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1 MWF News January 2016, Issue No. 548 Page 1 MWF News JANUARY ISSUE NO. 548 WEB SITE - Member of the American Federation of Mineralogical Societies President David Rich 1166 Broadview Tallmadge, OH birdman035@hotmail.com 1st Vice President Tom Whitlatch 1147 Staub Court NE Cedar Rapids, IA whitlatcht@gmail.com 2nd Vice President David Root 1051 Meadow Lane Jenison, MI d-root@comcast.net Secretary Donna Moore N. IL Hwy 97 Cuba, IL MWFSecretary@gmail.com Treasurer Sandy Fuller 8445 Grange Blvd. Cottage Grove, MN MWFtreas@Rock-Biz.biz PRESIDENT S MESSAGE by David Rich, Your President Happy New Year to all. I hope everyone has had a safe holiday season and is beginning the new year with enthusiasm for resuming club activities. I must remind everyone that club dues are due. Our super newsletter editor, Sharon, has boldly printed the requirements in past newsletters. (Thanks to Sandy Fuller!) Please take the time to read these, to expedite the process. Many clubs begin the new year with club elections. I would like to encourage the returning and new officers to become more active this year. They are practically giving away gasoline at $2 per gallon or less! Start off the year with a full tank, and challenge your club members into participating. Motivate your organization! There is plenty to do this year in the MWF. Just read on! How about nominating a club member for Rockhound of the Year? How about entering the AFMS website or bulletin editors contest this year? Fire up some juniors and get them to enter the poster contest, Amazing Agates. Maybe you could get really bold and crazy and get your club to submit an entry for the All American Club Yearbook award. All of this information can be found in your directory or on the website, and you haven t even used any of that cheap fuel for these activities. This could be the year for field trips and road trips. Be the leader you were elected to be. Why not join President Andy Carey of Summit Lapidary Club this spring on the BIG DIG field trip for Ohio Flint? Afterwards, join the MWF spring meeting, and right next door, the 40th Gemboree (Continued on page 2) WHAT S INSIDE? AFMS Endowment Fund - Raffle Tickets!!... 7 Brussels Hill, WI A meteor impact feature?... 3 Checklist for LAST CALL: Dues & Insurance... 2 Dues Form Dugway Geode Collecting Area... 5 Events Form Logo Policy Midwest Federation Convention... 3 President s Message... 1,2 Rockhound of the Year... 4,12 Submission of Articles Tetrapodophis: The Snake with Four Legs... 8,9 Upcoming Events... 6 Youth Poster Contest... 8

2 Page 2 January 2016, Issue No. 548 MWF News IT S THAT TIME AGAIN - DUES AND INSURANCE by Sandy Fuller Yes, it s time to submit club dues and events for The deadline is Friday, January 15 (postmarked). Submitted information will be used to update mailing lists, promote club events via the MWF News and federation website, and compile the 2016 MWF Directory. Use an asterisk (*) to designate any information that should not be published on electronic media. What do we get for our dues? Approximately 40% of club dues are sent to the American Federation of Mineralogical Societies as our fair share of the cost of providing nation-wide programs, such as the Junior Rockhounds of America and various awards to recognize and encourage outstanding performance by clubs and their members. About 30% of club dues provide written materials distributed to clubs, including the almost monthly MWF News, the MWF Directory, and meeting information. The remainder covers other major expenses such as providing services to clubs (programs, legislative alerts, various award programs recognizing rockhound excellence) and assisting officers with travel costs when they travel outside of the region to attend AFMS events. (Officers and committee chairs pay their own expenses for travel within the region and most of their out of region travel costs.) The MWF Endowment Fund absorbs AFMS dues increases and currently covers about ¼ of the dues premium. The Fund also provides each member club with a copy of new federation publications and covers the cost of special projects. The MWF Insurance program is designed to be self-supporting. However, the federation has to collect club contributions before the actual premium is determined. In 2015, the actual premium exceeded the insurance contributions received so the Council of Delegates (club representatives) authorized a small increase in club contributions for Insurance Chair Marge Jensen negotiates with the Insurance provider on behalf of the federation and can assist local clubs with insurance concerns. PRESIDENT S MESSAGE - CONTINUED (Continued from page 1) Show. This will be going on from Friday, April 22 to Sunday, April 24. The show has approximately dealers and is well worth a visit. Plan for the MWF convention later in the year on August 20, The Michiana Gem and Mineral Society is this year s host for our convention. President Bill Foreman promises great Hoosier hospitality. Meet E-Bear, our own endowment fund-raising teddy bear. As we start the new year together, be bold: schedule trips, involve your youth, enter for awards. Revitalize programs or activities your club has done in the past or try something new. It s a brand new year for rock lovers! CHECKLIST FOR 2016 by Sharon Marburger, Editor Dues & Insurance - January 15, 2016 Events Form - January 15, 2016 Bulletin Editors Contest - February 1, 2016 All American Club Yearbook - March 15, 2016 Youth Poster Contest - April 15, 2016 MWF Spring Meeting - April 23-24, 2016 Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio AFMS Convention - July 27-August 1, 2016 Albany, Oregon MWF Convention - August 19-21, 2016 South Bend, Indiana Check the Upcoming Events for activities near you!! I have not heard from the committee chairmen regarding deadlines for: Program Competition Website Contest The following can be sent in at any time throughout the year: Articles and tidbits for the MWF News Cancelled Stamps Rockhound of the Year nominations I m sure I m forgetting something important; it is your job to let me know! Forms are available on pages 10 and 11 of this newsletter.

3 MWF News January 2016, Issue No. 548 Page 3 BRUSSELS HILL, WISCONSIN A METEOR IMPACT FEATURE? by Dr. William Cordua, Geology Chair The Door Peninsula in Wisconsin is a scenic and well-known part of the state. Recently its geological history was enhanced by the recognition of an apparent meteor impact crater. The rocks in the region are generally flat-lying sedimentary rocks mainly dolostone of Silurian age. These make up the rocks exposed in the well-known Niagaran escarpment, and can be correlated with those in western New York State. These were deposited in a shallow sea teaming with life, now well fossilized. The rocks have experienced only a mild warping and uplift since their deposition million years ago. So, it is surprising when one encounters outcrops of tilted and broken rocks in this area. When the unusual deformation is confined to circular area, one begins to suspect an ancient impact crater. The feature is centered at a topographic high called Brussels Hill, near the town of Brussels in Door County, Wisconsin, easily seen on Google Earth at latitude 44 45'30"N, longitude 87 35'37"N. It was first described in 2011 in an article by Joanne Klussendorf and Don Mikolic. They documented an anomaly two miles across, with broken, tipped, and chaotically jumbled blocks of carbonate rocks. Some of the carbonate rocks had unusual vesiculated textures, suggesting they were brought close to their melting point. More work was done on the feature by geologists from Lawrence University, published in They documented further the deformation, noting microscopic textures typical of the type of shock waves formed by extraterrestrial hypervelocity impact. They also described a central area of glauconitic sandstone, a hallmark of much older Cambrian sandstone which should be buried deep below the surface in this part of the state. Impact craters often have this sort of central uplift, produced by complex rebound after impact when the overlying rock has been largely blasted away. involving outbursts of superpressurized fluids from the earth s interior to explain such features. However, no known mechanism can produce pressurized fluids capable of producing the kind of shock effects seen here. Plus, there is no creditable evidence for the sort of mineral alteration one would expect from having such supercharged fluids pulse through the rocks. Thus, an impact origin for the feature seems the best model to explain the observed features. There are other impact structures known in Wisconsin, such as that at Rock Elm, Glover Bluff, and Pepin in Wisconsin, and Decorah in Iowa. Could these all be related to the same impact? It s not likely, as Brussels Hill must be Silurian or younger and the Rock Elm and Decorah features are known to be much older, formed in the mid-ordovician. Klussendorf, J & D. Mikulic (2011) Possible impact origin for Brussels Hill, northwestern Wisconsin: Geological Society of America, Abstracts and programs, vol. 43 #1 p Zawacki,E & Bjonerud,M. (2015) A previously unrecognized impact structure at Brussels Hill, Door County, Wisconsin: brecciation and shock metamorphic features Nevins, C. & Bjonerud, M. (2015) Structural characteristics of a possible meteor impact site in Brussels, Door County, Wisconsin 2016 MWF CONVENTION Explanation for any feature of this sort needs to survive geologic scrutiny. The Door Peninsula rocks do have caves, and an alternative explanation could be that the deformation was produced by collapse into a cave. To rebut this, the cave would have to be enormous, and sinkhole collapse does not cause a central uplift of older strata. The feature thus is not a sinkhole. Another explanation is that this could be the result of some volcanic phenomenon. There are, however, no volcanic rocks exposed in the region. Some appeal to an origin

4 Page 4 January 2016, Issue No. 548 MWF News ROCKHOUND OF THE YEAR by Steve Shimatzki Thank you to those that send in Rockhound of the Year ( ROTY ) nominations for their club. If you are not sure how to send that information in, just provide the following information by , snail mail and maybe even text: The Person s Name Accomplishments to warrant the nomination. (How you would like it to read in the MWF Newsletter announcement.) Name, phone number, and address of where the award is to be sent, not necessarily the recipient if you plan to present it to the recipient at a club event. The year the award is for. Deadline if award is needed by a particular date. My contact information is: MWF Rockhound of the Year c/o Stephen Shimatzki 4295 County Rd. 16 Woodville, OH sjs132@gmail.com Cell: (Feel free to call or text.) The first batch of certificates went out without MWF Seals, but I printed it directly onto the award. I think they turned out really good considering I ve never done this before! If they were a little slow on the return, I apologize because it happens that way sometimes. I m sure we all know the life of volunteers! Speaking of great volunteers, here s the next one for a 2015 ROTY: 2015 Dayton Gem and Mineral Society The Dayton Gem and Mineral Society would like to take this opportunity to nominate Mr. Albert Sicree for the Midwest Federation 2015 Rockhound of the Year award. A native of Brooklyn, NY, Al moved to Dayton in 1960 to work as a chemist for the Air Force at Wright- Patterson AFB. The Dayton Gem and Mineral Society ( DGMS ) was founded in 1963 and Al joined the Society in By the late 1960s, Al was co-chairing the DGMS Kids Club, affectionately known as the Pebble Pups. He took the kids on field trips, educated them in the proper use of tools, and helped them have a fun and successful collecting experience. In 1971, Al moved to Massachusetts as a Visiting Scientist in polymer chemistry at the University of Massachusetts and joined the Springfield, MA rock club where he collected extensively in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, and New Hampshire. Returning to Dayton, Ohio in 1972, Al held various officer positions in the DGMS, including President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer. Al also was a local coordinator for the Midwest Federation ( MWF ) Convention when it was held here at the Dayton Convention Center, and he assisted in running the event. It was deemed a great success by the MWF. Al has also been the DGMS representative at several MWF conventions and has served as the MWF Safety Chairman. In addition to the DGMS, Al has been a member of the Cincinnati Mineral Society, where he served as President and Vice President for two years. Al has actively participated for many years in its annual Cincinnati GeoFair held each May, where he helps with displays and anything thing else needed to make this large Midwest show a success. He has also been an active member of the Friends of Mineralogy. An avid collector with an extensive collection, Al has been on numerous field trips over the years, often serving as field trip leader, collecting in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, West Virginia, Virginia, Michigan, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Georgia, Colorado and Missouri. All of the members of the DGMS recognize his years of participation and devotion to the club; they also greatly appreciate his knowledge and expertise, his quick wit, and his rockhounding stories that everyone enjoys. We believe that Mr. Sicree is richly deserving of this prestigious MWF award. (Continued on page 12)

5 MWF News January 2016, Issue No. 548 Page 5 HELP SAVE THE DUGWAY GEODE COLLECTING AREA submitted by ALAA To all Rockhounds Everywhere, ALAA received this request to help save the Dugway Geode beds from extinction! If you have ever collected any of the Dugway Geodes and would like to collect them again, or would like to collect these one-ofa-kind geodes in the future, now is the time to get involved in a grass roots action. This is a commercial mining claim in Utah. Under the mining laws, as long as the claim is active, access to the claim must remain open. Utah seems like a long, long way away. It is, but if you have ever collected there, or know someone who has collected there in the last 50 years, or would like the experience of collecting your own, now is the time to take action and try to save the Dugway Geode Beds. If the claim is lost, the entire Dugway Geode Beds may be in danger of complete closure. Think about it; you can take the power of the pen and contact the Utah BLM to let them know that this resource needs to remain open and accessible for future generations of Rockhounds to enjoy. In your writings to the BLM, let them know that whether the mining claim is renewed or not, you are asking the BLM for assurance that the Dugway Geode Beds and their access roads will remain open for public recreational collecting. Below are addresses to contact all of the parties involved in the Dugway Geode Beds issue. Please help Save the Geodes! The photos below came from: flikr.com (unidentified owner) American Lands Access Association Action Alert Committee Happy Rockhounding and Enjoy Your Public Lands DUGWAY GEODE CLAIM Save the Geodes! The BLM is threatening to close the only commercial claim on the Dugway Geode beds, in operation for the last 50 years, because the renewal paperwork was late this year. The claim is run by the Crapo family under the business name The Bug House, and new mining claims will not be issued by the BLM for any commercial geode mining because the geode bed is a restricted area. Public response to urge renewal of the claim is critical. The Crapo family has always supported the rockhound community and made sure that anyone who collected on their claim came away with lots of good geodes. Now it s our turn to support them, so please get the word out to anyone interested in preserving this important collection area. Please send your s in support of renewing this important claim to the following addresses at the BLM and bcc The Bughouse at their address below, so they can see who is supporting their efforts. Deputy State Director Lands & Minerals: Kent Hoffman khoffman@blm.gov Minerals Support Supervisor: Robert L Bankert rbankert@blm.gov Bureau of Land Management Fillmore Field Office: utfmmail@blm.gov The Bug House bughouse@xmission.com Thank you, Golden Spike Gem & Mineral Society club@goldenspikegem.org November 29, 2015

6 Page 6 January 2016, Issue No. 548 MWF News UPCOMING EVENTS

7 MWF News January 2016, Issue No. 548 Page 7 AMERICAN FEDERATION ENDOWMENT FUND by Cheryl Neary, 2016 Endowment Fund Chair Published in the A.F.M.S. Newsletter, Volume 69, Number 2 - December 2015 The 2016 AMFS Convention is being held in late July of So what does that mean? It means you need to purchase your tickets (yes, you need to be in it to win it!) before July for the AFMS Endowment Fund drawing! This year so far, Carolyn Weinberger has agreed to once again sell tickets for the EFMLS. We ll be announcing the other regional federation salesmen in the February AFMS Newsletter and via the AFMS Endowment Fund website shortly ( The tickets are reasonably priced at $5.00 per ticket or 5 for $ Now, if you are unable to purchase tickets, have no fear because you can help out the Endowment Fund by donating items for the drawing. The criteria is quite simple anything related to our hobby and with a minimum value of $25.00 and weighing less then 5 pounds. If you chose to donate and I hope you do please send me a picture via of your generous donation so that I can get it posted to the AFMS website and into the newsletter along with a description, name of your club and estimated value of your donation. You or your club will be recognized in the newsletter and on the website. This is a great way to advertise what your club does! Please contact me via at ciervo.neary@gmail.com or via cell phone at (texts work the best) to let me know of your intentions to donate. The item can be shipped to my address, which I prefer, or brought to the 2016 Convention in Oregon. You can also let your Regional Vice President know of your intent to donate or buy tickets! Why the drawing? The money collected is for the AFMS Endowment Fund. The interest from the monies generated is used for AFMS special projects, such as junior badges, judges training, digitizing of slide programs, just to name a few. So step right up! Purchase or donate, or why not both? The Donations to date are as follows: #1 Soapstone Sculpture Bear. Donated by EFMLS Wildacres Instructor Sandy Cline of Canada. (You can visit his website to see the other incredible work of his at The bear is approximately 7.5 x 4.5 and has an estimated value of $250. (EFMLS). #2 Tigers eye Gem Tree. Donated by EFMLS Wildacres Instructor Suzie Milligan of New York. The tree is druzy quartz on matrix and measures 7.5 high. Estimated value is $25 (EFMLS). #3 Tigers eye bolo tie & matching pendant. Donated by the Huffmans of the Catawba Valley Gem & Mineral Club. The bolo is on brown and tan leather with feather tips and the pendant is tigers eye wrapped in 14k gold filled wire. Estimated value of the pair is $85. (EFMLS) # 4 Amethyst cluster from the Reel Mine, North Carolina. Donated by Jake Cline of Catawba Valley Gem & Mineral Club. Estimated value $250. (EFMLS). Photo to come! #5 Framed Wyoming Fossil Fish: Diplomystus. Donated by Richard Jaeger, AFMS Past President. Estimated value $110. RMFMS

8 Page 8 January 2016, Issue No. 548 MWF News YOUTH POSTER CONTEST MIDWEST FEDERATION YOUTH POSTER CONTEST 2016 AMAZING AGATES Sponsored by the Summit Lapidary Club of Ohio THEME: Amazing Agates A poster illustrating any type of agate, what it looks like, and where it can be found. ELIGIBILITY: 1st through 8th grade. Each grade will have a winner. PRIZES: Ribbons awarded 1st through 4th place, the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners will also receive a prize. CONTEST RULES: All entries must be presented on paper 12"x18" Include name and address, age, and school grade of participant on BACK of entry. No three-dimensional posters accepted. The title may be on front or back. List the name of the agate, a brief description of what it looks like, and WHY you chose it. Artwork on posters can be pen, ink, crayons, magic marker, paint, or any other artist s medium All entries become the property of MWF and the Summit Lapidary Club. SCALE OF POINTS: Originality and Art Work - 30 points Design - 25 points Title - 25 points Listing of Agate type, what it looks like, and where it is from - 20 points DEADLINE: Entries must be postmarked by April 15, SEND TO: Poster Contest 617 Wooster Rd. W. Barberton, Ohio Winners will be announced at the MWF Convention in South Bend, Indiana, August 20, If you have questions, SLC.youth.poster.contest@gmail.com. For more information, visit the MWF website TETRAPODOPHIS: THE SNAKE WITH FOUR LEGS by Bob Sheridan August 8, 2015 Published in PALEONTOGRAPH, Volume 4, Issue 5, December 2015 It has been a while since I saw an article on the origin of snakes. Snakes have a number of unique features relative to most reptiles. They have a very large number of vertebrae (>150), no limbs, no external ears, and a jaw (with hooked teeth) that is essentially unhinged from the rest of the skull. It is very likely that the ancestor of modern snakes was a lizard, but which lizard is not clear. It should also be noted that longbodied legless lizards, which are distinct from snakes in having eyelids and hinged jaws, evolved several times. Many fossils snakes have been identified, the oldest of which is from the Middle Cretaceous. Some have vestigial hindlimbs. One classical idea about the origin of snakes (specifically about how they ended up limbless) is that their ancestors were marine reptiles, similar to mosasaurs, if not mosasaurs themselves. They supposedly lost their limbs to become better swimmers. Another idea is that snakes are limbless because their ancestors were borrowing land-dwelling lizards, and it is better not to have limbs when crawling through tunnels. Fossil snakes with vestigial hindlimbs have been found in both marine and lake deposits, so we cannot use the primitive characteristic of having (Continued on page 9)

9 MWF News January 2016, Issue No. 548 Page 9 TETRAPODOPHIS: THE SNAKE WITH FOUR LEGS - CONTINUED (Continued from page 8) partial limbs as a way of guessing snake origins. Even assuming a marine origin, we can probably eliminate mosasaurs themselves as snake ancestors since snakes are not genetically related to today s varanid lizards, of which mosasaurs are members. If the ancestors of snakes are lizards, we would expect to eventually find a snake with all four limbs, and such an animal is recently described by Martill et al. (2015). The species Tetrapodophis amplectus ( four -footed snake ) is based on a single, very well preserved specimen presumably from the Crato Formation in Brazil, which is Early Cretaceous in age. The matrix in which it is found is limestone, probably from a lake bottom since it contains the coprolites of a specific fish. This specimen would have been less than a foot long in life. The specimen is disposed with a tightly curled neck and tail, and a gently curved body; obviously it would have been flexible in life. Tetrapodophis is an extremely modern looking snake in many aspects. First it is extremely elongated with 250+ vertebrae. It has a curved lower jaw with small hooked teeth, and an intramandibular joint, allowing each side of the jaw to move independently. This is indicative of carnivory. Indeed it seems to have some bones in its stomach area indicative of its last meal. Tetrapodophis has features expected for burrowing (as opposed to swimming snakes), including a long head but a short face, plus a cylindrical (as opposed to a flat) tail. On the other hand, in Tetrapodophis, one can distinguish the cervical, dorsal, and caudal vertebrae, based on the presence and length of ribs, whereas those regions are hard to tell apart in modern snakes. The positions of the fore and hindlimbs in Tetrapodophis are consistent with where those regions begin and end, as we would expect. The most interesting aspect of Tetrapodophis is its limbs. Each is complete from humerus/femur to toes. To me the bones look not at all like those of a lizard limb, but a creepy shortened caricature of the human arm, with parallel fingers and toes. The limbs are very tiny compared to the length of the body, only a few millimeters long, so it is unlikely they were used for locomotion. The authors feel the limbs could have been used for hooking or grasping prey or mates, or perhaps climbing. The authors point out that since Tetrapodophis is from Brazil, this reinforces the idea that snakes originated in Gondwanaland (the southern continent in Cretaceous times), plus being from a lake deposit suggests a terrestrial origin. After the paper was published in Science, Tetrapodophis became a matter of controversy. The specimen is now on permanent loan to the Museum Solnhofen in Germany, but before that it was in a private collection for several decades. There are no records about where or when it was collected. The authors assign it to the Crato Formation based on the characters of the rock in which it was found. However, is possible that the true origin is not the Crato Formation, so conclusions based on its presumed age and location could be wrong. Also, it has been illegal to export fossil or archaeological material from Brazil since 1942, so it is possible that Tetrapodophis was exported illegally. At present that is not known. Sources: Evans, S.; Four legs too many? ; Science 2015, 349, Martill, D.M.; Tischlinger, H.; Longrich, N.R.; A fourlegged snake from the Early Cretaceous of Gondwana. Science 2015, 349,

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12 Page 12 January 2016, Issue No. 548 MWF News Sharon Marburger, Editor Midwest Federation of Mineralogical and Geological Societies P.O. Box 64 Hickman, NE Non Profit Org U.S. Postage PAID Fiatt, IL Permit No. 1 ROCKHOUND OF THE YEAR - CONT D (Continued from page 4) West Suburban Lapidary Club The West Suburban Lapidary Club proudly nominates a team for the Rockhound of the Year Award 2015: Arlene and Judee Peterson Arlene and Judee are active in the West Suburban Lapidary Club as well as the Northeast Illinois Gold Prospectors and CGMA. Both Judee and Arleen hold board positions with Northeast Illinois Gold Prospectors, Arlene is the current Secretary and Outings Coordinator and Judee is the Treasurer. Additionally, Arlene is the current Co-Secretary with CGMA. to people of varied interests in rocks and minerals and they were hooked. Now 9-10 months out of the year they spend their weekends fossil hunting, gold prospecting, and participating in shows as demonstrators. Their enthusiasm and dedication to their hobby continues to grow with each new adventure. These ROTY nominees sound amazing! I look forward to reading the submissions from YOUR club soon! Both Judee and Arlene began their interest as rockhounds about 15 years ago when they took a few classes in silversmithing and jewelrymaking, leading them to join the West Suburban Lapidary Club. In the club, they were exposed