Home to the nation's longest freshwater coastline (3,288 linear miles), Michigan is surrounded by four of the five Great Lakes (Superior, Michigan, Huron and Erie) making hunting for beach finds a rockhound's dream. Michigan's coasts are varied with sandy beaches and dunes, wetlands and rocky cliffs and bluffs. There's always something new to see.
Peter Rose is a geologist with Minerals Management for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. He noted the state owns approximately six million acres of mineral rights. "We're responsible for providing access to those areas for leasing and development and monitoring those activities," he said.
Removing anything from a national park is illegal, but most Michigan State Parks allow rockhounding and beachcombing. "There is a state law that limits the collection of common variety rocks, stones, minerals and invertebrate fossils to 25 pounds per person per year," said Rose.
Here are eight beach finds common to Michigan's varied beaches.
1. BEACH GLASS
Beach glass comes from discarded glass fragments and is highly collectible.
Mother Nature's hand smoothes it and often creates a frosted look. Although glass can be found on most beaches, glass found in freshwater is called beach glass whereas the term sea glass is applied to glass shaped by salt water.
"From my experience, beach glass from Lake Michigan has more frost, due to the large in size rocks and massive amounts of them that naturally tumble (the glass) around, making it frosty and smooth,” said Elisa Garfinkel, who makes color-changing mood stones from this variety of glass.
Beach glass is beautiful and can be decades old or more recent in vintage.
This story is from the July 2023 edition of Rock&Gem Magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the July 2023 edition of Rock&Gem Magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
MORGAN HILL POPPY JASPER
In California, there are very few places to collect semi-precious stones. Many locations from the past have been either exhausted of the material or the land has been developed.
THE ACORN
The briolette gemstone has the same design attributes of a regular gemstone, however, the pavilion is elongated and the crown is usually domed. This is perfect for an elegant pendant, earrings or a pendulum.
HOW TO PUT A PROTECTIVE CAP ON A CAB
To protect a specimen cab, often a cap is needed. In my case, I had a slab with the because of the color of the background and the pattern. This background had a more silicified consistency than most sandstones. It had no graininess like most sandstone, so I'm inclined to compare it to a jasper. The pattern was typical of a dendrite.
The Resilient Revival of Anne Brontë & Her Stones
For the first time, the Anne Brontë rock collection underwent complete description and identification, and along with Professor Hazel Hutchison of Leeds University and Dr. Enrique Lozano Diz at ELODIZ (a company specializing in spectroscopy analysis), an analysis of that collaboration, Anne Brontë and Geology: A Study of her Collection of Stones, was published in April 2022 in Volume 47, Issue 2 of the peer-reviewed journal, Brontë Studies & Gazette.\"
Amazing Women with Rock-Solid Careers
Explorers, Geologists, Educators & Jewelry Makers...
The Case of the Bleeding Glacier
It's a gory sight called Blood Falls. Ever since British geologist Thomas Griffith Taylor first noted it in 1911, it has been a mystery.
Asteroid Samples Are Said to Hold Invaluable Secrets
If Only Scientists Can Pop the Lid!
Paleontologists Embrace a New Method for Seeing Fossils within Rock
Fossil bone can be delicate. Attempts to remove it from a hard rock matrix by picking and scratching or etching with acids can be time-consuming and/or may end up obliterating that which you hope to study.
Need a Map of the Ocean Floor?
Call in the Seals!
A Step Closer to Hydrogen, the "Climate-Friendly Fuel"
As I reported last June, the world is racing to find sustainably renewable, nonpolluting sources of energy to replace our carbon-based reserves of coal, oil and gas.