Rocks, Minerals and Fossils Online

By Don Rittner

When I was a kid I had one of the largest rock and mineral collections in Troy. In fact, I had so many of them that the molding on the floor around my bedroom had an inch gap from the weight of the rocks, minerals, and fossils that filled the room. My mother made me throw them away fearing that I would disappear into the basement one day as the house collapsed.

But I never lost the interest in learning about the stuff that makes up the planet. Geology intrigues most of us but unless you majored in geology at school, or worked in a museum, chances are you never had the time to pursue that interest - unless you are a rockhound, or now an Internet surfer.

So for those of you who only wished you had my rock collection, or would like to learn more without going back to school, I will point you to a 'slate' of 'gneiss' Net sites that are devoted to the subject.

If the collecting bug bites you have no fear. There is a local publication sold by the rock and mineral store on New Karner Road in Colonie that shows you the location of the few good collecting sites in the Capital District.

Also, there is a mineral club that meets at the New York State Museum once a month.

Many geologists I talk to don't feel that Capital District is a rich enough collecting ground for rocks and minerals, but it certainly is for fossils. The abundance of limestone formations here (like at Thatcher Park and other parts of Albany County) abound in fossil life.

In fact there is a coral reef sitting on top of Thatcher Park that formed some 350 million years ago. So what? Coral Reefs grow in the tropics. How's that for proof of continental drift. It was created when our area was south of the equator and covered by water millions of years ago.

So, Rock On!

The Mineral Information Finder

http://www.rocksandminerals.com/minfind.htm

This site contains an alphabetical list of rocks and minerals with definitions so you can start here to learn the difference between quartz and garnet. It also contains a mining glossary so you can learn the meanings of words in the mining industry. A mineral facts and history page shows you how many minerals are important to your health. Hint. Take two dangerous chemicals -- sodium and chlorine -- and combine them, then mine them and sprinkle on meat. Give up? Halite, of course - better known as salt.

Other educational items include a geological time scale, periodic chart, Mohs scale of hardness and more.

The Fossil Company

Internet sites related to fossils, mineral and geology

http://www.fossil-company.com/sites/north_america/index.html

This is a commercial site where you can buy fossils but it has several free educational components. First, it has a state by state link to fossil related sites (as well as Canada). You can participate in online forum discussions about fossils, minerals, conservation, dinosaurs and regional geology.

They have a great graphical representation of the geologic eras, a periodic table, and a complete listing of State fossils and rocks.

Did you know that New York's State Fossil is the Eurypterid. Garnet is our state gemstone, but apparently we do not have a state mineral (I vote for quartz) nor a state rock (how about limestone).

Fossil Collections of the World

http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Lab/8147/index.html

Here are hundreds of links to pictures of fossils, famous fossil sites, listings of geological societies and clubs, geological history, and hundreds of other links. It appears not to have been updated since 1997, but there are hundreds of important links here. A great place to start your study.

Plate Tectonics

http://pubs.usgs.gov/publications/text/dynamic.html

The United States Geological Survey has an excellent online tutorial about plate tectonics (continental drift) that you can read or download.

The USGS main site has a section called Ask-A-Geologist where you can send in a question relating to the field if you cant find it by searching their database (http://walrus.wr.usgs.gov/docs/ask-a-ge.html/).

Go to their main web page at http://www.usgs.gov/ where you can find a great deal of education information on geology, hydrology and mapping resources.

Dinosaur Hall

http://www.acnatsci.org/dinofest/teachers/dinohall/index.html

Here is a great online exhibit and tutorial by the National Academy of Science on how dinosaurs are found, and other dino information. Good site for kids.

Rockhounds Information Page

http://www.rahul.net/infodyn/rockhounds/rockhounds.html

This is a support page for the Rockhounds discussion list, which you can join and participate in. It has many links to commercial sites, images, books, and other sites relating to rocks and minerals and fossils.

New York Geology Resource Page

http://www.albany.net/~go/newyorker/index.html

Everything you want to know about New York's geology and geography can be found on this page. Hundreds of links and reports, images, rock and mineral information, job opportunities, and other tons of great educational resources here.

©1999 Don Rittner