Any fellow geology buffs here?

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Wow! Where do you live? Just curious.....

That is a shame that your folks tossed out your collection. I would be really sad it I lost my collection. It isn't all that exciting, but I did move it with me from place to place for the past 18 years!! !

Just a note on that sink hole you mentioned..... be really careful! After a collapse there is typically a lot of instability. Make sure to bring someone along with you in case something would go wrong.

I have an interesting development. I cross referenced historical accounts of landfill use and phosphate mining for reclaimed land. I happen to live within 10 miles of one of the highest concentrations of sinkholes around, and it would not surprise me if it sank all the way to an underground river. Almost anywhere in Florida, if you throw a pipe down deep enough, you will find water, along with some fragile and very well preserved specimens.

Shell mix is a type of conglomerate limestone native to many parts of Florida. Under the right conditions, nature can do some very beautiful things. Example of agatized coral specimen common to my region but not my own picture: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Agatized_Coral.jpg .

Down by Apollo beach, when I was about ten years younger, I found a wonderful specimen, a whole, perfectly preserved petrified ancient elephant tooth, apparently front tooth, since it was flat and seemed to be intended for chopping. With all the dredging for ship routes and phosphate mining going on, even without the sinkholes and lower rivers/creeks, I am looking forward to getting back out into the woods as soon as my back heals. Lucky crazy Ivan had car accident. At least I missed the utility pole.

I should also add that I bought a good wire mesh strainer, some good drainage spades, a maul, a few pry-bars, and various other provisions. I have a good set of rubber boots also, a geological pick/hammer, a large mattock, a baby sledge hammer, cold chisels, and several other things like flashlight, etc. Now, I just need to convince the property owners to let me on their land to look for rocks without sounding like a nut. Any suggestions there? Big phosphate companies down here can be mean sometimes (eg: Mosaic)

As for shell mix, see also: http://www.lakeneosho.org/King1Pic63-Tech.html

That's prime digging for certain kinds of specimens...

I take it you live in Floriad? I used to do a lot of research in the Bahamas. You would have probably really enjoyed the geology of the islands. They are very similar to Florida with respect to the geology. There is a very good record of the MIS 5e interglacial analog for todays climate preserved in the rocks there. Incidentally, there are a lot of well preserved fossil coral reefs that are exposed along the shoreline of many of the islands. Your coral photo made me think of it. Here is a photo of the Cockburn Town Coral reef that I took when I was on San Salvador for some research. It is a pleistocene coral reef. (these photos were taken from Dr. B's website... He was my advisor in graduate school.) Hope you enjoy the photos! Good luck trying to get access to your site. I hope you are able to make it in there to look for rocks and fossils!

Cockburn Town Reef


Giant Head Coral


Smaller head corals


Charlies Blue Hole: this is a picture of a sinkhole that actually has grounwater in it. These are really cool because there is dense salt water at the bottom of the sinkhole and fresh water on the top. If you dive into the blue hole you can see the boundary between the water layers (halocline) because the light is refracted and your body (or whatever) appears bent. Sort of like a straw in a glass of water.... It also has a weird "wavy" look... kind of like heat on a hot pavement!!

DUH! I was going to comment on your "shell hash".... A lot of the beaches in the Bahamas are made of ooids and shell fragments, too. My favorite sands have these neat little purple-ish pink grains in them. They are from an encrusting foram called homatrema rubrum. It makes the sand look really "pretty" and colorful. Your shell hash photos just made me think about different sand. I love sand!! !!

I have a facination with maps including topographical maps... topographical features and rock strata to a minor extent.

Driving through the mountains, on the east or west coast, when a road is cut through the rocks and you can see the strata layers, I am totally occupied with studying the rock formations... Also driving throught he desert in the southwest US, I was also fascinated by the land formations of the mesas scattered around.

I like to rub sand in my hand and feel it run through my fingers... might repeat this 20-30 times (2-5 minutes or so) with one or both hands before I move 10' or so and do it again... when I do this it is usually 20-40 minute3s in duration. Do it at the beach also... Someone once told me that is a form of stemming, I suppose...

I am not interested in knowing everything there is about Geology and geological formations but rather the stimulus of looking at the rock layers, as I drive through, I am mapping the rock layers as if I am drawing a 3 dimentional map of rock strata while driving down the road along with observing the minute details... remains where drill marks were used to blow off part of the rocks, water run off, vegetation growth patterns.. so on and so forth...