PETOSKEY STONE - "What Is It?" EarthCache EarthCache
PETOSKEY STONE - "What Is It?" EarthCache
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THIS EARTHCACHE IS ESPECIALLY FOR 'KIDS.' It is located on a popular beach where many people look for the Petoskey Stone. The purpose of this EarthCache is to discover: What is a Petoskey Stone? Hope you enjoy the 'story' form!
"I found one!" yelled Peter to his family, who were walking along the shore of the Little Traverse Bay, a small part of Lake Michigan. "And it is the most beautiful one in the world!"
Peter's sister and parents came running over to see what Peter had found."Look", shouted Peter. "You can see where the little holes used to be! This is a good one for sure!"
What Peter had found was a special stone that is often searched for by people who walk the beaches near the town of Petoskey in Northern Michigan. When dry these stones look dull and gray,for the coral appearance may be faint or absent, but when wet the true nature of their attractive pattern may be seen.
"That's wonderful", said Peter's Dad. "Let's take this one home. Then we will have a wonderful memory of this vacation together."
Peter's Petoskey stone was as big as the palm of his hand, and it already felt so smooth as he curled his fingers around it. He knew that stones that are in the water for a long time get smooth from the movement of the waves that roll them in the water on the beach.
"But what really is a Petoskey Stone." Peter wondered, "and why is it so much more special than any old gray rock?"
His dad began to explain that the Pedtoskey Stone is really a very, very ancient colony of animals, called corals, that used to live in this area when a warm ocean covered most of the now state of Michigan. "So, since it was made up of living animals, what you are holding can be called a fossil," said his father. "Over many years the group of skeltons of the once-living coral animals turned hard as stone, which is how a fossil is formed."
"Each of the little animals in the group that made up this stone had a mouth where food came in, and that is what looks like a hole in the middle of each cluster in the stone. The little lines that go out from the center once were little parts that helped the coral animal move more food from the water into its little mouth opening."
"But now," his dad continued, "the mud that filled in the parts has turned to stone, and it has made it a beautiful souvenir for you, Peter."
Because this special stone had been found on the beach, it had been sctatched by other stones as it rolled around in the sand. The tiny pieces of sand on the beach were very hard, but the scratches on Peter's stone are not deep.
"This is my pet Petoskey Stone," Peter happily said as he lifted it up for his mother to see. "I want to take it to school for my teacher to see!"
Peter's teacher was very impressed as Peter told his classmates how he had found his pet stone. Peter was able to tell his teacher that the stone was of ancient coral animals that once were alive, and that they were hardened together over a long time in the warm sea.
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This rock formation predominately reaches the surface near the city of Petoskey and the nearby Little Traverse Bay area, hence that is why these stones are most common in this area.
The warm, shallow waters that covered the land which has become the state of Michigan was filled with small invertebrate animals and marine plants. As the ocean waters receded, minerals were deposited in spaces in the remaining skeletal structure of the coral, and they hardened forming the hard stone like the one in Peter's story.
While glaciers later moved and reformed much of the land in the area, these special fossilized coral remnants were rounded and smoothed before they were finally deposited.
There are numerious species of fossilized coral, but the one that has been described as the Petoskey Stone has been given the special name Hexagonaria pericarnata. The name indicates that the individal coral animals had six sides, much like a honey comb. Such a shape allowed the coral animals to fit together with little loss of space.
It is easy to miss the stones when they are dry for their unique pattern shows up best when they are wet.
This information has been taken and adapted dirctly from a childrens book entitled: Peter And His Pet Petoskey Stone by Victor B. Eichler. Used with his written permission. shantimirapress@yahoo.com Available in local bookstores!
TO RECEIVE CREDIT FOR THIS EARTHCACHE: (Adults, please adapt questions for children. Reviewer required the more difficult questions for you.)
1- Please submit a picture of yourself or group on this beach.(pic optional of course) YOU may do earthcache GC1YH77 at this site to !
2- How many sides did the coral animals have?
3- Did you find a Petoskey Stone? You may need to wade into the water to find 'new' stones. Remember it is easier to see the design when wet.
4- What rounded and smoothed these fossilized coral 'stones?'
PLEASE SEND your answers BEFORE U log as a 'find' or I may delete!
Please e-mail the answers to: ddjoffill@aol.com--This is my 5th of 45 published earthcaches
Try Greater Petoskey Area Earthcachse Challenge at GC2HRCN
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