Hey Old Rocks..I took some pictures just for you.

[Missourian]

...of some old rocks.

I pulled into a scenic overlook in Oklahoma and found a sign placed by the local geological society and thought you might be interested.

(Just ignore them gang symbols and bullet holes )


From Wikipedia:

The Arbuckle Mountains are an ancient mountain range in south-central Oklahoma in the United States. The Arbuckles date back to 540-440 million years ago in the latest Precambrian and earliest Paleozoic era, and reach a height of 1,412 feet above sea level.
​

Arbuckle Mountains - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

If I'm reading the chart correctly, this is all West Spring Creek Limestone.​

Here is a link to the exact location and some more pics - Arbuckle Anticline - OK - Places of Geologic Significance on Waymarking.com​

.
.
.
.​

 

[Missourian]

.

Posted a full sized picture of this sign to my blog if anyone is interested in reading the layer identifications - http://www.usmessageboard.com/blogs/missourian/139-xxxl-arbuckle-sign-to-read.html

 

[Missourian]

Cool pic from here - Arbuckle Anticline - OK - Places of Geologic Significance on Waymarking.com

 

[KittenKoder]

Our member of the name is the only exception to this: But I like old rocks.

 

[Old Rocks]

Thank you, Missouri, thank you very much. I have yet to travel in Oklahoma. The nearest I have been is when visiting the town where my father was born, a little town north of Van Buren called Ellington. Hope in the next five years to see Missouri again, Arkansas, especially Murfreesboro, and Oklahoma, also.

 

[Missourian]

Thank you, Missouri, thank you very much. I have yet to travel in Oklahoma. The nearest I have been is when visiting the town where my father was born, a little town north of Van Buren called Ellington. Hope in the next five years to see Missouri again, Arkansas, especially Murfreesboro, and Oklahoma, also.

My pleasure.

I've been down MO-21 so I'm sure I have driven thru Ellington.

I go thru Van Buren quite a bit on US-60. Been meaning to float the Current River and Jacks Fork, but like so many other things I haven't got a-round-tuit yet. Haven't got to Murfreesboro yet but I've been to Nashville, AR...they make Polan chainsaws there, nice folks in Arkansas all around.

I love Oklahoma...beautiful state with friendly people. I knew there was a shallow sea there once, but I had no idea a mountain range once stoog on those plains.

Hope you can get out this way and enjoy the Ozarks again.

 

[Missourian]

Thank you, Missouri, thank you very much. I have yet to travel in Oklahoma. The nearest I have been is when visiting the town where my father was born, a little town north of Van Buren called Ellington. Hope in the next five years to see Missouri again, Arkansas, especially Murfreesboro, and Oklahoma, also.

Aha, I see what kind of old rocks you're really interested in.

Arkansas Crater of Diamonds State Park - Murfreesboro - Reviews of Arkansas Crater of Diamonds State Park - TripAdvisor
​

 

[Old Rocks]

LOL! You have that right. Actually, lamproite pipes produce a number of interesting minerals. But there are few places where on can collect these minerals. Most are owned by mining interests, but the pipe in Murfreesboro is owned by the people of the US.

There are a number of pipes that are located in Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana. But most have been claimed by large companies under the 1872 mining laws. Here in Oregon, I am told by a freind that is a Phd Geologist that there have been some subduction diamonds, very small, found somewhere near Crater Lake.

There also have been lamproite pipes found in other states near Arkansas, such as Kansas.

CVO Menu - America's Volcanic Past - Kansas

The most productive lamproites are found in Australia.

Argyle Diamond Mine - Kimberley - Australia - Mining Technology

So now you know where you can hunt diamonds near home.

 

[JBeukema]

Our member of the name is the only exception to this: But I like old rocks.

Lose the caps and the 'but' or (better still) lose the caps and replace the colon with a coma.

 

[Old Rocks]

Well Missouri, I had a word document with all kinds of pictures on it, but I could not get it to transfer to this board. So I went to some sites for the pictures and information. The first site is as close as I have ever had to a hometown, and where I hope to retire to within 12 months.

Prairie City, Oregon - Official Web Site for Prairie City, Oregon (www.prairiecityoregon.com)

Most of the geology in that area is teritiary, and belongs to this group.

John Day Fossil Beds National Monument - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

One thing I would note, that the article does not do justice to the colors of the various formations.

West of the big mountain, Strawberry Mountian, in the Prairie City site, is the Canyon Mountain ophialites. These are the obducted portions of an old subduction zone in an island arc setting. The island setting was first recognized by Thomas Condon in his 1903 book, "A Tale of Two Islands" about the ophialites and ocean sediments in Southwestern and Northeastern Oregon. He recognized the southern origin of the islands, but like Wegener and others, had no way to account for how the formation arrived at it's present location.

Here is an older book, small, written by Tom Thayer. Unfortunately, the pictures are not in color. But the information is accurate. I used Thayer's quadrangle maps when I worked for the Soils Engineering Lab in Eastern Oregon for the Forest Service. I actually met him about 1970 at the second leg of the International Conferance on Ophiolites. I can honestly say that I, although only a student, was invited to attend that leg of the conferance. However, the reason was that I could drive a 32 passenger school bus right over the top of a mountain. It was a fantastic experiance, and the geologists and geo-physicists involved invariably took time to answer my questions.

Internet Archive: Free Download: The Geologic setting of the John Day country : Grant County, Oregon