Lake Superior Agates

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Lake Superior Agates

Postby climberinrite » Nov 12, 2008 9:17 am

Anyone else on these boards collect these red little treasures? I'm up in Minnesota and we have them everywhere. I am curious if there are collectors in other states in the upper midwest. I am facinated by the glacial history of this region and have heard that these agates traveled as far south as Kentucky. Some have even been found in Nebraska and Indiana. I am willing to share hunting stories and tips with anyone who is interested.

Thanks
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Re: Lake Superior Agates

Postby Squirrel Girl » Nov 12, 2008 1:12 pm

I collected agates when I grew up in Iowa. But that was a very, very long time ago.
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Re: Lake Superior Agates

Postby Teresa » Nov 12, 2008 8:42 pm

When the NSS Convention was in Marquette,Michigan, I beachcombed *a lot* looking for some and found only one.
I've got Missouri (non-cave) rocks and minerals. Wanna trade for a half dozen or so? I'll even trade you a Union Road agate from near where I live. If so, PM me. My love affair with the agates began as a child when I read Rascal, by Sterling North-- a book about a Wisconsin boy and his raccoon, and his building a canoe in the living room. The raccoon liked them, too, when he visited the Superior beach, and was better at finding them than the boy.
Alas, I have no raccoon and am nowhere near the Great Lakes.

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Re: Lake Superior Agates

Postby Chads93GT » Nov 12, 2008 10:32 pm

Got any pictures of these rocks? Ive never heard of them before. I lived in kansas for 3.5 years in the flint hills, and the entire area was littered with granite boulders that were deposited by glaciers. The odd thing was, they pretty much ended where I lived, and they werent any further south. was pretty interesting seeing the giant rolling hills of kansas, littered with broken limestone chunks and massive granite boulders. Pretty cool
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Re: Lake Superior Agates

Postby climberinrite » Nov 13, 2008 2:00 pm

Squirrel Girl wrote:I collected agates when I grew up in Iowa. But that was a very, very long time ago.


where in Iowa? That info will help a lot, actually. :banana:
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Re: Lake Superior Agates

Postby climberinrite » Nov 13, 2008 2:02 pm

Teresa wrote:When the NSS Convention was in Marquette,Michigan, I beachcombed *a lot* looking for some and found only one.
I've got Missouri (non-cave) rocks and minerals. Wanna trade for a half dozen or so? I'll even trade you a Union Road agate from near where I live. If so, PM me. My love affair with the agates began as a child when I read Rascal, by Sterling North-- a book about a Wisconsin boy and his raccoon, and his building a canoe in the living room. The raccoon liked them, too, when he visited the Superior beach, and was better at finding them than the boy.
Alas, I have no raccoon and am nowhere near the Great Lakes.

Teresa


i read that book a long time ago. It was fun to read as a child. what kind of missouri rocks do you have? I'd be willing to trad if they are unique. What is a union road agate? Is it red with banding? Or is it a different kind of agate? Lake superior agates traveled by glacier to missouri, so it could be one of them. Either way, i'd trade, if i could see a picture of one.
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Re: Lake Superior Agates

Postby climberinrite » Nov 13, 2008 2:08 pm

Chads93GT wrote:Got any pictures of these rocks? Ive never heard of them before. I lived in kansas for 3.5 years in the flint hills, and the entire area was littered with granite boulders that were deposited by glaciers. The odd thing was, they pretty much ended where I lived, and they werent any further south. was pretty interesting seeing the giant rolling hills of kansas, littered with broken limestone chunks and massive granite boulders. Pretty cool


i can try to upload a pic on this forum. The best way to see them would be to google lake superior agates and check out the pics. i think the flint hill area is were some of the more older glaciers went down to from canada. they probably stopped and melted about there. This is good knowledge for me because if you can determine where the glacier stopped, you can estimate where pockets of glacial gravel might be. let me ask this, what does the landscape gravel look like around the houses in that area? If it's all one color, no good for agates. if it's made up of different colored stones, there may be agates within.
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Re: Lake Superior Agates

Postby climberinrite » Nov 13, 2008 2:12 pm

having trouble loading a picture onto the thread. any suggestions?
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Re: Lake Superior Agates

Postby Squirrel Girl » Nov 13, 2008 2:25 pm

climberinrite wrote:
Squirrel Girl wrote:I collected agates when I grew up in Iowa. But that was a very, very long time ago.


where in Iowa? That info will help a lot, actually. :banana:

Well, I don't remember exactly, but probably in the Maquoketa area, give or take a few 10s of miles.
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