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Natural ties By Waymon Cox Greeting from Crater of We make countless products to construct the places we live or work, the roadways we use to travel to and from those places, and the vehicles we travel in. At some point, these things get to an age where they are no longer suitable for us and may be cast aside for nature to take its course. Metal rusts and wood rots quickly, but some of these materials change more slowly as they become part of the rock cycle. Most of us who have received a traditional education knows (or knew, at one point) that there are three categories of rocks, separated by how they are formed. Igneous rocks, for example, are made from melted (like lava) and re-solidified rock material, such as the ancient lamproite soil found at the Crater. A similar “rock” made by man is slag, a byproduct of metal smelting. As mills churn out bronze, iron, steel, and other metals, they also create huge piles of slag, the “leftovers” of the metal-making process. Even though slag is removed to create these metals, very little of it goes to waste. Much is used in construction, concrete, and even as ballast found on roadways and railroads. Its dark, porous appearance is similar to many natural volcanic rocks! As rocks are exposed to the elements on Earth’s surface, erosion from wind, rain, or ice takes its toll over time, creating sediments removed from these larger rocks. These grains and other materials may eventually be cemented together from water pressure or by a material such as molten iron, creating sedimentary rocks like sandstone or conglomerate. Since ancient times, man has made sedimentary rock similar to natural forms. Concrete is a collection of aggregates such as sand or rock that are cemented together. As old buildings crumble and fall, a concrete foundation is often all that remains. Over time, even this begins to break up, releasing chunks of these artificial sedimentary rocks into the world, where they will also erode and become part of the rock cycle. A third type of rock forms when either of the preceding rock types undergo a chemical change through heat and/or pressure. Sandstone, for example, will sometimes be taken deep underground near Earth’s molten mantle, where heat and pressure build to create quartzite, a metamorphic rock. One of the oldest and most common building materials ever created is an example of an artificial metamorphic rock. Brick has been manufactured for more than 7,000 years in one form or another. Using clay or a similar material, most brick-making methods include some form of fire baking or compression. This results in a product that is harder and denser than its original components, much as quartzite is harder than sandstone. Concrete, glass, and pottery pieces are just some of the manufactured items that may be found at Crater of Diamonds State Park. Some of these items may have historical significance for an era gone by, but their presence among the rocks and minerals of the search area illustrates how closely we are tied to the natural world! Diamond Finds for February 9 - 15, 2009 February 9 - Billy Moore, February 10 - David Anderson, February 11 - Deborah Marsten, February 12 - Denis Tyrrell, February 13 - Denis Tyrrell, Bismarck, AR, 7 pt. white, 26 pt. white, 26 pt. brown; Billy Moore, Alma, AR, 11 pt. white February 14 - Kevin Steele, February 15 - Don Kilcrease, |
209 State Park Road
Murfreesboro, AR 71958
Email: craterofdiamonds@arkansas.com
Phone: (870) 285-3113
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