FIELD TRIP TO FLINT RIDGE
The OSUN Geology Club took a flint-collecting field
trip to Flint Ridge, Ohio on Saturday, 30 October 2010. They collected at
the famous Nethers Flint Quarries at the eastern end of Flint Ridge. Numerous
pits have been dug that still produce abundant multicolored, complexly
patterned chert/flint samples. Crystal-lined cavities are common at this
locality as well.
Locality:
Nethers Flint Quarries, in the woods just west of the house at 3680 Flint Ridge
Road, northwestern Hopewell Township, western Muskingum County, east-central
Ohio, USA.
Stratigraphy & Age: Vanport Flint, Desmoinesian Series, upper Middle
Pennsylvanian.
OSUN Geology Club at Nethers Flint Quarries, Flint
Ridge, Ohio.
Collecting flint caught up in the root pan of a downed
tree.
Collecting flint at one of the pits.
Pinstripe flint - this is the so-called "Nethers-type"
flint, well known for having numerous, closely-spaced lines of coloration.
Chalcedony and megaquartz - the darkest material is the host rock
(flint). The grayish-glassy material is "rock-crystal"
quartz. The milky-white material is opaque chalcedony.