TIP: If you are just starting with rockhounding I recommend you check out the list of all equipment you could need for your trips to nature. They are a key piece of safety equipment. If you want to rockhound at night, take a blacklight torch to find rocks that glow!Ī good pair of rubber boots are useful for keeping your feet dry and preventing you from slipping on smooth river rocks. You do not really need any equipment for rockhounding in riverbeds, but in a creek, it helps to take along a scoop or small shovel, as well as a strainer or a screen.Ī pan is very useful, even if you are not looking for gold.Ĭertain minerals fluoresce under UV light. Take The Right EquipmentĪs with doing anything in life, having the right tools with you makes a big difference! Here are our 8 tips for rockhounding in rivers and creeks: 1. However, your rockhounding expedition will be much more productive if you search more systematically.īy knowing the best places to look, using the right tools, and knowing what to look for, you will be much more productive in finding gemstones. If you just go hiking in dry riverbeds, near shallow-flowing streams, and in creeks, you will serendipitously find some gemstones. Where and How to Find Gemstones in Rivers? Seven Most Common Types of Rocks Found in Creeks 8 Tips on How to Find Gemstones in Rivers and Creeks Ten Most Common Type of Rocks You Can Find In Rivers TIP: Do you know what rocks you can find in the rivers and creeks most often? Check out the lists of the common rocks in these environments in the two articles below: One can find quartz crystal, chert, agate, amethyst, jasper, petrified wood, and garnets in creeks. Search the rest of the creek, too, because gemstones can really be found anywhere! The best areas to look for gemstones in a creek is where the water is shallowest and at bends in the channel. The best time to go rockhounding in creeks is, therefore, during the rainy season. The high flow also has the power to erode bedrock and creek banks, exposing gemstones. When the streamflow in creeks is high, lots more material is transported from further upstream. But creeks can still be rich sources of gemstones, especially after heavy rainfall events and during the spring thaw. Can You Find Gemstones in Creeks?Ĭreeks are smaller than rivers and have much less year-round flow, therefore lower stream power. Floodplain features, like backswamps, channel bars, natural levees, and infilled channels, are hotspots for rockhounding.Įxamples of denser gemstones that are deposited in rivers are chrysoberyl, diamond, garnet, sapphire, topaz, peridot, tourmaline, and zircon. This is why floodplains, deltas, terraces, and alluvial fans are brilliant places to search for gemstones. In places where the river widens or meanders, the stream power is lower, so heavier gemstones are deposited. They accumulate in streams, and the power of the water transports them for hundreds of miles downstream.įast-flowing rivers have a high stream power, so they can carry relatively heavy gemstones. Often water erosion flushes the gemstones out of the parent rock. Over time, the rock erodes, exposing the gemstones. Minerals form over millions of years in veins, cracks, and bubbles within the parent rock. Alluvial deposits are great places to go rockhounding. Sediment and rocks which have been transported by rivers are known as alluvial deposits. Can You Find Gemstones in Rivers?Ī wonderful variety of gemstones can be found in rivers. Igneous rocks and alluvial gravel deposits are rich sources of gemstones, but sedimentary and metamorphic rocks also have some gemstones. The geology of the region will determine which gemstones you should search for, but there are some gemstones that can be found in a wide range of different environments. You can pick up a variety of precious and semi-precious gemstones amongst pebbles in streambeds and creeks. You can pan for minerals or dig through the dirt, but by far, the easiest way to find gemstones is to search in the gravel beds of dried-up rivers. There is no need to stick to quarries, abandoned mines, and tailing piles. There are plenty of natural environments in which you can rockhound. Can You Find Gemstones in Nature? Can You Find Gemstones in Nature?
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