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EL GAMBRISINOGem Crafters & Explorer's Club Bulletin,

P.O. BOX 3091, Las Cruces, NM 88003Oct. 2013 - Volume 55 Issue 9

Affiliated with: American Federation of Mineralogical Societies www.amfed.org Member of: Rocky Mountain Federation of Mineralogical Societies www.rmfms.org Member of: Blue Ribbon Coalition www.sharetrails.org

2013 OFFICERS & volunteers :

President Cookie Saathoff 382-3464 [email protected] Vice President Sheri Gaines 526-7176 [email protected] Treasurer Pat Grace 202-2862 [email protected] Secretary - Brenda Gadberry 202-0200 [email protected] Refreshments - Patti Pickert 532-9351 [email protected] Historian - Don Saathoff 382-3464 [email protected]

Programs Eric Fuller 524-0204 [email protected] Field Trip Director- Eric Fuller 524-0204 [email protected] Editor- Maxine Wyman 649-4900 [email protected]

We meet on the third Friday of the month at Gardiner Hall, Room 118, NMSU campus, Las Cruces, NMat 6:30 pm for social and 7 pm for the meeting. There are no meetings in July and December. Duesare $10 per adult per year and each additional family member under eighteen is $2 per year. They aredue Jan.1st of each year. A membership form will be emailed or mailed to you in December to be filledout and returned with your check to the treasurer. There are no regular committees or board meetingsnor do we sponsor a show.

Our purpose shall be to gather knowledge and provide educationalbenefits to members on geological, archaeological, lapidary, andmineralogical topics of interest, to include assistance to members inall lapidary problems, the study and identification of minerals and gemstones in the rough, the field study of geological formations whichproduce minerals and gem stones, the collection of minerals andgemstones, and the exploration of any geological or archaeological topic or area which may be of interest to the membership .

NOTE: All articles and photographs are by the Editor Maxine Wymanunless otherwise noted. Any address or email changes must be sent tome at: [email protected] or 4680 St. Michaels, Las Cruces, NM 88011.

Permission to reprint is granted if acknowledgement is given.We reserve the right to edit all material submitted for publication

Info for the Newsletter: If you have information, articles, pictures or a website related to gem crafting, rock collectingor exploring and would like to share please give me a call at 649-4900 or email me at [email protected] If youhave a good idea or story to tell I will be more than happy to help you write it up. Also if you have minerals, outdooror camping equipment, etc. that you would like to sell please let me know for our FREE "Classifieds ."Maxine Wyman, Editor

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Gemcrafters and Explorers Club "EL Gambrisino" Oct. 2013 - 2 -

Meeting Minutes Sep. 20, 2013Submitted by Secretary Brenda Gadberry

Speaker : Keith Austin with Austin's Fine Jewelryspoke on "The History of Rings".

Visitors: Kathy Austin

Treasurer's Report: Total $806.29 after "Blue RibbonCoalition" membership dues are paid.

Old Business: Club voted and approved $245.00 tosupply club's radios with eight batteries.

Nominating Committee: Lee Attaway, Eric & KathyFuller, and Mitch Mauer.

Day Trip: Mt. Tunuco cancelled and changed toOrogrande on September 21 st ; meet at 8:00am atMcDonalds on University. Email with details has beensent to club members.

Campout: Eric and Kathy Fuller will lead a campouton October 11, 12, 13, & 14 in the Burro Mountains;details will be emailed to club members. Eric willprovide details and discuss a November campoutschedule at the October meeting.

Mineral Meeting: Wednesday, September 25th, gatesopen at 6:30pm. Topic of discussion, hexagonal crystalsystem. If you need directions, contact Don Saathoff.

Announcements: 1) Call Doug or Alice Hall at 575-644-2288 if interested

in purchasing a 1990 TRS 300, ATV for $1600.2) October 5th at the Beverly Hills Hall will be the 3rdAnnual fund raiser by HSR. Buffalo roast dinner, lotsof fun and entertainment. Tickets are $30.00 perperson. Topic: Spanish Hunting Techniques of the 18thand 19th century. Call Kathy Fuller for tickets andinformation.

NM Mineral Symposium: Mineral Symposium inSocorro, November 9 & 10. If you need moreinformation visit their websiteat: http://geoinfo.nmt.edu/museum/minsymp/home.cfm

Mineral Shows: Please check the back page of our"News Letter".

General: Club's officers would appreciate input fromthe club concerning a venue for the club's 2013Christmas Party. Keep in mind the size of our club andthe cost of the venue.

Program Notes Sep. 20, 2013

Keith Austin

Our speaker in September was Keith Austin owner ofAustin Jewelers and Ring Museum here in Las Cruces.Mr. Austin is a gemologist, an avid ring collector anddriver of a cool 1956 Pontiac delivery van. He spoke tous about his unique Ring Museum thought to be theworlds only museum dedicated 100% to rings.

The program got off to a rousing start with the playingof the Lone Ranger theme, a picture of the LoneRanger, and the Lone Ranger rings including the LoneRanger Atomic Ring. It was an auspicious beginningfor a section on childrens rings from the early days of

radio & CrackerJacks. What avariety there was. Itbrought back manymemories to a lot ofus seniors.

Shown was the first

souvenir ring whichis from the

Columbia Expo and known as the Isabella ring datingback to 1893. This ring included the original box andpaper work which is extremely rare. There was also alarge selection of World Fair rings from height of thefairs in the 1930 & 1940s.

One of the hottest collectables in the market today isanything that has to do with Superman and he hasSuperman rings from the 1940s.

The Border Service Rings from Camp Furlong, 1916 to

1917, at Columbus, NM were very interesting. Troopswere sent from Fort Bliss when Poncho Villa invadedColumbus. The soldiers were from mainly theNortheastern part of our country. Each unit had theirown rings which were not supplied by the military butwere purchased from individual companies by thesoldiers. Many examples of these rings were shown.

Native American Rings, the basic tribes shown werethe Navajo from 1880-1920, the Zuni with their inlaywork, and the Hopi which was all silver. This collectionis awesome. He brought along one of the Navajo rings

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Mule Creek Campout ReportBy Brenda Gadberry

Photos by Alan & Brenda Gadberry

August 30th through September 2nd, was aGemcrafter's and Explorers Club campout at MuleCreek led by Eric and Kathy Fuller and joined byeleven other people who enjoyed beautiful scenery,exploring, nice hikes, campfires laughter, drinks, greatfood, friends and cool to warm weather.

The Mule Creek landscape had beautiful rolling greenhills with trees and tall grass with mountains in thebackground. The exploration site we were lead to bythe Fuller's the first day had beautiful tall pine trees, arocky terrain mixed with knee high grass, and waterthat had settled at the bottom of large weatheredboulders and streambeds from the previous day'srainfall.

On Saturday, the Fuller's took us to a place where

there was an open field to our left and forest to theright. We were all excited to leave our vehicles andexplore this beautiful green area.

A couple of hours later, all but one explorer returned tothe rondevu site, there was concern, but no panic thathe might be lost. The Fuller's looked through thewoods and we honked horns, but the hiker neverreturned to his vehicle. We left a note on his vehicleletting him know that we had moved on and where hecould find us just in case he did return and wasn't lost.NOTE: There were no batteries for the club's handheld radios so communicating with our missing

companion via radio was not an option. This turnedout to be quit a day for this hiker who was lost for aboutfive to six hours.

After hours had past and no sign of our lost friend, theFuller's sprung into search and rescue action. TheFuller's went back to the location where our friend waslast seen. Eric used his only form of possible distancecommunications with our missing friend and fired hisgun into the air. Eric and Kathy could hear return gunfire off in the distance. Eric fired another shot andcould hear another gun fire off in the distance. With thisrepeated process, Eric determined this must be ourmissing friend.

Meanwhile, back at camp, Alan and I had left our radioon in the truck and I happened to hear Eric ask foranybody at camp who could hear him, to pleaserespond. Eric had determined that our friend was atthe old mill in the direction of the abandoned school

bus and asked that someone from camp go check itout while he waited by the missing person's vehicle.Alan, not knowing where the abandoned school busby the old mill was, asked if there was anybody who

was familiar with the area and would they take himthere. Jannette Hale jumped into her truck with Alanand Dorian Rudin jumped on his ATV and headedtoward the mill.

About an hour later, Jannette and Alan returned tocamp and reported that Dorian found our friend (ArtMaya) in the streambed by the old mill and was taking

him back to his vehicle. Alan laughed and said"Jannette is not afraid of driving that truck !" Headded, when they got to the "narrow" streambed withlarge boulders on each side, Jannette pulled in hermirrors and was going in like she was Luke Skywalkernavigating his ship through the narrow confines of the"Death Star". Alan put his seatbelts on and suggestedto Jannette not to go any further, but allow Dorian to goin on his ATV...way to drive, Jannette!

Art and Dorian returned to camp about an hour later.Art told the tale of following Julie Uhl off into the woodswhere she walked off and left him. He proceeded tostep on a rattlesnake, panicked, fell down a hill, didn'tknow where the snake was, was not going back wherehe thought the snake might be, got turned around andwalked for miles. After hours had passed, Art said hewent into survival mode looking for shelter andgathering firewood. He had food in is pack, and a firestarter, but no water purification.

I personally feel that getting lost could happen to me oranybody when exploring new areas. What would youdo? I personally do not carry a gun, socommunicating with guns are out. I will carry a clubradio from here on out, if there are enough to goaround. Communicating is something for all of us tothink about. Maybe we don't get lost, but maybe weget hurt and need assistance. Maybe we don't walkvery far, but our companions do. We need to allseriously think about a way to communicate longdistances with others in case of emergencies.

The next day, Al Spencer, Alan, and I found nicequartz crystals/scepters in a streambed in about a 20foot area. Both Al and Alan think that somebodydumped a bag of crystals since they couldn't find themanywhere else...who knows?

The next day, Spencer showed us a book with a map

to the location where two inch apache tears have beenfound (obsidian nodules). So, Spencer, Bob & WilmaHutson, Alan and I ventured out to find these two inchapache tears. We were successful, and came backwith more than we should have picked-up. Everybodyhad a great time, even Art and we are all lookingforward to going back soon. Thank you Eric and Kathyfor leading us onward and outward!

Photos on page 5.

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Liz & Dorian Rudin, Brenda Gadberry, Julia Uhl & Art Maya

Amethyst Quartz Crystal Pocket from Mule Creek

Kathy Fuller & Brenda

Julie Uhl, Alan Gadberry & Art Maya

ALS MULE CREEK ADDENDUMBy Al Spencer

This is a little update to the end of the Mule Creekcampout. As I was driving away from camp at about 9am a large and beautiful Mountain Lion glided acrossthe road about 50 feet in front of me. He looked like hewas in his prime and rather uninterested in me.....or the

jeep. Its nice to see that some wild life still lives.

Then on to Turkey creek and the quest for greenfluorite. I found the canyon??? and started walking upto the mine finding pieces of fluorite along theway....every half mile or so....just enough to keep meclimbing. Then an impassible dam in the canyon????WTF??? Wrong canyon!!!! But it was still rather cooland easy climbing so I decided to circumvent the damby climbing up the side wall. Over and around!

Continuing upstream I finally arrived at a differentfluorite mine, and although it didnt have the cleargreen and purple vein inside, I didnt go inside thevertical shaft, it had lots more blue-green-mint coloredfluorite lying around the dump. I loaded up and headedback. By now it is hot and of course I have a load andneed to figure the route back around the damn dam! Ifinally made it back to the jeep and headed to SilverCity. Near the top of the mountain I saw the oddestcreature....a White faced Coati (Coatimundi). Helooked like a monkey running, had a teddy bear faceand hid behind a thin tree looking at me looking at him.We enjoyed each other's gaze and then he headedover the side and disappeared. Guess he didnt enjoyMY face that much!!

So, I have a nice batch of Apache tears, some crystalsand a few scepter want-to-bees, and a load of fluorite.Next trip I will focus on gathering amethyst scepters,fire agate, chalcedony ears, and large quartz crystals,and avoiding the large Mountain Lion at dinner time !

It was a great place to camp with trees and grass andROCKS and of course good company.

Best, al spencer

Another Case of Bad Judgment

The abdomen, the chest, and the brain will foreverbe shut from the intrusion of the wise and humane

surgeonSir John Eric Ericksen, British surgeon, appointed

Surgeon-Extraordinary to Queen Victoria 1873

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A SHORT VISIT TO THE SAN JUANSBy Maxine Wyman

August and its Train Fest time in Durango andSilverton, Colorado and so Jim and I drove up from theheat of the desert to the coolness of the San Juans

The Galloping Goose

to ride the steam train and the Galloping Goose . Aftertwo days of riding trains we drove back to Silvertonwhere we planned on meeting up with some of the rockclub that were up for the Big Band Bash which wasgoing on in Silverton at the same time as the TrainFest. Instead we ran into two other friends from LasCruces who were vacationing there. They like to drivethe trails as well as we do and they suggested a trip tothe Arrastra Gulch which neither of us had drivenbefore and where they had seen some Mountain Goatsthe year before. Alas, we had driven my GrandCherokee as this was to be strictly a road (cementroads) trip with NO off road driving. Well, you canguess how that went, so off we drove.

The Black Prince mine & camp area

It turned out to be a great ride and we wound up at theLittle Giant Basin above the tree line. There wereremnants of tram towers in the trees along the way(photo ops) and we stopped and did some exploring at

the Black Prince Mine and Camp. There werenumerous long vacant buildings to check out andphotograph. The mining company had built them in1915 as living quarters for its workers.

There werent any mountain goats to be seen but whilewandering around the site I kept seeing these cute littlemouse like animals which I later learned were Pikas.

The little guys were busy cutting grasses and plantsand taking them to their stash. In the meantime someof them were letting go with their well-known highpitched whistle telling us to get out of there. How could

This little Pika is telling me to back off in no uncertainterms.

anyone not love them? I did get one shot of a Marmotbut they were a lot more skittish than the Pikas.

Then it was onward and upward to above the tree lineto the Big Giant Basin/Contention Mine at the LittleGiant Basin. All that was left of the Contention TramHouse is shown in this picture.

The Giant Basin/Contention Tram House

A short distance past the Contention we arrived at theLittle Giant Basin which is beautiful with its blackvolcanic rocks and green grass and its lovely GoldLake. The Lake at one time supplied the water for themining ops. The Lake was calm and mirrored the

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mountain and clouds. We spotted one adit but didntclimb up to explore the elevation being over twelvethousand feet (pant, pant) which is about eightthousand feet more than home. Many more photoswere taken all the while looking around for anyinteresting rocks. We gathered a few pieces of Quartzand Calcite for mementos.

The small but beautiful Gold Lake

Arriving back at the main road we found Pat & Tonyfrom our Rock Club. They had rented a fancy side byside and were having fun until they couldnt figure outhow to get to a fluorite mine (I didnt catch the name of)that they had read about. You know the routine;everyone had maps and the three men gathered, nowomen allowed, and spent some time in discussion. Inthe meantime Pat and I took pictures of the beautiful

This Amanita muscaria is just coming up

but very deadly Amanita muscaria mushrooms whichwere growing beside their ATV. The men finallydecided that the road to the mine was way back downthe main road. We wished them luck and said ourgood-byes then headed for the Eureka Gulch and thefamed Sunnyside gold Mine.

The Eureka Gulch is one of my favorite drives, the highmountains, narrow valley, and many waterfalls are

breathtaking even though our trail book author said itwas a boring drive. How jaded he must be. We arrivedat the now reclaimed Sunnyside Gold Mine wherethere isnt much left of it to be seen anymore. Theelevation at the mine was some twelve thousand fourhundred feet. We looked around for a bit and while wedidnt find any gold (: we did manage to pick up somesmall pieces of Rhodonite which were quite nice. I

could have spent the whole day doing that but timewas running out and everyone else was hungry so weheaded back to Silverton and Handlebars for dinner.

Jim & WJ in front of one of the closed up entrances

It was a great day, we seen some beautiful country thatwas new to us, I took way to many pictures (wellmaybe not too many) and I must tell you that the GrandCherokee handled the narrow, rocky mountain roadswith no problem. We had to leave in the morning andwe never did meet up with the Club group. Did Imention there is no cell service in most places upthere?

Its all in the Spelling

CARAT - a standard unit of mass used for precious stones,especially diamonds, is equal to 200 milligrams.KARAT - a unit of proportion of gold in an alloy equal to 1 /24 part of pure gold.CARET - a mark on printed or manuscript material to showwhere something such as a letter or word should be inserted.In the United States, the caret is usually made just under theline. Other cultures invert the caret and place it above theline.CARROT - Bugs Bunnys favorite food!

Via Scribe July-Sept. 2013

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Treasure of Victorio PeakBy Jack Staley

pseudonym is John Clarence

Jack Staley spoke to us in October of 2009. He spokeon his research into the gold treasure supposedlyfound by Doc Noss. At that time he had spent fiveyears researching the subject and was in the processof writing the first book of the trilogy. Eric Fuller sent usthe link to the web site www.victoriopeak.com . .

After 8 years of research and writing, the Victorio Peaksaga is finally available in hardcover and EBookformats. The hardcover books are for sale and thereare links to the eBooks, which are more reasonablypriced. They are presented in a three-book sequelentitled the Gold House Trilogy .

Reviews by prominent authors and scholars, whosupport the charges we leveled against thegovernment, are overwhelmingly supportive. Inaddition to the trilogy, we are about finished with aninteractive document record file compatible with thehardback books. Because of the formatting and pagesequencing in the eBook versions they will not beuseable. The document record file has never beenseen before, but for those who have hardback books,they are extraordinarily helpful in seeing the proof ofthe allegations made in the books. I am attaching asample of what you will see in the document recordfile. Please be advised that the interactive file relates tobook 2 only. The proof is overwhelming that theVictorio Peak treasure was real and the military andother stole much of it.

The Gold House books are packed with photos,endnotes, and an index. Each book is available onNook , Kobo , Amazon -Kindle , iBookstore , and in alimited hardback first edition. Please go to the VictorioPeak website for complete information:www.victoriopeak.com

Here is the subject matter of each book:

Book 1 , The Discovery , covers the years when Docand Ova Noss lived at their campsite in the HembrilloBasin, before and after they discovered the treasure

inside Victorio Peak. The Discovery details the eventsthat took place in that time period: the discovery itself,the turbulent lives of Doc and Ova, the sequence ofevents that led to Docs murder, Ova's removal fromthe Peak by the military in 1955, and events thatoccurred through 1958.

Book 2, The Lies, The Thefts , is a highly-documented account covering the years 1958 to 1978when the treasure was being plundered by military andcivilian personnel who were empowered by people at

the highest levels of our government. Intrigue,documented thefts, lies, cover-ups, and murder are theunderpinnings of this astonishing expos. Names,dates, places, photos, and documents prove the caseagainst the government and others.

Book 3, Executive Order , spans the years from 1979to 2000 when Terry Delonas, Ova Nosss grandson,

mounted an expedition to recover what remained of thetreasure. This book separates the facts from the liesand meticulously details the corruption and the crimescommitted by the military at White Sands MissileRange to cripple the expedition, including, but notlimited to: lies and deceit, false and deliberateoverbillings, and illegal changes to the expeditionsagreed-upon license contract are cited.

Many of the scholars and bestselling authors who havereviewed the books have urged us to submit the booksto The Pulitzer Prize Board and Jurors forconsideration. The books were delivered last week.

We are scheduled to do a few radio talk shows in thenear future and I will be glad to advise Gemcraftersand Explorers Club members on the dates and theradio stations involved.

The following is an example of a document record:

1.600 The First Agreement 1-9-74 - page 1 Endnote 410Page 439 copy.jpg 103K View Download 1.701 The First Agreement - page 2 Endnote 410 Page439 copy.pdf 141K View Download

1.702 The First Agreement - page 3 Endnote 410Page 445-446 copy.pdf 245K View Download 3.300 The First Agreement - page 4 Endnote 410Page 456 copy.pdf 120K View Download 3.301 The First Agreement - page 5 Endnote 410Page 456 copy.pdf 110K View Download 7.000 McGregor Gate in 1974 Page 614, 615, 616copy.pdf 792K View Download

Note :The signed sets are not available from our website.They have to be ordered from me personally throughmy email address. [email protected]

Some Wisdom from the Farm

Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a raindance.Good judgment comes from experience, and a lottathat comes from bad judgment.When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty.It dont take a very big person to carry a grudge.Life is simpler when you plow around the stump .

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MORE BENCH TIPS FROM BRAD SMITH

JUST SAY NO TO OPTIVISORS .During his annual vision-check, a jeweler friend of minewondered why not have his reading glasses made withbifocals that would magnify the same as theOptivisors? So he asked the ophthalmologist if hecould add around +2.00 diopters into bifocals. Thedoctor checked with his supervisor and came back allexcited. They all agreed that it was a great idea andeven gave him a special device to measure how far heholds a jewelry piece from his eye, to get the focaldistance exactly right. So if all goes well, no moresweaty, bulky optivisors! Anyone else tried this?

MANDRELSStraight rod mandrels have a multitude of uses inhelping to bend sheet and wire. Frequently we choosea round rod for winding jump rings. Common sourcesfor different sized rods are knitting needles, wooden

dowels and clothes hangers. Metal rods can also befound in hardware stores and hobby shops.

But to get the right "look" in chain maile designs, youmust have just the right size mandrel, and often theyare not easy to find. Jewelry catalogs sell selections ofstraight rod mandrels for $50 or more, but my choice isfrom Harbor Freight. They have a set of 28 sizes, from3/32 inch to 1/2 inch, for under ten bucks. It's called aTransfer Punch Set. The catalog number is #3577, andthe price is $ 9.95. Plus, look for the 20% off couponon any one item in their advertising circular. That cutsyour cost to around eight bucks. I've bought four of

these over the last couple years .www.harborfreight.com

More Bench Tips by Brad Smith are atfacebook.com/BenchTips/ or see the book"Bench Tips for Jewelry Making " on Amazon

Camping HintsFrom " Petroglyphs: June 2001

(Source not identified)

When using a public campground, a tuba placedon your picnic table will keep the campsites on

either side vacant. Get even with a bear who raided your food bag by

kicking his favorite stump apart and eating all theants.

A hot rock placed in your sleeping bag will keepyour feet warm. A hot enchilada works almost aswell, but the cheese sticks between your toes.

The best backpacks are named for national parksor mountain ranges. Steer clear of those named forlandfills.

While the Swiss Army Knife has been popular foryears, the Swiss Navy Knife has remained largelyunheralded. Its single blade functions as a tinycanoe paddle.

Lint from your navel makes a handy fire starter.Warning: Remove lint from navel before applyingthe match.

You can duplicate the warmth of a down-filledbedroll by climbing into a plastic garbage bag withseveral geese.

Take this simple test to see if you qualify for solocamping. Shine a flashlight into one ear. If thebeam shines out the other ear, do not go into thewoods alone.

A two-man pup tent does not include two men or apup.

A potato baked in the coals for one hour makes anexcellent side dish. A potato baked in the coals forthree hours makes an excellent hockey puck.

In emergency situations, you can survive in thewilderness by shooting small game with a slingshotmade from the elastic waistband of yourunderwear.

The guitar of the noisy teenager at the nextcampsite makes excellent kindling.

The sight of a bald eagle has thrilled campers forgenerations. The sight of a bald man, however,does absolutely nothing for the eagle.

In an emergency, a drawstring from a parka hoodcan be used to strangle a snoring tent mate.

Via The Rock Bag 8/01

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FULGURITEBy Layna Palmer,

www.Wire-Sculpture.comIt is a Gem Profile on their Blog.

Permission granted to use.

I love a good rain storm, and if you look at the weatherreports for this region you already know how badly we

need one. Im not talking about the gentle little pitter-patter rain or the drizzle for days type either. I mean agood ol booming desert storm that rolls in during theafternoon, dumps copious amounts of water for 20-30minutes while making all the noise it can, and then justas quickly dissipates leaving everything greener andsmelling fresh and new. I love watching the lightningflash across the sky, hearing the thunder roll and echoas it bounces off the mountains and seeing the riversof water in the road as the earth soaks up the much-needed moisture.

What is Fulgurite?

I think what gives these storms their impressive noiseand power is the lightning that builds and discharges,creating an amazing show of Mother Natures might.When lightning strikes the ground, however, it can

cause both destruction and also createsomething amazing as it becomes frozenin the ground as Fulgurite, which is Latinfor thunderbolt.

Lightning strikes at a temperature ofaround 3270 degrees Fahrenheit creatingenough heat to instantly transform high

silica and quartz soil to glass around theimmediate area of the strike. These tubesare smooth on the inside and aresurrounded by partially melted and fusedsoil on the outside. Though not veryattractive in an aesthetic definition, theyare beautiful nonetheless.

A single Fulgurite

Why is it so unique?

So, is a Fulgurite created every time lightning strikesthe ground? The answer would be, probably not.Researchers from the University of Florida Dept. ofElectrical and Computer engineering have beenstudying the effects of lightning on power lines aboveand below the ground at their research facility at CampBlanding near Starke Florida since 1994. Their findingshave been that lighting will blow sand up; it will eatthe soil, and will sometimes form a Fulgurite. Theyhave found that the higher the silica and quartz contentof soil and the more densely it is packed, the morelikely it is to create a Fulgurite.

Researchers have also found that lightning will strikethe ground and then travel to the water table,sometimes branching out under ground for a few feetbefore it stops. In 1996, they found a very largeFulgurite that has set a world record for its size.

Florida boasts the greatest number of Fulgurite sincethat state also has some of the highest number of

lightning strikes with 10-15 strikes per square kilometereach year. Fulgurites have also been found on the topsof some of the worlds higher mountains like the Alps,Sierra Nevadas, Cascades, Wasatch and Uintamountain ranges.

Fulgurites created in nature canrange anywhere from a couple ofinches to several feet with athickness from that of a drinkingstraw to several inches indiameter. You can even createFulgurite in a lab setting bypassing (arcing) electricity aninch or two in length.

Stereoscopic picture: a small tube Fulgurite and a moreirregular one .

Wrapping it up.

Now, before you go out in a thunderstorm looking forlightning to strike the ground so you can dig up yourown piece of it, remember that not every strike createsa fulgurite and not every soil is ideal for its creation.Lightning also travels at about 140,000 miles per hourand can reach temperatures rivaling that of the surfaceof the sun. It can also send you back in timeso becareful. As for me? Im going to sit back in my air-conditioned home and hope those clouds on thehorizon are here to give us some rain, some thunderand maybe a few Fulgurite.

Resources: Floridas Fantastic Fulgurite Find A Complete study of Fulgurite Additional data on the creation of Fulgurite

Via The Voice 09-2013

There comes a time in a mans life, and Ive hadplenty of them.

Casey Stengel

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Gemcrafters and Explorers Club "EL Gambrisino" Sept. 2013 - 11 -

UP COMING SHOW Dates:

OCT 4-6ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO : Annual show; Albuquerque Gem & Mineral Club; NM St. Fairgrounds, Creative ArtsCenter; 300 San Pedro NE; Fri. 9-5, Sat. 9-5, Sun. 9-5; free admission; 65 dealers, gems, minerals, fossils, meteorites, jewelry, cutstones, crystals, books, equipment, tools; contact Amy Penn, 2324 Alvarado Dr. NE, Albuquerque, NM 87110, (505) 883-4195; e-mail: [email protected] ; Web site: www.agmc.info OCT 12-13SIERRA VISTA, ARIZONA : 39th Annual Show; Huachuca Mineral & Gem Club; Cochise College; 901 N. ColomboAve.; Sat. 9-5, Sun. 10-4; free admission; raffle, silent auction, gems, jewelry, lapidary supplies, fluorescent display, geode cutting;contact Maudie Bailey, 5036 S. San Carlos Ave., Sierra Vista, AZ 85650, (520) 249-1541; e-mail: [email protected] ; Web site:www.huachucamineralandgemclub.info NOV 2-3OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA : Biennial Show; Oklahoma Mineral & Gem Society; Oklahoma State Fair Park;Modern Living Bldg.; Sat. 9-6, Sun. 9-5; adults and students (13 and up) $6, children (12 and under) free; displays, minerals, gems,

jewelry, fossils, fluorescent room, children's activities, dealers, finished jewelry, beads, gemstones, rough rock, slabs, mineralspecimens, geodes, equipment, supplies, demonstrations, silver smithing, beading, cutting and polishing rocks and gems, wirewrapping, jewelry making, flint knapping, metal engraving, silent auction, door prizes; contact Dale Moore, 12352 Spring Circle,Guthrie, OK 73044, (405) 834-0765; e-mail: [email protected] DEC 6-8EL PASO, TEXAS : Annual show; El Paso Mineral & Gem Society; El Maida Auditorium; 6331 Alabama; Fri. 10-6,Sat. 10-6, Sun. 10-5; adults and students $3, seniors $2, children (under 12) free; gems, minerals, fossils, beads, jewelry,tools, books, equipment, geode cutting, silent auction, demonstrations; contact Jeannette Carrillo, 4100 Alameda Ave., ElPaso, TX 79905, (877) 533-7153; e-mail: [email protected] JAN 1-28QUARTZSITE , ARIZONA: Wholesale and retail show; Desert Gardens RV Park; Desert Gardens RV Park; 1064Kuehn St., I-10 Exit 17; Daily 10-6; free admission; Arkansas quartz crystals, rough and polished minerals, fossils, jewelry, gifts,lapidary equipment; contact Sharon (manager), 1055 Kuehn St., Quartzsite, AZ 85346, (928) 927-6361; e-mail:[email protected] ; Web site: www.desertgardensrvpark.net FEB 13-16TUCSON, ARIZONA : Annual show; Tucson Gem & Mineral Society; Tucson Convention Center; 260 S. Church Ave.;Thu. 10-6, Fri. 10-6, Sat. 10-6, Sun. 10-5; adults $10, seniors and active military get $2 off on Fri., children (under 14) free; contactTGMS Staff, PO Box 42588, Tucson, AZ 85733, (520) 322-6031; e-mail: [email protected] ; Web site: www.tgms.org FEB 22-23LAS CRUCES, NEW MEXICO; 2 nd annual show, Friends of the NM Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum, NewMexico Farm & Heritage Museum, Las Cruces, Rock, Gem & Mineral Show, 575-522-1232,www.LCMuseumROCKS.com MAR 5-9--DEMING, NEW MEXICO; Retail show; Deming Gem & Mineral Society; SWNM State Fairgrounds; Raymond ReedBlvd.; Daily 9-5; free admission; contact Shirley Krasinski, PO Box 1459, Deming, NM 88031, (575) 494-5971; e-mail:[email protected] ; Web site: www.DGMS.bravehost.com

For further information or shows please check: www.rockngem.com Who knows, there just might be a good rock show in the area of your travels .

A Thought to Ponder:

THREE SIMPLE STEPS TO SUCCESS: DO IT. DO IT RIGHT. DO IT RIGHT NOW.

Some Interesting Web Sites for you to Check Out Please send me any of your favorites that youthink others might be interested in and I will pass them along.

HAS ANYONE TRIED THIS YET? I have heard of one unsuccessful attempt.Heres a survival technique for you How to start a fire with water sent in by LeRoy Unglaub.

http://videos.komando.com/watch/3750/viral-videos-start-a-fire-with-only-a-bottle-of-water?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=tvkim&utm_content=2013-08-07-article-title-a

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el gambrisino 2013-10

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