Geopic of the week: Arkansas gold scam

Pictured above is one of the “gold” mines of Arkansas.  This is one of many prospect holes dug in the Ouachita Mountains around 1886 when investors fell victim to the first documented Arkansas gold scam.  It’s located in the Charlton Campground just west of Mt. Ida in the Ouachita Mountains.  The reality is no gold in commercially minable quantities has ever been found in Arkansas. 

Scams involving gold and other precious metals are not unique to the state, but they have been a recurring problem, as recently as the mid 1980s.  The scams, in a nutshell, consist of staking out a claim on a piece of land, obtaining falsified assay reports that show inflated values of precious metals, and then duping investors into buying parts of the claim.

Though it’s hard to imagine falling victim to such a scheme, the con-men have historically been quite successful.  As rumors spread, more and more people rush to get in on the bonanza.  By the time the dust starts to settle, the original instigators are gone and so is everyone’s money.

Geopic of the week: Petrified wood

 

This is a picture of petrified wood.  Most people are familiar with famous petrified wood occurrences, such as the Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona.  We also have this curious fossil in Arkansas.

Petrified wood, like other fossils, forms when minerals replace the organic material that makes up an organism – in this case a tree.  For this to happen the tree has to be buried very quickly, while alive or immediately after dying, because oxygen causes things to rot.  Burial can result from a landslide, volcanic ash fall, or other natural process.  After burial, mineral-rich groundwater slowly replaces the organic tissue, most commonly with the mineral quartz.

The result is a solid rock that looks exactly like a piece of wood, often retaining growth-rings and other fine details of the original plant.  Petrified wood in Arkansas is young geologically speaking.  It formed in the past 66 million years.

 

For more views of petrified wood click here