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Gemstones, Minerals & Fossils
Gemstones and Minerals
Sapphire Formation and Deposit Theory
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<blockquote data-quote="Wally69" data-source="post: 74495" data-attributes="member: 1916"><p>Tested some theories of my own out last week and then dismissed them all.</p><p></p><p>Found sapphire in all quadrants around a big granite boulder. Some worn, some perfect crystals, some fractured chips, some big some small, some in the topsoil above the ash layer, some mid ash and some on the clay layer interface below and the odd one a bit into the clay( but did not generally work this). Was expecting a concentration in one of the quadrants indicating ash layer had been mobile but it was not to be. But then again the zircon and ironstone were rounded.</p><p></p><p>Then did about 2m3 of river gravel in another location with only a couple of clean fractured small chips.</p><p></p><p>My current theory is that sapphire was thrown into the air and is evenly distributed in this particular ash layer, with some working its way to the underlying interface and some long eroded layers ending up in the topsoil deposits. Sandblasted surface on some may be from a superheated dust up with ash/glass instead of travelling far, but who knows? Who am I kidding......I really am left not understanding the geology at all. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite11" alt=":rolleyes:" title="Roll Eyes :rolleyes:" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":rolleyes:" /> </p><p></p><p>No doubt there is a honey hole in a nearby creek that I could exploit that fits my traditional view of where to find sapphires and I hope that this theory supports the story of my next trip.</p><p></p><p>In the New England region, I think the best theory to follow is find a known ash area and dig volume.</p><p></p><p>My experience at GG is it is more of an alluvial deposit but I did ask myself when I was there, where is the source?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Wally69, post: 74495, member: 1916"] Tested some theories of my own out last week and then dismissed them all. Found sapphire in all quadrants around a big granite boulder. Some worn, some perfect crystals, some fractured chips, some big some small, some in the topsoil above the ash layer, some mid ash and some on the clay layer interface below and the odd one a bit into the clay( but did not generally work this). Was expecting a concentration in one of the quadrants indicating ash layer had been mobile but it was not to be. But then again the zircon and ironstone were rounded. Then did about 2m3 of river gravel in another location with only a couple of clean fractured small chips. My current theory is that sapphire was thrown into the air and is evenly distributed in this particular ash layer, with some working its way to the underlying interface and some long eroded layers ending up in the topsoil deposits. Sandblasted surface on some may be from a superheated dust up with ash/glass instead of travelling far, but who knows? Who am I kidding......I really am left not understanding the geology at all. :rolleyes: No doubt there is a honey hole in a nearby creek that I could exploit that fits my traditional view of where to find sapphires and I hope that this theory supports the story of my next trip. In the New England region, I think the best theory to follow is find a known ash area and dig volume. My experience at GG is it is more of an alluvial deposit but I did ask myself when I was there, where is the source? [/QUOTE]
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Gemstones, Minerals & Fossils
Gemstones and Minerals
Sapphire Formation and Deposit Theory
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