edge along the bottom of the tree. Scars caused by lightning are long and thin, extending along the length of the tree. At times lightning scars spiral around the tree. Animals leave scars, such as claw and teeth marks, which are often visible.

Tree-ring dating at several Colorado sites, conducted by Golden archaeologist Marilyn Martorano, shows the Utes peeled most of the culturally scarred trees between 1815 and 1875. This period was one of profound change in Colorado: first rugged trappers arrived; then miners came searching for gold; soon farmers and ranchers followed—all pushing the Utes from their land. As more people swarmed into the region, food became scarce, causing more trees to be peeled by the Utes.

Culturally scarred tree located in the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, Florissant, Colorado. The width and length of these scars vary. National Park Service Photo.

There are a number of culturally scarred trees in the Pike National Forest, the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, and a number of scarred trees over 200 years old in the Manitou Experimental Forest north of Woodland Park.

Since the maximum lifespan of the ponderosa pine tree is between 300-600 years, this important archaeological resource is quickly disappearing as these trees begin to die from natural causes. The National Historic Preservation Act protects these trees.

Scarred tree about seven miles north of Divide, Colorado. This is a spruce tree. Photo date 2011 by S. Veatch
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This scarred tree is on the road north of Divide. When Ponderosa trees get this puzzle-piece look in the thick bark they are at least 150 years old. Photo date 2011 by S. Veatch.

Carbonized Wood From the Oligocene: Trapped in Cripple Creek’s Volcanic Complex

2011-04-30T16:40:00.000-07:00

By Steven Wade Veatch and Tim Brown
CRIPPLE CREEK, LOCATED IN THE SOUTHERN PART OF TELLER COUNTY, Colorado is the premier gold mining district in the state. The gold camp has produced more than 21 million ounces of gold since 1891—almost half of Colorado’s gold production of 44 million ounces (Davis and Streufert, 1990).

Gold in the district is found in veins and surrounding rocks associated with a small (6 mi2) 32- million-year-old (Oligocene) volcanic complex (Kelley, 1996). The complex formed by explosive volcanism, development of a funnel-shaped breccia pipe or diatreme, episodic intrusion of alkaline igneous rocks (ranging in composition from phonolite to lamprophyre), and subsidence (Thompson et al., 1985; Thompson 1992, and Pontius, 1996). The volcanic complex has three principal vent areas containing breccias of different sizes and lithologies formed by volcanic and hydrothermal action. Local eruptive centers, small stocks, dikes, and sills formed in other parts of the complex. Magmatic and diatremal activity may have persisted 3 to 4 million years (Kelley, 1996).

Magmatism, diatreme emplacement, and mineralization were associated with the Rio Grande Rift system that may have started the melting of the upper mantle and lower crust, producing alkali-basalt magmas (Cappa, 1998).

A two-phased mineralizing event closely followed emplacement of the volcanic complex, starting 30 million years ago and lasting about 2 million years. Mineralization was linked to two major thermal events: (1) a high temperature epithermal event causing alteration and increased permeability of the surrounding rocks with little gold being deposited; (2) a low temperature epithermal event depositing gold in steeply dipping veins and disseminating gold into surrounding porous wall rocks (Kelley et al.,1998). Historic underground mining sought gold-silver telluride veins. Modern surface mining seeks broad zones of disseminated microscopic native gold and pyrite.

Today the Cripple Creek and Victor Gold Mining Company (CC&V) operates the Cresson surface mine clearly the most valuable deposit in the district, having produced over 3 million ounces of gold. This operation is a joint venture between AngloGold (Colorado) Corporation and Golden Cycle Corporation.

Overview of the Cresson Project. The Cresson project and the lamprophyre pipe are in the foreground. In the background is the valley leach facility where a dilute sodium cyanide solution removes gold from the surface of the crushed ore. Photo by S.W. Veatch

Active exploration conducted by CC&V identifies where gold may be found in the district. Remote sensing techniques such as aerial photography and geophysical survey measurements of gravity and magnetic fields are used as exploration tools.

View of Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mining Company Operations. Photo by S. W. Veatch.

Drilling with an exploration drill rig is another tool used in the exploration process and provides a view of what is below the surface of the district. During a recent deep directional drill program beneath the main Cresson surface mine, a core sample of Cripple Creek Breccia was obtained 3,527 feet down the hole (3,079 feet beneath the surface) that hosted a fossil wood fragment The difference between the distance "down the hole" and "beneath the surface" is due to the fact that the drill hole was a directional hole. CC&V started the hole vertically, then used a directional motor to point the hole at a specific bearing and plunge, and finally drilled the core through the target zone. This resulted in a deviation from vertical that caused the differences in the distances. The Cripple Creek Breccia hosting the black carbonized wood is composed of tuff and angular to subangular fragments of rocks and is at least 3,300 feet thick (Thompson et al, 1985).

A carbonized wood fragment, from the Cresson surface mine, is circled in this core sample. This impressive sample was sliced from a piece of NQ-sized drill core (just under 2 inches in diameter). Image courtesy of the Cripple Creek and Victor Gold Mining Company

The carbonized wood fragment is solid and does not easily break apart. The rim around the wood appears to be an alteration halo of quartz and calcite, although identification is uncertain. The smaller black specs seen in the core sample are difficult to identify without the help of a thin section. However, most appear to be mafic minerals that are contained within other clasts and fragments of rocks incorporated into the breccia. Some of the small minerals also appear to be hosted within the matrix of the breccia.

Although the Cresson core sample is remarkable, fossil wood is not something new found in Cripple Creek mines. T. A. Rickard (1900) wrote that a number of tree parts, ranging from small pieces up to the size of a trunk, were found mixed in with the Cripple Creek Breccia. Rickard (1900, p. 384) reports: “In the Jack Pot mine, at 400 feet from the surface, in the Logan at 600 feet, and in the Doctor at 700 feet, there have been found fragments of coal, exhibiting traces of wood-structure. In the Independence, at 500 feet, a stump of a tree was discovered in the very midst of rich ore. In every case the enclosing rock was breccia. The specimen from the Independence is stone, the others are coal. In the former case, the tree-portion must have become buried under conditions free from access of air, and must have been subjected subsequently to the action of siliceous waters, which gradually replaced the fiber of the wood with a mineral precipitate. In the other cases, the tree must have become enclosed within the breccia and subjected to a slow oxidizing action which carbonized the wood, without permitting it to burn freely. Otherwise, it would have been destroyed, leaving only ashes. As it was, it became coal, carrying 60 per cent carbon, and having the other characteristics of a typical lignite.”

Lindgren and Ransome (1906, p. 31) mentioned carbonized tree trunks and coal layers and provide this interesting account about the Elkton mine: “In July, 1905, a carbonized tree trunk was found on the 800-foot level of the Elkton mine. A letter from Mr. E.M. De la Vergne, the manager of the mine, dated November 25, 1905, states that the log is 18 inches in diameter and was at that time exposed for a length of 5 feet. It lies in hard unfissured breccia, about 40 feet west of the Elkton basic dike, and the matrix shows the impressions of knots and bark. A specimen from this tree trunk kindly supplied by Mr. De la Vergne, retains the rings of growth and other general woody structures, although the material is now altered to coal like that found in the Doctor-Jackpot mine. According to Prof. F.H. Knowlton the tree was undoubtedly a conifer and probably belonged to a species of Pinus.” Frank Hall Knowlton was a well-known paleobotanist and had been a professor of botany at Columbian University (now George Washington University), Washington, D.C. (White, 1927).

William Francis Hillebrand performed a chemical examination of the carbonaceous material that retained its original woody structure from the Doctor-Jackpot mine and determined it was bituminous coal (Lindgren and Ransome, 1906). Hillebrand published extensively on the composition of rocks and minerals and was the first chemist to be hired by the U.S. Geological Survey (Allen, 1932).

Loughlin and Koschmann (1935) note carbonized wood was found in several locations in the volcanic complex, including these mines: Cameron, Morning Glory, Doctor Jackpot, Logan, and Elkton. They also document a log found in the Cresson mine. The deepest wood was found at the 800 level of the Elkton mine; although Loughlin and Koschmann state the sample from the Cresson mine was from an “equal or greater depth.” The core sample recently obtained with the ancient wood fragment is significant as it was found at a depth lower than the deepest workings in the Cresson underground mine.

The mechanism that brings these surface materials to great depths within the volcanic complex is the subsidence that follows violent volcanic explosions. Lindgren and Ransome (1906), in their early investigation of the district, describe the Cripple Creek volcanic complex as explosive. During Oligocene time, when local intrusions encountered water, phreatic (steam) explosions resulted, shaking the landscape. These explosions resulted from the contact between magma and groundwater. Violent explosions, jets of volcanic ash, and billowing clouds of steam (driven by the expansion of super-heated water after contact with magma) brecciated the rocks and thoroughly mixed the shattered material. Magma rapidly ascended along zones of weakness while small eruptive centers or diatremes were enlarged.

Subsidence faulting, along steeply dipping faults, followed these violent explosions. Surface materials, through this active process of subsidence, were brought deep within the volcanic complex and mixed with shattered rocks of all sizes. Loughlin and Koschmann (1935) recognized the role of subsidence in the volcanic complex when sedimentary rocks were found in the deepest mine workings—3,200 feet below the surface. Miners created quite a stir in the gold camp when they discovered bird tracks in sedimentary rocks in one of the mines (Ed Hunter, personal communication, 2003).

Finding petrified wood deep underdround in mining drifts was a remarkable event. Photo by S. W. Veatch

The recently drilled core sample that contains a carbonized wood fragment came from a depth greater than 3,000 feet below the surface. The rock unit that this core was drilled from reveals the shattering of rocks and subsidence resulting from the volcanic eruptions and phreatic explosions that occurred here 32 million years ago. From Cripple Creek’s early days on into modern times, the district continues to yield earth’s fantastic treasures—from precious gold to incredible Oligocene fossil wood—helping the district maintain its title as the “World’s Greatest Gold Camp”.

Acknowledgments

We appreciate the help of Ed Hunter who greatly improved this article. Carol Edwards (U.S.G.S. Field Records Library) provided valuable assistance.

References Cited:

Allen, E.T., 1932. Pen Portrait of William Francis Hillebrand, 1853-1925. Journal of Chemical Education, vol. 9, no. 1: 73-83.

Cappa, J.A., 1998. Alkalic igneous rocks of Colorado and their associated ore Deposits. Colorado Geological Survey Resource Series 35, 138 p.

Davis, M.W. and Streufert, R.K., 1990. Gold occurrences of Colorado. Colorado Geological Survey Resource Series, 28, 101 p.

Kelley, K., 1996. Origin and timing of magmatism and associated gold-telluride mineralization of Cripple Creek Colorado (PhD dissertation). Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colorado. 259 p.

Kelley, K.D., Romberger, S.D., Beatty, D.W., Pontious, J.A., Snee, L.W., Stein, H.J., Thompson, T.D., 1998. Geochemical and geochronological constraints on the genesis of Au-Te deposits at Cripple Creek, Colorado. Economic Geology, vol. 93: 981-1012.

Lindgren, W., and Ransome, F.L. 1906. Geology and gold deposits of the Cripple Creek district, Colo. U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 54, 516 p.

Loughlin, G.F. and A.H. Koschmann, 1935. Geology and ore of the Cripple Creek district, Colorado. Colorado Scientific Society Proceedings, vol. 13, no. 6: 217-435.

Pontius, J.A., 1996. Gold deposits of the Cripple Creek mining district, Colorado USA. Society of Economic Geologists, Guidebook Series vol. 26: 29-37.

Rickard, T.A., 1900. The Cripple Creek volcano. Transactions Am. Inst. Min. Eng., vol. 30: 367-403.

Thompson, T.B., Trippel, A.D. and Dwelley, P.C., 1985. Mineralized veins and breccias of the Cripple Creek district, Colorado. Economic Geology, vol. 80: 1669-1688.

Thompson, T.B., 1992. Mineral deposits of the Cripple Creek district, Colorado. Mining Engineering vol. 44: 135-138.

White, D., 1927. Memorial of Frank Hall Knowlton. Geological Society of America Bulletin, vol. 38, no. 1: 52-70.

County Tax Sale Certificates Add Adventure and Excitement to Investment Portfolios and Potentially Might Provide Your Own Acreage for Rock and Mineral Collecting

2011-04-19T11:52:00.000-07:00

Colorado Tax Sale Property

IN COLORADO ALL REAL PROPERTY taxes must be collected each year in order to meet the budget obligations of all taxing authorities in each Colorado County. To meet this task, every County Treasurer in Colorado holds an annual “Tax Lien Sale” each fall to collect the unpaid real estate taxes ("Gunnison County Treasurer").

The author’s tax lien was foreclosed on by the County Treasurer after the author held the certificate and paid the taxes for three years. The Park County Treasurer posted this property to provide notice that a treasurer’s deed was about to be issued. In this case, a deed was issued to the author just a few weeks later to this acreage.

This is done at a public auction where investors pay the delinquent real estate taxes and obtain a tax lien certificate. This certificate creates a tax lien against the property, and if held for three years by the investor, can result in the transfer of the real property to the tax sale investor. By attending County tax sale auctions, the investor may end up with acreage that has Indian artifacts, collectible rocks and minerals, or just a nice place to come and have a picnic and one day build a cabin. Tax lien certificates are excellent investments and should be given serious consideration as part of an investment portfolio. As with any investment, tax sale certificates should be explored to see if they are a good investment for you.
It is important to realize that the property is not being sold at the tax lien sale auction—just the taxes. The amount of the individual tax lien purchased includes the tax, delinquent interest (through date of auction), advertising fees, and certificate fees.

Advertisement of Tax Liens for Sale
The list of tax liens available for purchase is advertised for three consecutive weeks prior to the sale in the legal section of the county newspaper. A list of the tax liens is also available from the local Treasurer’s office. Before investing in tax liens, it is a good idea to get a map of the subdivisions located in the County from the County Assessor or a local realtor. This map helps the investor obtain tax liens in more desirable areas of the county.

Tax liens can be issued on mining claims, section land described by meets and bounds, and land inside a subdivision. Tax liens can also be on city lots, homes, buildings, and commercial real estate. This tax sale parcel has outcrops of chert and jasper. There is evidence of Indian occupation in the area, and a scattering of chert, jasper, and quartzite revealed arrowheads and other stone tools were made here.

Registration
Investors must register before the tax sale and fill out a registration form and a W-9 with their social security number or tax identification number. The registration form must indicate the exact name in which the tax certificate is to be issued and the mailing address of the investor.

The Bidding Process
The bidding process varies by county. Some county treasurers might use a round robin process where buyers are offered the opportunity to purchase tax liens on homes, city lots, ranches, U.S. mineral patents (gold and silver mines), commercial real estate, and various sizes of acreage in rotation; or in another county, the treasurer will allow an open auction where investors offer to pay the tax lien plus pay a premium for the right to pay those taxes. Any amount paid for property above the taxes due is known as a “premium” and goes directly to the county general fund. Premiums are not part of the tax lien, do not collect interest, and are not returned to the buyer when and if the taxes are paid.

Tax lien sale certificates earn interest at a rate of 9 points above the Federal Discount Rate as of September 1st of the year of sale (“Colorado County Treasurers Association”). In 2010 tax certificates earned 10 percent interest. The bidding process, details, and important county tax sale information can be looked up on the Internet for each Colorado county. The dates set for the County tax sales can easily be found at the Colorado County Treasurer’s Association’s website (http://www.e-ccta.org/CCTA/tax_sales.htm. ) Many counties provide coffee and a variety of pastries for tax sale investors, at some counties these treats are free, and at some counties they are sold to benefit a nonprofit group.

Payment After the Auction
Payment must be made immediately following the sale. Payment can be in the form of cash or a cashier’s check drawn on a Colorado bank. Some County Treasurers allow a personal check to be used. Successful bidders are issued a “Tax Lien Sale Certificate of Purchase “for each property that they were the successful bidder on. Originals are kept in the Treasurer’s office and a copy will be mailed to the investor in approximately two to four weeks after the sale.

After The Sale
Plat maps of properties can be obtained from the Assessor’s Office if the investor wants to investigate the tax lien property. Investing in tax lien certificates can bring the investor into areas of Colorado counties that the investor might not otherwise visit while locating tax sale properties. It is important to note that the tax lien certificate has no property rights. It is only a lien and does not allow the tax lien holder the right to go on the property. The investor can, however, drive to the property and look at it from the road.

If the owner of the real property does not pay the taxes the following year, the taxes become delinquent and the holder of tax lien certificates will be sent a notice in July or August, and will have first option to pay (purchase) the current year’s unpaid tax lien at that time. These subsequent taxes earn the same interest rate as the certificate rate and begin accruing interest upon receipt of the payment.

Redemption of Taxes
If the owner of the property redeems their tax lien, (i.e., pays their taxes), the tax lien investor will receive a check from the Treasurer’s office which will include the taxes, fees and interest that was purchased at the sale, together with interest that has accrued from the day of the sale to the date of redemption. It is important to remember, the investor will not be refunded any premium bids that were paid. In January the investor will be sent an IRS form 1099 for any interest earned for the year that the tax lien certificate was redeemed.

Treasurer’s Deed
Three years after the date of the tax lien sale, the tax sale lien buyer may apply for a treasurer's deed to the property if redemption of the lien is not received. The application process ranges from five to six months. If the delinquent taxes are not redeemed by the owner, the investor will receive, via certified mail, a treasurer’s deed to the property.

View from recent tax lien property that was transferred to an investor via a treasurer’s deed. To maximize your tax lien, be sure to pay each following year’s taxes. This is known as subtaxing or endorsing subsequent tax years on the tax lien certificate.

The author recently received a treasurer’s deed to 28 acres in Park County. In March he received a treasurer’s deed for five acres and in April another one for three acres. He has a tax lien on a gold mine near St. Elmo in Chaffee County that he has been paying taxes on for more than three years and can file for a treasurer’s deed. Taking title to mining properties brings a unique set of potential problems to the investor and should be avoided unless the investor has mitigated all of the risks associated with owning a mine.
Purchasing delinquent tax liens at sale is becoming an increasingly popular form of investment. The interest earned is an attractive return on the investment made in tax lien certificates. If the tax lien certificate is not redeemed by the property owner, the investor will receive a treasurer’s deed to the property. The investment can be thought of in terms of a potentially long range C.D. secured by real estate. This investment, unlike most, is fun. It can take you to new places you have never been, and if you are lucky, obtain a treasurer’s deed to Colorado land than might have interesting rocks, minerals, or fossils.

References Cited:

Colorado County Treasurers' Association and Public Trustee Association of Colorado. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.e-ccta.org/

Gunnison County Treasurer Tax Lien Sales. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.gunnisoncounty.org/treasurer_tax_lien_sales.html

Colorado Springs and Lake George Pebble Pups Publish a Paper

2011-03-16T15:22:00.000-07:00

Greetings,
I work with two groups of students between the ages of 10 and 14. One group lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The other group lives in Lake George, Colorado, a very small, rural community. In addition to this, I have several students who participate with us via the Internet that I have never met. The group of children are called pebble pups who will grow up to be "rock hounds" and enjoy a hobby that takes them outdoors.

Recently, we worked on ancient Egyptian artifacts. The pebble pups characterized the artifacts, imaged them through a microscope, and did some research and writing. They did a very good job, and their work was published by a British magazine, Deposits, that is published internationally. Here is a link to a recent newspaper article about what these students accomplished. Click on the link below:
Local newspaper article about the pebble pup's work

Unusual Columnar Jointing in Rocks Revealed at the Cresson Surface Mine

2011-03-11T19:19:00.000-08:00

An extraordinary display of rock columns, formed from prehistoric magma (molten rock) that cooled underground, has been recently exposed by mining operations at the famous Cresson mine. The Cresson mine is located between Cripple Creek and Victor, Colorado. The Cripple Creek and Victor Gold Mining Company unearthed these magnificent rock columns while conducting routine mining operations at the surface mine.

About 32 million years ago a volcanic complex, with several eruptive vents formed along a deep break in the surface, was emplaced near Cripple Creek. Following the emplacement of the volcanic complex, mineral-rich fluids moved up from great depths and seeped into the fractures and fissures created by the violent volcanic upheaval, and cooled into hard, ore-bearing veins. This process formed a low-grade ore body of microscopic native gold attached to pyrite. Narrow, high-grade gold veins bearing quartz, pyrite, and fluorite were also formed. Most of the gold mined in the early days of the mining District came from the high-grade gold veins.

The historic Cresson mine began operations in 1906 with fair results. In 1914, the Cresson vug, or cavern, was discovered 1,200 feet below the surface of the mine. The room-sized vug was a rich strike—yielding over 60,000 troy ounces of gold in less than 4 weeks of frantic mining.

The potential of the Cresson deposit as a surface mine was recognized in 1990, and modern surface mining began in December 1994 to recover low-grade gold. The first gold ingot was poured in February 1995, and by the end of the year gold production was 76,500 ounces. The Cripple Creek and Victor Gold Mining Company continue mining operations at the Cresson surface mine. More than 250,000 troy ounces of gold were mined in 2008.

Recently, a remarkable display of columnar jointing was unearthed at the mine. The columnar jointing was formed as part of a body of magma that cooled underground into a rock known as phonolite.

Mining operations at the Cresson Surface mine exposed the geometric design of columnar joints, formed by a cooling mass of magma over 32 million years ago. The mine is located north of Highway 67 between Victor and Cripple Creek, Colorado.

The columnar joints found at the mine are parallel, prismatic columns that had formed in shallow magma at the mine. When these molten rocks cooled rapidly from the outside toward the center, they contracted. As a consequence, the shrinkage produced cracks or joints, generally in a hexagonal pattern that relived stress. Once the cracks or joints developed, they continued to grow, generally forming straight columns with parallel sides.

Columns typically form at right angles to the cooling surface where the molten rock makes contact. The size of columns depends on the rate of cooling of the rock—the faster the cooling, the smaller the columns.

As molten rocks cool below ground, they may shrink, forming joints.

Anywhere rocks that were once molten occur is a likely place for columnar jointing to develop: Devils Postpile in California, Sheepeaters Cliffs in Yellowstone National Park, and Devils Tower in Wyoming are good examples of these features.

Although such rock formations are often linked with legends of fearsome giants or the devil, there is nothing supernatural about them; they are simply geometric expressions of natural rock forming processes and are another example of the many geologic features in the Pikes Peak region.

Cache Creek Park: A Chaffee County Gold Rush

2011-01-14T20:45:00.000-08:00

The first gold discoveries in Colorado were placer gold deposits. Cache Creek Park, a few miles west of the small town of Granite in northern Chaffee County, was one of these early gold discoveries. The gold of Cache Creek Park was discovered in 1859 (Parker, 1992), the same year gold was found by George A. Jackson along Chicago Creek on the present site of Idaho Springs and only a year after Green Russell’s discovery of a small gold placer near the confluence of the South Platte River and Cherry Creek that started the “Pikes Peak or Bust” gold rush (Chronology of Colorado History, Colorado State Archives, 2007, Davis and Streufert, 1990). These placer deposits not only started early gold rushes to Colorado but also led to rich vein strikes. Placer gold production of about 1,801,482 troy ounces has been recorded in 36 Colorado counties (Parker, 1974). Summit, Lake, Park, Clear Creek, Gilpin, and Chaffee Counties had the most significant placer deposits of Colorado (Parker, 1992).

FIGURE 1. Mining was in operation for nearly 60 years at Cache Creek, among the longest operated single placer deposit in Colorado. A BLM gate is open, allowing access to these present-day goldfields. Photo date 9/2007 by S. Veatch.

Cache Creek Park produced over 49,000 ounces of gold—most of Chaffee County’s production (over $1 million at the old value of $20.67 per ounce). The area was worked by individual prospectors and small outfits from1859 until 1883 (figure 2). Starting in 1884, Cache Creek was worked as a large hydraulic mining operation—Colorado’s only profitable one—by several English firms. Mining operations continued until 1911 when mining was shut down in one of Colorado’s first environmental lawsuits. Since then there has been only intermittent small-scale placer mining (Parker, 1974).

Most Colorado gold placers, produced by natural gravity concentration, were formed during the last Ice Age (the Pleistocene Epoch). Only a few placers were formed earlier, such as the late Eocene or early Oligocene Castle Rock Conglomerate (Parker, 1992).

The earliest glacial period in Colorado is the pre-Bull Lake, followed by the Bull Lake. The last pulse of glaciation is known as the Pinedale. These names are from sites in Wyoming. Almost all of the Pleistocene placers in Colorado have been affected by either Bull Lake or Pinedale age glaciations, which altered or destroyed any earlier glacial deposits. Gold was concentrated by glacial melt water action and is often found near terminal moraines. Moraines are glacially formed accumulations of unconsolidated debris deposited where the glacier melted. These debris range from silt-like glacial flour to large boulders. Terminal or end moraines are ridges of unconsolidated debris deposited at the end of a glacier.

Cache Creek Park was an outwash terrace of lower Bull Lake age; its gravels contained two sources of gold: 1) from the west or southwest, probably Lost Canyon Creek, and 2) the moraines of Lake Creek. In upper Bull Lake time these gravels were reworked by streams which brought in more gold from both of these two sources.

The gold deposits of Cache Creek are found in placer gravels up to 61 feet high that are bordered on the north by the Bull Lake terminal moraine of the Lake Creek glacier and bordered on the west by Lost Canyon Mountain and on the east by a granite ridge (Parker, 1992). There is a bench about midway in the gravel: cobbles and boulders above it are less weathered than those beneath it, suggesting that the rocks below the bench were weathered for a much longer time. The gravel below the bench is lower Bull lake outwash; gravel above the bench is upper Bull Lake outwash. The bench is not present in all the parts of the gravel and reveals that the early Bull Lake outwash streams did not flow over the entire Park but were restricted to limited channels (Parker, 1992).

Since the time major mining operations ended, the natural recovery of the Cache Creek area is slowly occurring. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) manages the Cache Creek area for wildlife habitat, wetlands, and open space. Although the BLM has withdrawn the area from mineral entry, it has recognized Cache Creek’s important place in Colorado’s mining history and allows placer mining that minimizes impacts to the area. The BLM field office has established a 25 acre area for motorized placer mining. A permit from the local BLM office is required. The remaining BLM lands in the Cache Creek area are available for non-motorized placer mining, including pans, sluice boxes, and battery-operated re-circulators. The recreational placer season is limited to Memorial Day to November 30 of each year and limited to ten user days in order to minimize impacts to wildlife habitat.

The Cache Creek area has been of interest to the small-scale prospectors because of the placer gold that was left behind when mining operations ended in 1911. Today there has been renewed interest in this locality. Most weekends at Cache Creek look like scenes from the historic California Gold Rush: prospectors are crowded along every foot of the creek working the gold-bearing gravels with all sorts of equipment. Prospectors are busy on weekends shoveling source material—from banks above a gray and orange clay layer—into 5-gallon plastic buckets. This material is put through screens and then worked by sluice boxes or gold pans. Pay streaks of gold are commonly seen in pans.

Novice and experienced prospectors (figures 2, 3, 4, and 5) always find gold and a lot of fun at Cache Creek. The beautiful landscape of this area is an added bonus and enhances the recreational prospecting experience. Respecting the land and environment at this popular location will ensure that the BLM will continue to keep this area open for prospecting for years to come.

FIGURE 2. Paul McRae, Shirley Weilnau, and Paul Yeisley take a break from their sluice box on Cache Creek. Photo date 7/2008 by S. Veatch.

FIGURE 3. A seasoned prospector is screening gold-bearing sediment from nearby glacial deposits. Photo date 7/2008 by S. Veatch.

FIGURE 4 Larry Weilnau is carefully inspecting gold nuggets in his pan. Photo date 7/2008 by S. Veatch

FIGURE 5. Patrick Hill (left) and Luther Brown (right) are members of the Gold Prospectors of Colorado. Here they are running an effective panning operation on Cache Creek. The native gold has been concentrated by gravity concentration. Photo date 9/2007 by S. Veatch.

(Information on BLM rules at Cache Creek and a copy of the permit

References Cited:

Armour, J., Fawcett, P.J. and Geissman, J.W. 2002. 15 k.y. paleoclimatic and glacial record from northern New Mexico. Geology 30(8):723-726.

Chronology of Colorado History. Retrieved October 11, 2007, from Colorado State Archives Web site: http://www.colorado.gov/dpa/doit/archives/

Davis, M.W., and R. K. Streufert, 1990, Gold Occurrences of Colorado., Resource Series 28: Colorado Geological Survey, Denver, Colorado, 101 p

Parker, B.H., Jr. 1974, Gold placers of Colorado (2 volumes). Colorado School of Mines Quarterly, v. 69, no. 3, 492 p.

Parker, B.H., Jr. 1992. Gold panning and placering in Colorado: How and where, Information Series 33: Colorado Geological Survey, Denver, Colorado, 83 p.

Richmond, G.M. 1965. Glaciation of the Rocky Mountains. in, Wright, H.E. Jr. and Frey, D.G. (eds.), The Quaternary of the United States, p. 217-230. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey.

Richmond, G.M. 1986. Stratigraphy and correlation of glacial deposits of the Rocky Mountains, the Colorado Plateau, and the ranges of the Great Basin. in, Sibrava, V., Bowen, D.Q. and Richmond, G.M. (eds.), Quaternary glaciations in the northern hemisphere, p. 99-127. Pergamon Press, Oxford & New York.

Paleontological Frontiers at the Florissant Fossil Beds: Princeton Expedition of 1877

2010-12-26T06:00:00.000-08:00

I am very pleased and honored to be a part of the Western Interior Paleontological Society's Founders Symposium in 2011. The symposium's theme is: The West that Was: Exploring Colorado's Fossil Past. The symposium will take place February 12 and 13 on the Colorado School of Mines Campus in Golden. I will present a paper that will look at Florissant's contributions to paleontology, which are enourmous.

The early days of scientific discovery at the fossil beds are amazing. One interesting story of the early days of exploration at the fossil beds is about the Princeton Expedition to Florissant in 1877.

Early (1874) photo of a petrified stump at Florissant.

On Wednesday, July 11, 1877, the Princeton Expedition arrived at the fossil beds and later that day wrote in their journal: “We camped at Florissant —Judge Castello’s. In the morning we set to work, all the department finding something to do . . . Dr. Brackett with Scott, Osborn, and Potter paid Mrs. Hill a visit and gained quite a lot of fossils, bugs, leaves, etc. Lynde and Speir worked at the fish beds discovered the day before. The fruit of the labor of the day was shared in the evening along with the mineralogists spoil. A few petrified wood pieces were found in a gully. . . and some pretty specimens of chalcedony were the afternoon's spoil. The old Judge was quite a character and by his kindness our stay at Florissant was rendered pleasant as well as profitable.” The Princeton students collected and shipped plant fossils to Leo Lesquereux, insects to Samuel Scudder, and vertebrates to E.D. Cope. At least 180 of the plant and insect specimens the students collected became type specimens. Charlotte Hill, an early homesteader who lived at the site, provided specimens to the Princeton Expedition and then later that year to Scudder when he arrived.

Osborn on left, Scott on right. Both about 16 years old.

Prior to the expedition’s departure from New Jersey, two of the student organizers, William Berryman Scott and Henry Fairfield Osborn, met with Cope for advice on where to hunt for fossils. From that first meeting, Osborn and Scott built a lasting friendship with Cope. Cope’s friendship and mentoring persuaded both Osborn and Scott to specialize in paleontology. Osborn and Scott maintained their professional relationship with Cope over the years.

Both Osborn and Scott returned from Florissant and their expedition completely committed to paleontology. Scott went on to be a professor of geology at Princeton, a post he held for the rest of his life. Osborn held a professorship at Columbia University and then headed the American Museum of Natural History from 1908-1933. Through Osborn’s efforts, the work of paleontologists reached world-wide expression in the museum where he balanced exploration, research, public exhibition, and publication.

Florissant is one of the most taxonomically diverse fossil sites in the world. The lacustrine shales of the Florissant Formation have yielded around 1,700 described species of plants, insects, and spiders, as well as a few vertebrate fossils. These fossils range in size from tiny impressions in paper-thin shale to massive petrified tree stumps preserved by a lahar or volcanic mudflow. The petrified stumps are among the world’s largest in circumference. Florissant has one of the few known instances in the fossil record for the tsetse fly. Although butterflies are extremely rare in the fossil record, Florissant has yielded 12 species—more than any other fossil insect site.

USFS photo of the "big Stump" date 1900

The geology of the Florissant area is linked with the nearby Thirtynine Mile volcanic field (16 km west and southwest of Florissant), which included the coalescing stratovolcanoes of the Guffey volcanic center. Eruptions from the Guffey volcano produced lahars, ash, and pumice, all of which influenced the deposition of the Florissant Formation.

The Florissant fossil beds have been collected and studied for more than 130 years. Historic collections of Florissant fossils can be found in no fewer than 20 museums located world-wide. After years of tourist operations at the fossil beds, a large portion of the fossil deposits were protected from further exploitation by the establishment of the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument in 1969.

Colorado Midland Railroad Depot moved from Florissant to the fossiil beds where it served as a hotel for tourists.

Florissant’s fossils, with their high biotic diversity, preserve a latest Eocene ecosystem that existed in this area prior to the significant cooling event associated with the Eocene-Oligocene boundary. The plant and insect fossils provide information about the evolution of North American biotic communities and their response to major climate change.

A fossil record in the overlying Quaternary sediments is emerging that aids in assessing the local terrestrial paleoecology prior to the last glacial maximum. An active paleontology program at the park continues to produce new discoveries.

2010-12-25T05:00:00.000-08:00

A mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) stops by to investigate near the Florissant fossil beds. Photo by S. Veatch.

Christmas is back again in the mountains, bringing peace and stillness to the Ponderosa forest. The morning sun chased away the mist, leaving the pine needles covered in a jewel-like coating of frost. The deer are grazing in the meadow while a gentle breeze stirs the winter oatgrass. I send everyone warm holiday greetings from Florissant. I can't think of a better place to send the greetings from . . . I am next to one of the richest fossil beds on the planet, and I am just a few miles from the World's Greatest Gold Camp. I also get to see great veiws, trees, and wildlife everyday.

I spend much of my time working with geological materials, rocks that are over a billion years old, and fossils from the Florissant beds that are 34 million years old. By working with these specimens, I truly understand how short our time on Earth is. Mark Twain once commented that if the height of the Eiffel Tower represented geologic time, then the thin layer of paint on the ball at the very top of the tower was equivalent to all human history. I am reminded that we should make the most of our extremely short time on this planet and be as good as we can to one another. I wish everyone a great New Year of adventure, fossil hunting, and lots of fun.

Blue and Rose Quartz: Nature's Special Colors

2010-12-24T21:38:00.000-08:00

Quartz (SiO2) is a very common mineral and is found in all three classes of rocks (igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary), in a variety of environments, and in a range of colors—including blue and pink. These two pleasing colors make these quartz specimens an important addition to a collector’s cabinet. Blue quartz is scarce while, on the other hand, rose quartz is more common. Rose quartz has a pale pink to rose red color. The color is thought to be caused by trace amounts of titanium. When samples of rose quartz from several localities were dissolved in acid, insoluble residues within the quartz were found. The residue was composed of thin microscopic fibers. These fibers may also be responsible for the color of rose quartz.

Well-formed crystals are rarely found—a true geological mystery. Most of these rare rose quartz crystals are from Minas Gerais, Brazil. Rose quartz is generally found in massive chucks associated with pegmatites (figure 1). The term pegmatite refers to the texture of certain coarse-grained crystalline granites. Since rose quartz is cloudy, it is not popular as a faceted gem but is commonly cut into cabochons (figure 2), rounded into beads for necklaces, or carved.

Figure 1. This large rose quartz specimen was found at the Devil's Hole Mine, about a mile from the town of Cotopaxi, Colorado. Photo date 2007, © by A. Schaak.

Figure 2. A cabochon pendant from the same rose quartz boulder in figure 1. Photo date 2007,© by A. Schaak.

Rose quartz is the state mineral of South Dakota. Some rose quartz from South Dakota contains microscopic rutile needles which produces a distinctive asterism or a star-shaped figure of light on the surface of polished pieces. There are several good occurrences of rose quartz in Fremont County, Colorado.

Blue quartz gets it deep to sky blue color from inclusions that scatter sunlight from inclusions. These inclusions could be tiny mineral grains of: ilmenite, rutile, tourmaline, crocidolite, magnesioriebeckite, or zoisite (maybe others). Inclusions selectively scatter visible light of the shorter, blue wavelength. Blue quartz has opalescence (waxy luster), chatoyancy (alternating luster), and asterism (presence of star-like figures).

Figure 3. These blue quartz megacrystals are located in the pegmatites of the Cape Ann Granite at Andrew’s Point in Rockport, Massachusetts. Photo date 2007, © by H. Renyck.

Blue quartz occurs at a number of localities. Colorado has an occurrence of blue quartz in Park County. Small, doubly terminated crystals in a rhyolitic porphyry, informally known as Llanoite, occurs in Llano County Texas. The blue crystals weather out and can be easily collected. Blue quartz is found in Wisconsin in a diorite near the Dairyland Power Dam near the town of Tony. Recently discovered blue quartz in the Cushing Point formation of Peak’s Island, Maine has inclusions that have the chemistry of biotite. The presence of biotite in blue quartz is new—past research has not listed biotite as a possible inclusion. Research suggests that the inclusion of biotite on Peak’s Island blue quartz may be responsible for giving this quartz its blue color. Blue quartz is also located in the pegmatites of the Cape Ann granite at Andrew’s Point in Rockport, Massachusetts (figure 4).

Figure 4. Close up view of blue quartz in Cape Ann Granite at Andrew’s Point in Rockport, Massachusetts. Photo date 2007, © by H. Renyck.

References:

Coblieg, T., 1986. Why is Blue Quartz Blue?, Geological Society of America 18: 567.

Frondel, C., 1962. The System of Mineralogy, 7th edition, vol. 3, Silica Minerals, John Wiley and Sons Publishers, N.Y., 334 p.

Koivula, j., 2003,. Blue Quartz. Gems & Gemology 39, p. 44-45.

Romero Silva, J.C. 1996. Blue Quartz from the Atequera-Olvera Ophite, Malaga, Spain. The Mineralogical Record 27, p. 99-103.

Rossman, G. R., 1994. Colored Varieties of the Silica Minerals: in Silica: Physical Behavior, Geochemistry and Materials Applications, edited by P.J. Heaney, C.T. Prewitt, and G. V. Gibbs, Washington, D.C., Mineralogical Society of America, Reviews in Mineralogy, vol. 29, p. 433-468.

Wise, M. A., 1981. Blue Quartz in Virginia, Virginia Minerals 27, p. 9-13.

Zolensky, M. E., Sylvester, P.J., and Paces, J. B., 1988. Origin and significance of blue coloration in quartz from Llano rhyolite (Illanite), north-central Llano County, Texas. American Mineralogist, 73, p. 313-232.

Jeff Doolittle coauthor's today's blog

2010-12-19T10:09:00.000-08:00

As the Pleistocene Ice Age was ending and Colorado’s glaciers were receding, sediment-choked streams from melting glaciers brought debris from the mountains around South Park into lower areas. South Park is one of four high-elevation mountain parks in Colorado. Early European explorers called the area Bayou Salado.

Recently, a well-traveled smoky quartz specimen was found in a section of land in South Park. The collection site was once a part of Sam Hartsel’s sprawling ranch that he started to build in the 1860s. This single piece of smoky quartz (Figure 1) was washed out from a nearby mountain by glacial melt-waters. The smoky quartz chunk was tumbled and abraded many times during its journey by stream. Once it was washed out on a vast South Park field, fierce Pleistocene dust storms blew small particles of sand which struck the smooth surface of this tumbled mineral, leaving a frosted appearance on the surface. An examination of the smoky quartz specimen under a petrographic microscope revealed the pitted surface.

Although glaciers did not extend out of the mountains, evidence of Pleistocene glaciation is prevalent throughout South Park. This glacial past is seen in various ways: (1) modification of the landscape by glacial melt-water and (2) outwash sediments that were spread over the land (silt, gravel, and cobble terrace deposits).

Bio of guest blogger Jeff Doolittle

Jeff is an avid outdoorsman that enjoys Colorado's geology

High Park Area Yields New Tourmaline Deposit

2010-12-14T09:55:00.000-08:00

A deposit of black, specimen-quality tourmaline has been discovered in the High Park area of Teller and Fremont County, Colorado. The deposit is located north of where Fourmile Creek drains into High Creek in Fremont County. High Park Road parallels High Creek and the tourmaline prospect.

High Park, at an elevation of 9,800 feet, is a rolling mountain grassland cut by gullies. Soil conditions, low precipitation, and cold temperatures are unsuitable for tree growth, nevertheless a few ponderosa and piñon pine dot the countryside. An occasional mule deer will wander by, and wild turkeys can be heard gobbling in nearby brush. People seldom visit the area where the tourmaline is. In the past, American Indians hunted here. Today, livestock grazing is the principal land use.

The black tourmaline occurs in a granite formation that juts out into High Creek. A huge mass of white quartz formed at one end of the granite. Embedded in the quartz are clusters of radiating crystals of black tourmaline. A number of the crystals are as long as pencils.

Black tourmaline, or schorl. This specimen is 1.5 cm in diameter and is 6 cm long. Photo by Mike Estlick.

The tourmaline at this deposit is known as schorl—one of the 10 members of the tourmaline mineral group. In addition to the High Park prospect’s tourmaline, a number of Indian artifacts were unearthed. The artifacts included a flint knife, several projectile points, and pieces of broken Ute pottery.

Further exploration of the prospect is planned. This area has the potential, with the application of skilled collecting techniques, to produce good mineral specimens in the future.

Dome Rock: Teller County's Scenic Rock

2010-12-12T10:00:00.000-08:00

Dome Rock is a scenic outcrop of Pikes Peak Granite that can be seen north of Cripple Creek, Colorado along Teller County Road 1. Rising more than 800 feet from its base, Dome Rock is a classic example of an exfoliation dome that formed on Pikes Peak Granite.

Dome Rock, a Teller County landmark, is a classic example of the process of exfoliation.

Photo date 6/04, © S. Veatch.

Pikes Peak Granite, a plutonic rock (a rock formed at depth by crystallization of magma), was formed deep in the earth under high pressure. When the once deeply buried Pikes Peak Granite was exposed at the surface by uplift and erosion, pressure was released. Because Pikes Peak Granite is slightly elastic—just like all rocks—it expands from the release of pressure from the once overlying rocks. The expansion forms pressure release fractures (cracks) parallel to the surface of the granite and the outer layers peel off or “exfoliate”. The result is an exfoliation dome.

Water is also a part of the physical and chemical weathering at work forming Dome Rock. During the winter when water enters the cracks and freezes, the ice expands, widens the cracks, and loosens the sheets. Rainwater and groundwater contains dissolved carbon dioxide forming carbonic acid. This weak acid decomposes feldspar and ferromagnesian minerals in the granite, which also weakens the granite. The weathering of these minerals (into clay) give Pikes Peak Granite its pinkish color; other granites are much grayer.

These processes of physical and chemical weathering cause slabs of granite to break off along the pressure release fractures, forming exfoliation domes. The slabs of rock that fall off are termed exfoliation sheets. Other exfoliation domes can be seen throughout the Pikes Peak region and in other parts of the nation. Perhaps the most famous exfoliation domes in the United States are Stone Mountain, Georgia and Enchanted Rock in the Hill Country of Texas.

Florissant’s Sequoias: Redwood Giants of the Eocene

2010-12-05T10:00:00.000-08:00

During the late Eocene large Sequoia (redwood) trees grew on terraces along an ancient river valley near present-day Florissant. Among these trees was the extinct Sequoia affinis, closely related to the modern redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens) that are now restricted to a narrow coastal region in northern Californa.

The “Big Stump” is one of the largest petrified redwood stumps exposed in
the Monument. It measures 3.6 m tall and is 3.7 m in diameter at breast height.
This stump is all that remains of a tree that was more than 90 m tall
when the mudflow buried its base. Image date Nov 2003 by S. Veatch.

More than 34 million years ago a lahar or volcanic mudflow, coming from a nearby volcanic center, flowed into the Florissant valley. The mudflow was up to 5 meters deep and quickly surrounded these giant trees. The upper section of the redwoods decayed and rotted away while the lower 5 meters were protected by the silica-rich mudflow. The unhurried progression of petrification—through a process known as permineralization—preserved the remains of these ancient trees with incredible detail, including tree rings.

Tree rings, which record annual growth, also reveal the growing conditions of trees. A researcher at the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument carefully measured tree rings in fossil wood (Sequoioxylon pearsallii) and noted a larger (40%) average tree-ring width than the modern redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens) and giant Sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) growing along the northern California coast. The significant difference in mean ring width between modern and extinct redwoods suggests the ancient redwoods in the Florissant Valley were growing under more favorable conditions than their modern counterparts.
It is thought that there was more precipitation, from moist Pacific Ocean air,that reached the western interior as the Sierra Nevada mountains of California had not yet been uplifted to block the flow of moist air. More precipitation, resulting from these moist air masses, would have fallen during the growing season.

Precipitation at Florissant during the late Eocene is estimated at about 50 – 80 centimeters of annual rainfall, greater than the modern precipitation of 38 centimeters. A higher level of atmospheric CO2, perhaps twice that of modern levels, may have contributed to the favorable growing conditions in the Florissant Valley of the late Eocene.

A subsequent volcanic mudflow moved across the ancient paleovalley, forming a dam of mud, rocks, boulders, and associated debris. A stream, running over earlier mudflows, began to back up behind the mud dam, eventually forming a large lake—Lake Florissant. Leaf and insect fossils were preserved in this lake.

Not only are the Sequoia stumps preserved, but Sequoia cones and foliage are also represented in the fossil record at Florissant. The cones and foliage are found separated from the tree, and have a separate classification from the fossil wood. Sequoia affinis cones are found as fossils in the thinly bedded shales of ancient Lake Florissant. The ovoid cones are made of spirally arranged scales and tend to be smaller (about two-thirds the size) than the modern coast redwood cones.

Fossil branches of the Florissant redwood, Sequoia affinis.

Specimen FLFO-4858 from the collection of Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument.

Image date Oct 2003 by S. Veatch.

Sequoia affinis cones. Specimen FLFO-4717 from

the collection of Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument.

Image date Oct 2003 by S. Veatch.

Fagopsis longifolia: an Extinct Species from Florissant

2010-11-28T10:00:00.000-08:00

Fagopsis longifolia is one of the more common fossil plants found in the Florissant Formation. Located 35 miles west of Colorado Springs, Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument has one of the most diverse fossil deposits in the world—more than 1,700 different species have been described from this ancient lake deposit. Fagopsis, a genus that became extinct at the end of the Eocene, is thought to have been a member of the beech family (Fagaceae). Originally identified as the water elm, Planera, these fossil leaves were assigned to the genus Fagopsis.

Fagopsis longifolia is one of the most abundant fossils found in the Florissant Formation. The length of the leaves are 5 to7 cm (1.9 to 2.75 inches); and the width is from 2.5 to 3 cm (1 to 1.2 inches). Specimen FLFO3129a, Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument. Image by Russell Wood.

Fagopsis is known from just 30 other fossil specimens from the North American Eocene. Although Fagopsis longifolia is among the most abundant fossils at Florissant, this species has not been found anywhere else in the world. Fagopsis thrived along the prehistoric Florissant streams and the edges of ancient Lake Florissant, dropping its abundant leaves onto the water. Towering redwoods (Sequoia) also grew around the borders of the lake and along streams.

This brochure, featuring one of the Sequoia stumps of the Florissant fossil beds, was used to attract visitors to the fossil beds when it was a tourist attraction. Huge, petrified Sequoia trees are the largest fossils found in the monument—some have the largest diameter petrified trees known. Brochure image courtesy of the Beth Simmons collection.

Fossil plants, just like Fagopsis longifolia, provide important information about paleoclimate and the uplift history (paleoelevation) of the Rocky Mountains in the prehistoric past. Fagopsis represents plants found in a moister climate than the cool, dry climate of Florissant today. Based on characteristics of Fagopsis and other fossil plants, scientists have estimated the mean annual temperature at Florissant during the Late Eocene at approximately 10.7° to 14°C (51.2° to 57.2° F) with an estimated paleoelevation of 1,899 to 3,299 meters (6,230 to 10,500 feet) Note: there is counterevidence from non-floral studies that propose different mean annual temperatures and paleoelevations. Researchers are still working on this problem] Florissant also represents a time period just before a major cooling of the world’s climate that occurred during the end of the Eocene and at the dawn of the Oligocene .

Fossils of Fagopsis longifolia are found between layers of paper-thin lake shales in the Florissant Formation from the latest part of the Eocene (34 million years ago). Most of the Florissant fossils are detailed compression and impression fossils of insects and plants. Image by Donald Miranda.

The conditions of ancient Lake Florissant led to exceptional fossil preservation and preserved a number of fossils—like Fagopsis longifolia—that are used by researchers as proxies or useful indicators for reconstructing ancient environments and understanding biological evolution, paleoclimate, paleoelevation, and climate change.

Dryopteris: A Fossil Fern from Florissant

2010-11-21T11:00:00.000-08:00

Ferns are among the fossil plants found in the Florissant Fossil Beds of Colorado. Fossil plants like these ferns are records of prehistoric life—providing information about when an organism lived, where it lived, and how it lived. Fossils are vital in helping paleontologists reconstruct ancient environments and establishing the geologic history of the Earth.

Dryopteris guyotti was abundant in past geologic ages.

Broad, flat leaves helped the fern catch more sunlight.

Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument specimen

number 3135a. Photo by R. Wood.

The origins of ferns are not well understood, but continued study of fossil ferns may reveal more about their beginnings. The earliest recognizable ferns come from the Carboniferous (359-299 million years ago).

Ferns have large complex fronds (leaves) and are spore bearers. Some ferns are non-woody, but other ferns are woody and are called tree ferns. Ferns were common late Paleozoic plants and widespread in the Mesozoic. Today ferns are the most common and diverse spore-bearing land plants with over 10,000 species. They generally live in moist, shady areas of the forest understory.

Dryopteris, from the Greek, drus (oak) and pteris (fern) occurs in Florissant’s Eocene fossil flora as well as other Tertiary floras. Its common name—wood fern—is from the preferred woodland habitat of most Dryopteris species. Other common names include shield fern, Goldie’s fern, male fern and buckler ferns.

Today Dryopteris is a genus of about 250 species of ferns growing in the temperate Northern Hemisphere and in eastern Asia. Fronds are bipinnate (branching of leaflets at right angles to the central axis). The leaflets, or pinnules, are lobed. Fertile pinnules have round sori, which are fruit dots or reproductive bodies (Tidwell, 1998). Many of the species have solid rootstocks forming a crown with a ring of fronds.

Line drawing of Dryopteris filix.
Note round sori near top.
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database
Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913.
An illustrated flora of the northern United States,
Canada and the British Possessions.

Off all the fossil ferns at Florissant, Dryopteris guyottii is the only species of fern described from a frond. Other ferns are known only from fossil spores. It appears that Dryopteris guyotti grew in the understory of the Eocene forest at Florissant (preferring damp and shaded environments like its modern relatives) or near ancient Lake Florissant.

A Short Note On: Fossil Spiders from Florissant

2010-11-14T12:05:00.000-08:00

The order of Araneae (true spiders) are represented as a large and diverse group in the 34.1 million-year-old Florissant Formation. Spiders were among the earliest animals to live on land. They are thought to have evolved about 400 million years ago from primitive ancestors that emerged from water to live on land. Spiders are arachnids—not insects, however both spiders and insects belong to the largest group of animals on Earth, the arthropods.

Florissant is well-known for its fossil spiders. More than 150 specimens of spiders have been found in the Florissant shales.

This Eocene-age fossil spider is a male, based on the swelling of the pedipalps. Many fossil spiders are impressions that are barely discernable. Toni Clare, owner of the commercial quarry north of the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, collected the specimen shown above in 1997. Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument specimen number 2971A. Photo: R. Wolf.

When spiders die their legs normally curl under their body. Florissant spiders, like the image of one above, have their legs extended—rather than curled up. Scientists argue that the extended legs of Florissant’s spiders suggest the waters of ancient Lake Florissant, during the latest Eocene, were warmer or more acidic than normal; the likely cause may have been from thermal vents associated with area volcanism or from ash falls.
It is difficult to assign Florissant’s fossil spiders to a genus and species based on their external features observed in the paper shales. Since microscopic characteristics cannot be seen in the fossil impressions at Florissant, an outline morphometric study, using carapace (dorsal exoskeleton) shape and leg characters, has been effective in making family placements of fossil spiders.

All spiders have two well-divided body sections: the cephalothorax (prosoma) followed by an abdomen (opisthosoma). The abdomen contains the digestive and reproductive systems and on the ventral surface near the apex are spinnerets that deliver small threads of silk.

Silk has many functions such as making intricate webs that capture prey, encasing eggs, and building elaborate nests or burrows. Spiders with a distinctive silk organ, called a cribellum, are included in a special group called the Cribellatae. The fossil spider in figure 1 has a cribellum and belongs to this group.

Spiders have eight walking legs, all attached to the cephalothorax. On the front of the cephalothorax are the mouth, fangs to bite prey with, and eyes. The first pair of appendages—the chelicerae—are used for piercing, handling prey, and injecting venom. The second pair of appendages, the pedipalps, are used for mating and are much larger in male spiders than in females.

All species of spiders are predatory—spiders that do not spin webs, such as wolf spiders and tarantulas, stalk or ambush their prey. Spiders feed by a process known as external digestion. When spiders catch an insect, they inject venom that paralyzes their prey. The spider’s venom also contains digestive enzymes. These enzymes liquefy most of its victim’s insides so the spider can feed on this mixture of nutrients.

Spiders were once a part of an ancient ecosystem at Florissant that has long since vanished; the only record of it is held in the fossil beds. Some of the spiders that lived there built elaborate webs; several built tunnel-like lairs under rocks or under the dead leaves littering the primeval forest floor, while others lived on rocks or trees. Some of the spiders ultimately turned into fossils. More exciting discoveries of these remarkable fossils will no doubt occur and add to our understanding of this prehistoric ecosystem and creatures.

Ancient Sea Urchins of Colorado Springs: Incredible Porcupines of the Sea

2010-11-10T10:58:00.000-08:00

Just west of Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs—about 3 kilometers from the beginning of Rampart Range Road—are the remains of fossil sea urchins found weathering out of the Glen Eyrie Formation. These fossil sea urchins are Archaeocidaris dininnii. These ancient animals reveal a span of time when Colorado Springs was under a sea and home to a large number of marine creatures.

Archaeocidaris occured in large groups since the environment included plenty of food and protection from waves and currents. Like modern sea urchins, living in groups improves spawning and provided protection. Once the first sea urchin was found at this fossil site the search was on for more. Dozens of additional specimens were collected.

Archaeocidaris had a spherical, calcareous skeleton or test made of moderately thick plates that were arranged radially in two types of double columns. The first double column, termed the ambulacrum (plural-ambulacra), had two pores in each plate for the projection of tube feet. Hydraulically powered tube feet aid in locomotion, anchoring, feeding, sensing the environment, and respiration.

The second double column, the interambulacrum, alternates with the ambulacra. Archaeocidaris had a distinctive arrangement of four columns of plates in each interambulacrum. Moveable spines were joined onto a single large tubercle on each interambulacral plate.

Polygonal interambulacral plates that form part
of the Archaeocidaris test. Spines fit on the large knobs
or tubercles in the center of the plates.Spines are
rarely preserved as fossils.

Skin and cord-like muscle, covering the test, moved and rotated the spines in almost any direction around the tubercle. The barbed spines of Archaeocidaris provided protection from predators and allowed locomotion.

The interambulacral plates have conspicuous bumps in
the center where the spines were once connected.

When a sea urchin dies, the tissue that holds the plates together decays, and the plates disassemble and scatter on the seafloor. of the Archaeocidaris dininnii fossils found at the Rampart Range Road site are represented by separate plates and spines.

Aerial Photos Shows Outline of Ancient Lake Florissant

2010-11-07T11:43:00.000-08:00

Just west of Pikes Peak and south of the town of Florissant, Colorado (about 40 miles west of Colorado Springs on U.S. Highway 24) lies a scenic mountain valley where a number of petrified redwood stumps dot the landscape. Beneath this beautiful setting are incredible plant and insect fossils buried in the sediments of an ancient lake. These fossils, ranging from large tree stumps to single-celled diatoms, reveal a prehistoric Colorado of long ago. Today the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument protects these fossil resources.

About 34 million years ago, volcanic eruptions near Guffey (18 miles to the southwest) produced volcanic mudflows (water-saturated mass of ash and rock debris). These mudflows—looking and flowing like concrete—buried a lush valley and petrified the bases of huge redwood trees that grew there. These mudflows also created a dam in the valley, forming a lake about one mile wide and 12 miles long. Volcanic ash from subsequent eruptions formed fine-grained sediments at the bottom of the lake. Plants, insects, and other organisms were entombed in this material. Over millions of years these sediments were compacted into layers of shale. The delicate details of these organisms were preserved as fossils and provide a look at the life and the prehistoric ecosystem of the Florissant valley during the end of the Eocene Epoch.

The approximate area of ancient Lake Florissant is defined in this aerial photo by meadows and treeless sections. The prehistoric lake area (light gray) is seen extending through the center of the photograph and then turns west at the town of Florissant. NAPP black and white vertical aerial photo from 20,000 feet (9/29/1999). Top of the photo is north.

NAPP vertical color infrared (CIR) aerial photo of the Florissant valley from 20,000 feet (9/24/88). Color infrared film is used to interpret natural resources such as vegetation, soil conditions, water resources, and other features. Active vegetation appears in various shades of red and pink (intense red colors indicate vigorous and dense growth). Water that is clean and clear appears black. Shallow water reflects bottom sediments and appears in various shades of blue. Soil conditions (moisture levels) are revealed by the degree of the gray tone: dry soils are light gray, moist soils are gray, and wet soils are dark gray. Top of the photo is north.

Topaz Crystals from the Petra Placer, Tarryall Mountains, Colorado

2010-11-05T10:14:00.000-07:00

The Tarryall area in Park County, Colorado is known for the exceptional topaz specimens discovered there. Topaz in the Tarryall Mountains forms in cavities of various sizes in pegmatites (coarse-grained granite).

Topaz with blue tint from Tarryall area.

The Hayman Fire of 2002, the largest forest fire in Colorado's history, has been a major factor in the discovery of new topaz deposits in the Tarryalls. Frequent summer rain storms form gullies that uncover topaz-bearing pegmatites that provide new sites for collectors to work. Additionally, afternoon thunderstorms wash away gravel and reveal topaz crystals on the surface.

The Hayman Fire made topaz hunting easier.
Pilot Peak is in the background.

East of the China Wall (a prominent granite landmark in the area) Mutakat Road (Forest Road 211) winds it way near an area where a number of mineral claims are producing gem topaz. The Petra Placer is one of these claims. Rich Fretterd, a member of the Lake George Gem and Mineral Club, staked the Petra Placer in April, 2004 after discovering a number of fine topaz specimens. The name of the claim comes from the Latin word petra, meaning rock or stone. The Petra Placer is southeast of Pilot Peak (SW1/4 Ne1/4 Sec. 12 T. 11S, R72W).

A Petra Placer topaz crystal.

The specimens from the Petra Placer are remarkable for their large size and clarity. A number of topaz crystals are just below the surface in gravel deposits. Petra Placer specimens have a blocky, prismatic crystal habit. Some of the prism faces are slightly etched. Most specimens have a bluish-tinge. Anhedral (lack crystal faces) specimens are faceted into gems and euhedral (have crystal faces) specimens make their way into museums or the mineral cabinets of rock hounds.

Sifting gravel yields topaz.

As a result of the Hayman fire, the topaz crystals of the Petra Placer have been revealed. Digging in various parts of the claim continues to yield excellent specimens. The Petra Placer is now a significant Colorado topaz locality.

Clear topaz crystal from the Petra Placer

Topaz crystal perched on smoky quartz.

Crystal specimen with etching.

End of a good day of prospecting

South Park Tax Sales

2010-10-03T14:44:00.000-07:00

In South Park, Colorado I recently located some tax sale property that my wife and I have an interest in. We bought the tax lien a few years ago at the Park County tax sale held at the Fairplay school. A map the Assessor’s office supplied brought us right to the five-acre parcel just south of Hartsel. Property in South Park provides great views, places to fish, rocks and minerals to collect, and artifacts to find.

Balloons over South Park

After we drove to the property we began to look around. We soon found unusual black agate nodules that had weathered out of the local rocks. These black nodules had a “waxy” texture and were easy to find around the property.

Black agate

Once we began collecting the agate nodules, we soon found lithic scatter or debitage from brightly-colored jasper. Debitage is the material that is flaked from stones when arrowheads, spears, scrappers, and knives are made.

Damaged jasper spear point

Each fall the County Treasurers of Colorado list real property with delinquent taxes in the public notice section of the local newspaper. A date is set where tax liens are sold to the general public. The sale is done through an auction format. The investor registers for the sale and is given a “bidder” number. Once the sale begins, the Treasurer announces each parcel from the delinquent tax list, and investors can then bid a premium for the right to pay the taxes. If you win the bid, you pay the taxes for the next three years.

The best way to invest in the tax sales are to keep your premium bids low, as this money is NOT returned to you in the event the lien is redeemed. Last year there were many parcels at Fremont County that did not have premium bids. Investors at Fremont County got the tax liens for the amount of taxes only.

After three years have passed, you can request that the County Treasurer foreclose your tax lien. If the lien is not redeemed, you will receive a Treasurer’s deed to the property. If the lien is redeemed, you will receive a check that represents your payments plus interest (2010 rate is 10%). Either way, this is a fun way to invest some extra money. For more information check out the Colorado County Treasurer’s Association website at:
http://www.e-ccta.org/CCTA/tax_sales.htm.

Fossil Pollen Reveals Florissant's Ice Age Environment

2010-08-27T21:41:00.000-07:00

Out of the mists of prehistory—through fossil pollen and spores—comes an unprecedented glimpse into Florissant’s past. Experts used cutting-edge science to examine pollen and spores buried with a fossil mammoth to better understand the Ice Age world of Florissant.

Entrance to the Florissant Fossil Beds, Colorado

The Florissant mammoth lived and died more than 50,000 years ago, during the last Ice Age. Its bones were fossilized safely in the ground until a student intern found it in 1994. During careful excavation of the mammoth, all of the fossil material was collected and bagged—including soil, gravel, and sediment samples. A molar tooth and part of the mammoth’s jaw were the main fossils recovered. Scientists used these to identify the mammoth as a Columbian mammoth.

A lab recently analyzed a sample from the sediment layer just below the mammoth. The lab determined that the sedimentary layer is a limestone containing fine sandy and silty quartz grains.

New pollen evidence from the mammoth site at the Florissant Fossil Beds reveals environmental conditions during one of the warm, interglacial periods of Teller County's Ice Age. Above is a fossil pine pollen. The abundance of pine pollen, along with the rock moss, indicates a dry climate at Florissant. Photomicrogrpah is by D. Jarzen.

The lab first prepared the limestone for processing to recover pollen and spore grains. Solutions of corrosive chemicals such as potassium hydroxide, hydrochloric acid, and hydrogen fluoride removed the organic and mineral particles in the sample. The pollen, because it is composed of some of the most chemically resistant organic compounds in nature, survived this harsh chemical processing.

Next, lab workers made microscope slides from the residual pollen and carefully examined them. When viewed with a microscope, pollen grains from different plants have distinctive appearances that can identify the plant species they came from. The pollen and spores were identified and counted.

The lab work identified an amazing assemblage of Ice Age vegetation at Florissant, making it possible to reconstruct much of the local environment based on these tiny fossils. A major surprise was finding hickory (Carya) and oak (Quercus)—both hardwoods—in the Rocky Mountains from a lab sample that was at least 50,000 years old. From microscopic examination of the hardwood pollen it appears that they grew locally during the Ice Age. There is no reason to think they are reworked from sediments redeposited from earlier times.

Image of a hickory (Carya) pollen grain. Pollen grains are incredibly resistant and are difficult to destroy by physical or chemical processes. The plentiful and hardy nature of pollen makes it a source of data about past climates in specific places. Photomicrograph by D. Jarzen.

The pollen and spore assemblage is a tiny time capsule from Florissant’s Ice Age and reveals that Florissant had a dry climate during this interglacial period—indicated by the abundance of pine pollen and rock moss (Selaginella). The landscape was relatively open and covered with vegetation. Scattered stands of pine, along with some hardwoods growing near streams, dotted the landscape. Groundcover included asters, daisies, sunflowers (Compositae), and sagebrush. Most important was the rock moss, which grows on rocks and thrives on direct sunlight. Rock moss is a key indicator of a dry climate.

Image of an aster pollen grain. Image of an aster pollen grain. Because most plant species have distinctive pollen shapes, botanists can identify from which plant the pollen came, allowing scientists to determine the plants found in a certain place at a given time. Photo by D. Jarzen.

Florissant’s fossil mammoth and associated material continues to yield scientific information. The current pollen study is important because in the continental United States there is little information on interglacial floras. The Florissant pollen adds significantly to our understanding of North American interglacial floras.

The Florissant mammoth and its associated pollen has not only unlocked some of the secrets of Florissant’s Ice Age, but has earned an enduring place in the paleontological record.

Note: Steven Veatch is the principal investigator working on the Florissant pollen project. His team incldes David Jazen of the University of Florida, Estella Leopold of the University of Washington, and Herbert Meyer, park paleontologist (Florissant Fossil Beds Natinal Monument).

The Mining Machines of the Greater Alma Mining District, Colorado

2010-08-13T22:50:00.000-07:00

While staring into the campfire on a quiet summer night, I was thinking about the old mines I had explored during the day. All of them were in rugged areas: canyons, gulches, or at the end of a two-track road that climbed above timberline. Underground mining used excavation, drilling, blasting, extracting, support, hoisting, ventilation, and drainage technologies to mine ore. Once the ore was mined, it was processed in mills for valuable metal deposits. A variety of machines were designed to use in these mining processes.

This tubular boiler was built by the Erie City Iron
Works in Erie Pennsylvania. Robert Kane photo.

The few surviving machines in the old mining camps are important artifacts that provide a way to understand mining and miners of the late 19th and early 20th century.

Tubular Boilers
Large, rusted boilers are among the physical remains of mining in the Greater Alma Mining District. There is a boiler in Buckskin Gulch and another one at the North London Mine, both have an interesting pattern of holes at the front—identifying each as a tubular boiler.

Side view of tubular boiler. Robert Kane photo.

Tubular boilers were popular in mining districts. Their name came from the long tubes running the horizontal length inside a cylindrical-shaped boiler. Inside the boiler the tubes were surrounded by water. Below the boiler a fire was kept burning. The heat and smoke from the fire was drawn through the long tubes—heating the water—and continued on, rising up through the smokestack. This process created steam very efficiently and powered mining and milling machines.

These boilers were built by the Erie City Iron Works in Erie Pennsylvania. The company started in 1851. After several mergers and acquisitions, the company is known today as Indeck Keystone Energy.

Air Compressors
The air compressors left behind in the Greater Alma District show that miners used machine drills rather than tempered hand drills. Machine drills were used as early as the last quarter of the 19th century. At first steam was used to power drills but there were problems. Steam drills were replaced by compressed air that powered pneumatic drills. Mines that used air compressors and other machinery were sufficiently capitalized to purchase expensive equipment and ship it to the remote goldfields of Colorado.

On its side is embossed “Ingersoll Rand Co., New York, Imperial Type 10.” Ingersall Rand was founded in 1871. The Ingersall Rand name came into existence in 1905 when Ingersoll-Sergeant Drill Company and Rand Drill Company merged. Robert Kane photo.

Snowstorm Dredge

The Snowstorm Dredge operated in the goldfields between Fairplay and Alma from 1941-1960s. It is the largest and last dragline dredge in Colorado and in the nation. The dredge processed about 600 tons of gravel an hour.

Side view of the Snowstorm dredge. Photo by Robert Kane.

Snowstorm dredge. Photo by Robert Kane.

The Ice Age at the Florissant Fossil Beds: The Discovery of a Columbian Mammoth

2010-08-03T20:49:00.000-07:00

The Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument is one of the most important plant and insect fossil sites in the world. The late Eocene age, 34 million-year-old fossils range from plant and insect impressions in paper-thin lake shale to massive petrified tree stumps. A more recent time period is represented at the fossil beds in gravels that accumulated during the last Ice Age at several sites at the fossil beds. At one of these locations gravels buried the remains of a mammoth, the first and only mammoth scientifically documented in Teller County, Colorado.

The Florissant mammoth was discovered in 1994 in a road cut near the visitor center when a student noticed small fragments of bone material scattered around the entrance of a rodent burrow. The student made a significant fossil discovery. While many fossil discoveries are the result of organized scientific work, this discovery was by sheer chance.

Paleontology does not move fast. Two years later (1996), the area surrounding the rodent burrow was systematically excavated and a mammoth jaw and molar tooth were found. The tooth was sent to a laboratory for radiocarbon dating. The laboratory dated the tooth at 50,000 years old—the limit of radiocarbon dating: This age would be the minimum age for the Florissant mammoth.

Florissant Fossil Beds Specimen No. 2392

In 2004, studies of the fossil material continued. Measurements were made on the tooth fragment, making it possible to identify the fossil material as a Columbian mammoth rather than a woolly mammoth. These findings were presented at a scientific conference in Denver the same year, making the Florissant mammoth part of the permanent scientific record.

The mammoth fossil material is important for several reasons. It documents the presence of mammoths at Florissant and shows these animals lived at an elevation of 8,400 feet--a relatively high elevation for mammoths.

The Florissant mammoth is still being studied. In 2010, sediments found with the mammoth were sent to a laboratory in Canada to see if there were any Ice Age pollen and spores. The lab returned microscope slides that, under a microscope, revealed an assemblage of pollen and spores--opening up yet another avenue for exploration, this time studying microfossils. The Florissant fossil beds continue to yield intriguing and exciting information about the distant past.

Bear Dens of Pinnacle Park, Cripple Creek and Victor Mining District

2010-08-01T18:00:00.000-07:00

Historic bear cage in foreground, mining activity in the

background.

The Woods family founded Victor during the Cripple Creek and Victor gold rush. The family had many interests in the mining district. They owned the Gold Coin Mine, the First National Bank of Victor, the Pikes Peak Power Company which supplied hydroelectric power from a dam at Skaguay Reservoir, and many other enterprises.

Bricks were carefully placed to form an arch over the entrance

to the bear caves.

The Woods were concerned with the social life of miners and invested some of their money back into the mining district for this cause. They built the fabulous Gold Coin Club that was designed for the recreation of the miners who worked in the Gold Coin Mine. Another Woods family project was building Pinnacle Park–an 1890s theme park at the town of Cameron. Pinnacle Park was a vast amusement park with a picnic ground, a zoo, and merry-go-rounds. This was an exciting place where all of the people of the mining district could go for a variety of amusements and relaxation—and place away from the hard work of the mines.

Families brought picnics and came for the day to play ballgames, horseshoes, listen to concerts, dance, and engage in other entertainments. Pinnacle Park's zoo was a big draw. The bear dens were popular. The dens had cement pads in front and were enclosed with heavy-gauge wire. Higher up, behind the bear dens, was a row of smaller dens that housed smaller zoo animals such as bobcats and foxes.

Pinnacle Park was an extremely popular place in the gold camp and drew large crowds on the Fourth of July and Labor Day. A trolley and train brought people to the entrance.

Today nothing remains of Pinnacle Park other than a few rows of animal cages from the zoo. The gold mine operating in the district is mining right to the edge of these historical structures. Soon they will be gone. These dens are an interesting part of the gold camp's history and represents a part of the story of how people lived and played in the district in the late 19th century. These dens need to be saved, and there is discussion that the City of Cripple Creek will attempt to move these structures.

The Exceptional Botrychiums of Buckskin Gulch

2010-07-30T12:51:00.000-07:00

Poking out of the gravel of an abandoned placer mining operation at Buckskin Gulch, Colorado is a curious little fern that belongs to the genus Botrychium. This particular Botrychium is extremely rare.

Botrychiums (commonly known as Moonwort or Grapefern) are seedless and reproduce by airborne spores. The name “Botrychium” is from the Greek word “botrypus,” meaning “a cluster of grapes” and refers to the plant’s grape-like shape of their spore clusters. Botrychiums are an ancient group that appeared on the landscape before the dinosaurs.

Some species only occasionally appear above ground, and obtain most of their nourishment from a connection with mycorrhizal fungi. In Colorado these peculiar looking plants occasionally appear in montane or high elevation areas that have been disturbed by an avalanche, clear cutting, or mining.

B. bifurcatum are tiny ferns have gone unnoticed.

Much remains to be understood about their

characteristics, systematics, and distribution.

A new B. bifurcatum
Photo by W. Johnston

The Botrychium growing in Buckskin Gulch is thought to be a new species of moonwort that was recently discovered in the Arapaho National Forest. The new species name is bifurcatum. Botanists have not yet published a paper introducing it to the scientific world. Until now there were only three known sites for B.bifurcatum: a site at Guanella Pass in the Arapaho National Forest had 17 plants; a site at the San Isabel National Forest had 12 plants; and one plant was discovered west of Boulder.

Now Buckskin Creek can be added to the short list of B.bifurcatum plants that exist in Colorado. And, so far, this is all of them in the entire world—making them exceptionally rare.

The gold placer mine on Buckskin Creek is scheduled to be reclaimed and returned to its natural state. Prior to reclamation work, a survey of the ground discovered a few B. bifurcatum plants growing in the shade of a large cinquefoil bush. Each fern was carefully flagged so that proposed reclamation service roads could be rerouted around these rare plants.

All species of Botrychium are uncommon in Colorado and are generally very small plants—most never exceed three or four inches, which make them hard to find, but when found these curious plants are fun to look at and provide a good measure of enjoyment.

References:

Colorado Rare Plant Technical Committee. Second Annual Rare Plant Symposium. Pagosa Springs. September 16,2005.

The 3rd Annual Colorado Rare Plant Society Meeting Minutes, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, September 8, 2006.

Alma Study Group Tours Buckskin Gulch July 10, 2010

2010-07-11T13:16:00.000-07:00

The Alma Study Group conducted a tour of Buckskin Gulch. The tour started at the Buckskin Cemetery where we met a number of people from Alma.

The Buckskin Cemetery is located about 1.2 miles west of the Town of Alma just off Park County Rd. 10. The wooded cemetery's graves are located without much organization. Some grave markers predate the dedication of the land by President Roosevelt in 1902. A number of graves are marked only with 2 sticks tied together to create a crude cross, others are unmarked, and some have granite or marble headstones inside metal or wooden fencing. Originally, the cemetery was the last stop for people who had lived in the town of Buckskin or worked in Buckskin Gulch.

According to legend a smallpox epidemic struck Buckskin. Overnight the miners and their families became very sick. Wagons hauled the dead each day to the cemetery. Business stood still and the saloons were silent. There was a desperate need to tend the sick. A dance hall girl that never gave her real name, but was known as Silverheels, met that need and went from cabin to cabin caring for the sick and dying. Those who survived were left with pitted and scarred faces. Silverheels was soon overtaken by smallpox and was in turn cared for by the surviving townspeople.

A Colorado Columbine marks an unknown grave

Eventually the epidemic passed and mining resumed. The heroism of Silverheels did not go unnoticed. According to the story often told and long remembered, the miners collected some money and went directly to Silverheel’s cabin to present her the money. Silverheels was gone—there was no trace of her. She did not want to be found; her face had been horribly marked with scars of smallpox and her beauty had been sacrificed for the sick and dying of Buckskin Joe. The money was returned to the donors, and a mountain was named in her honor—a lasting tribute to Silverheels.

Today nothing remains of the town of Buckskin Joe. Gone are the streets, saloons, gamblers, and miners. Some of the gold remains hidden in the gravels, waiting for discovery by recreational gold panners. But not everyone is gone—some say that a veiled woman walks through the Buckskin Joe cemetery on certain dark nights, caring for the graves of stricken miners who died so long ago of smallpox, a woman whose name was never really known.

Original watercolor of the Paris Mill by Marge Breth

After the cemetery visit, we then made our way up the gulch to the Paris Mill. We were taken inside to see the stamp and ball mills. Constructed in 1894, the Paris Mill is a large multi-level structure with aerial tramway connections to mines in the mountain above. The Paris Mine was one of the richest strikes in the Alma District, producing gold, silver and lead ore for decades. Time, and the unstable price of minerals, forced the closing of the mine and mill in 1951, following nearly 100 years of operation.

Five Stamp Mill

The mill was activated again briefly in the 1970s by the Mount Bross Mining Company to re-process old mine waste piles, but was effectively abandoned shortly thereafter. Most of the original equipment is still in place, although partially vandalized and stripped. Originally powered by a steam engine that drove a leather belt drive shaft to run equipment throughout the mill, it was converted to steam-electric operation after the turn of the century. Many of the old drive shafts, giant belt wheels, electric motors and motor mounts are still in place, although all the valuable copper has been stripped. The machinery still contained in the building is representative of several different generations and methodologies. Present in the mill building are a stamp mill, ball mill and a rod mill. The stamps, partly disassembled, are rare in Colorado mills.

Ball Mill

Based on the history of the Paris Mill in the Park County Historical Archives, a story of boom and bust, like so many mining operations, is to be found. Changes in ownership, management, lack of coal, wood or water, conversions to various ore processing methods all played into both the operation and closure of the mill and mine over and over again.

The Nature of the Blog and the Blogosphere

2010-07-07T14:29:00.000-07:00

The Colorado Earth Science Blog started out to coordinate the work of the Lake George Gem and Mineral Club's Alma Study Project in 2010. Through this blog, I can publish short status updates, coordinate team efforts, and provide information on field trips.

The defining feature of a blog (when compared to a webpage) is that it allows readers to leave comments or start a dialogue with the blogger. This is why I created the Colorado Earth Science blog. Through this blog we can exchange new ideas about our project. One of our tasks was to take a unique look at the prospectors, miners, adventurers, fortune seekers, and others who came to this area. By studying these people we can look at human nature for sensitivities that strike a chord in all of us—such as the old woman that died from starvation, alone in her Timberline Town cabin during a frigid and snowy winter in Buckskin Gulch. There are other stories like this in the old newspapers of the period—tales of gunfights, hangings, and rich gold strikes—that will enhance our understanding of what happened here and trigger our curiosity to dig deeper. We really want those who look at our final presentations to get a sense of what it was like and what people experienced.

We have completed the project and successfully mixed the geology, mineralogy, mining, history, and the stories of people together for a solid representation of the Greater Alma District during the mid- to late 1800s.

There were two important deliverables out of this project:
1. The project group presented a slide show of our work at the town hall in September, 2010 and then provided field trips up Buckskin Gulch. Admission was charged and we were able to raise money for the Alma Foundation and the Mosquito Range Heritage Initiative. The town of Alma was pleased with the results, and they are going to organize a mining heritage program next year around our research. The town plans to make this an annual event to raise money for the two programs.

2. The results of our work was also presented at the New Mexico Mineral Symposium held at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology November 13, 2010. An expanded abstract was written by the group. All participants were listed as coauthors. The symposium published all the abstracts and distributed them to all of the attendees. The expanded abstract will also be published in New Mexico Geology in 2011.

Since the project has been completed, I have used this blog to portray the interesting geology of the Pikes Peak Region, Colorado. I look forward to sharing this with the blogosphere.

Tips on Internet Searching

2010-07-04T11:06:00.000-07:00

When I conduct research for my writing projects I use Google. I am comfortable using it and have found it to work well for my needs. Currently, the top three search engines are Google, Yahoo Search, and Live Search. You probably have your favorite one.

To dig deeper, I will also use metasearch engines or MSEs. Metasearch engines return results from a combination of search engines—a very powerful way to look deep into the subject you are investigating. Popular metasearch engines include Dogpile, Clusty, ixQuick, and iBoogie.

The metasearch engine Dogpile includes results from Google, Yahoo Search, Live Search, and Ask, providing—a very wide-ranging crawl in cyberspace. Other metasearch engines may use different combinations of search engines to provide results.

Traditional search engines return hits in a vertical list ranked in order of relevance to keywords or the search query entered. Metasearch engines often return horizontal lists that presents terms and options related to the keyword query. The use of a metasearch engine is particularly useful for unfamiliar topics since the horizontal list breaks down the subject into topics. It is like a smorgasbord—you can pick what you need, and the topics presented might expose you to something you did not think about in your earlier research activities. You should really try this.

Another advantage of MSEs is that a search can be customized for the kind of results required. A specific search query can be customized to return results in such as: images, music, Web pages, news, blogs, people, or certain types of documents (pdf. files, Power Point, Excel, and so forth).

Search engines are always improving, almost on a daily basis with advances in technology, making searches easier and more exciting for users. Instead of picking the keyword in a research problem, some search utilities allow you to enter a question, such as “how is peridot formed?” Ask.com and Answers.com are two such search engines where questions can be entered for searching.

Today search engines return more multimedia (text, data, images, voice, and video objects) results. Kartoo is a search engine that, instead of providing either vertical or horizontal lists, returns a map of interconnected Web sites. Blinkx.com is a specialized search engine that locates multimedia, especially video content, on the Internet. Podscope.com returns lists of video, audio, or a combination of the two formats.

Scoopler.com presents the Internet as it happens—NOW, by gathering the news. It also returns breaking news and commentary from around the globe . Kosmix is a search engine that brings content throughout the Internet. Search results are returned in the format of a newspaper page divided into columns that includes such things as: news, videos, articles, interviews, quick facts and more.

Today search engines can truly advance the work of writers and researchers to a remarkable degree. Check these different search engines for your work on the Alma Mining District Project.

Arrastras at Buckskin

2010-04-07T20:15:00.000-07:00

This arrastra lies on the south side of the road, about a mile beyond the townsite. An arrastra is a stone basin where a large stone (“muller”) was fastened to a horizontal arm and wheel. A man or mule walked around the basin, dragging the stone weight which would grind the ore rock. Water from the Buckskin Creek ran into the basin and washed the pulverized rock and gravel, leaving the heavier gold in the bottom of the basin. Miners then excitedly scooped out the gold. Photo by Lin Smith. Photo date 2009.

To the right is a closeup of the center of the arrastra.

Amethyst crystals found at the Buckskin Mining District

2010-04-04T09:57:00.000-07:00

Recently a member of the Lake George Gem and Mineral Club took to the field to search for rocks and minerals from the Buckskin Mining District. The District was established in 1859 when this part of Colorado was still part of Kansas Territory. Buckskin Creek was a source of gold nuggets. The gold played out in a few years. Silver was later found in the upper reaches of the gulch.

This silver ore specimen contains a void that is lines with
amethyst quartz crystals. The area is noted for its silver
production.

Brecciated Silver Ore from the Alma District

2010-04-04T09:47:00.000-07:00

Rounded fragments are held by a cementing matrix

One of our our study members found this unsual ore specimen that reveals brecciation. Note the small, rounded clasts.

Breccia is a rock composed of fragments of minerals or rocks in a matrix (cementing material). The fragments in this specimen are different from the composition of the matrix. This may be a hydrothermal breccia. This type of breccia is formed in a void along a fault underground. The void draws in hot water that violently boils--like an underground geyser. Rock at sides of the fault fall inwards and the broken rock gets caught up in a churning mixture of rock, steam and boiling water. The rock fragments hit each other and sides of the fault which quickly rounds the once angular breccia. fragments.