Arizona's Oldest Mineral Society
Non-Profit 501(c)(3) Educational Organization
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FIELD TRIP
DoBELL RANCH
(Petrified Wood)
ARAUCARIOXYLON ARIZONICUM,
Chinle Formation, Holbrook, Arizona.
Mike Fleeman Collection, Chris Whitney-Smith Photo.
* MULTIPLE CLUB TRIP.
* IF POSSIBLE, WEAR YOUR CLUB T-SHIRT OR NAME BADGE.
TRIP LEADER: Bill Freese
LEADER VEHICLE DESCRIPTION: 2019 Gray Toyota Tacoma
LEADER CONTACT INFO: 602-568-6843
CARPOOLS BEING ORGANIZED: No
DATE: Saturday, October 10, 2026
MEET-UP LOCATION ADDRESS: HOLBROOK, AZ Area. Members must register to receive Location Address.
MEET-UP TIME: 9:45 AM
DEPARTURE TIME: 10:00 AM sharp or once all members have shown up if before departure time.
SPECIAL DEPARTURE NOTES: As a courtesy for group who arrive on time, Trip Leader not waiting for stragglers past Departure Time.
HOW LONG WILL TRIP LAST (END TIME): 2:00 PM
LIMITED NUMBER TRIP (##): NO LIMIT
FEE’S (IF ANY, HOW & WHEN TO BE COLLECTED): $50-$60 for a 5-gallon bucket, other pieces at great prices! Cash is best. You will pay the DoBell family.
TRIP DETAILS: HOLBROOK, AZ area. Members must register to receive Location Address. This is a great trip to pick up some very nice pieces of petrified wood. Everything from jewelry size pieces to several hundred pounds are available at a very inexpensive rate. Normally, I fill up a 5-gallon bucket for about $50-$60. Rhonda DoBell and her family make sure everyone finds what they want and leaves happy. She will probably have lunch for us as well, usually burgers, hot dogs and stuff.
Any vehicle can make this trip without issue. i will be inviting some other clubs to add to the fun, so make sure you wear your badge.
Let me know if you want to go and include your phone number for last minute changes.
VEHICLE REQUIREMENTS: Rate type of vehicle needed based on terrain: Any Vehicle
RATE PHYSICAL DEMANDS OF TRIP: Easy...unless you're wanting a several hundred pound piece!
MATERIAL TO BE COLLECTED: Petrified Wood
SAFETY (PPE) NEEDED: Safety Glasses, Gloves, Long Sleeve Shirt, Pants, Boots, Hard Hat, First-Aid Kit.
TOOLS NEEDED: Rock Hammer, Screw Drivers, Pry Bar, Large Shovel, Small Hand shovel, Rake, Pick Axe.
ANCILLARY ITEMS NEEDED: Sunscreen, Hat, Water, Lunch Optional, Bug Spray, Bucket, First Aid Kit.
ADDITIONAL INFO: Rhonda and her family will be serving a free lunch after you are done collecting, around noon.
TRIP CANCELLATION CLAUSE: Trip Leader can cancel the field trip due to low participation (under 5 members RSVP) or weather or road conditions.
IF (RSVP) YOU WILL GO, YOU MUST SHOW UP: If unable to go, must contact Trip Leader as soon as possible 1-2 DAYS before, so Group not held up waiting for a no show.
TRIP PREPAREDNESS: Arrive with full tank of gas, good tires and vehicle in good working order.
OPTIONAL OVERIGHT OR DAY TRIP ON SATURDAY:
Not Overnight Trip.
RSVP BY DEADLINE: Wednesday, October 7, 2026.
LIABILTY WAIVER: Sign Liability Waiver at Meet-Up Site.
MAPS TO MEET-UP LOCATION: Members must register to receive Location Address.
BILL FREESE
MSA Field Trip Leader
(602) 568-6843
bfreese77@cox.net
Franciscan Renewal Center, (Piper Hall),
October 15, 2026 @ 7.30 pm Arizona time
* Please bring refreshments to share.
* MEETING will be (In-Person and Zoom).
OCTOBER
MINERAL OF THE MONTH
QUARTZ
(Okay to bring 1-2 examples)
The Mineralogical Society of Arizona is pleased to welcome one of our own, David Tibbits, as presenter for our October 15 program "Do Earth’s Orbital Cycles Control Where Crystals Form?" Join us at Piper Hall on campus of Franciscan Renewal Center, Scottsdale, for an evening exploring the surprising links between planetary motion and mineral formation.
Can the wobbles of Earth's orbit, tens or hundreds of millions of years ago, determine where we find crystals today? This talk starts with the basics. David Tibbits introduces the Milankovitch cycles: orbital eccentricity, axial tilt (obliquity), and precession. These cycles pace Earth's climate by changing how much sunlight reaches the surface, and where and when it arrives.
Climate cycles can become rock cycles, preserved as rhythmic layers in sedimentary sequences. This has made geologists partners with astronomers. Computer models of planetary orbits become unreliable beyond about 50–60 million years because of chaotic behavior, so ancient sedimentary records provide the ground truth for reconstructing Earth's orbital history in deep time.
The Newark Supergroup is one of the world's finest examples of cyclical sedimentary rocks. Between about 233 and 197 million years ago, rift lakes formed as the supercontinent Pangaea began to break apart. Their deposits alternate between red mudstones laid down in dry intervals and black, organic-rich shales from deep lakes during strong monsoon phases. In those black shales, decaying organic matter fueled bacteria that produced sulfide, which combined with iron to grow pyrite crystals. Therefore, in these rocks, the climate rhythm directly controls the mineralogy.
With that foundation, the talk turns speculative: where else might an orbital heartbeat be hiding? In the Herkimer Diamond district of New York, cyclic layering in the Cambrian Little Falls Dolostone may influence where crystal-bearing cavities occur. In the Franklin Marble of New Jersey, famous for its fluorescent minerals, Tibbits asks whether the repeated franklinite seams could be a climate signal. If the ores formed on an ancient seafloor, as some models propose, rhythmic changes in ocean chemistry might have left their mark even through a billion years of metamorphism. These are open questions. The goal is to learn how to recognize cyclicity, then imagine where we might go looking for it next.
Mark your calendars for a program by one of the Mineralogical Society of Arizona's rising stars!
David Tibbits is a PhD student in Geology at Rutgers University and a Department of Defense National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellow. His passion for minerals has fueled his academic career thus far. He earned a B.S. in Earth and Environmental Engineering from Columbia University. His research focuses on the relationship between sedimentary environments and the minerals which later form in them, with field areas in the Newark Basin, the Colorado Plateau, the Little Falls Dolostone, and the Franklin Marble. He is also an educator at the Sterling Hill Mining Museum.
David joined the Mineralogical Society of Arizona (MSA) at age 16 and was honored as the 2018 MSA Junior Rockhound of the Year. As an MSA Legacy Life Member, he has remained an active presence in the collecting world ever since. His personal collection centers on worldwide thumbnail minerals and the minerals of Peru.
His competitive exhibiting has earned numerous honors at the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show®, including the 2025 Walt Lidstrom Memorial Trophy for the single best mineral specimen in competition and the 2026 Paul Desautels Memorial Trophy for the finest crystalized mineral exhibit in competition, as well as the Kay Robertson Educational Display Award from Friends of Mineralogy for his collaborative “Earth's Timekeepers” exhibit at the 2025 Tucson Gem and Mineral Show®.
Recognized for his leadership within the mineralogical community, he has been invited to serve as Competitive Exhibits Chairman for both the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show® and the Phoenix Heritage Mineral Show. He currently serves on the boards of Friends of Mineralogy (National), the Geological Association of New Jersey, and the Flagg Mineral Foundation.
The Mineralogical Society of Arizona is honored to welcome David for this special program. We are grateful for his many contributions to thumbnail mineral collecting and competition, his leadership within the greater mineral collecting community, and his enduring support of our society.
Cyclical lacustrine (lake) sediments from the
Lockatong Formation (217-222 Ma).
Photo from Paul E. Olsen.
~20 kyr Precession Cycle is modulated by a ~100 kyr Eccentricity Cycle which is modulated further by a 405 kyr grand eccentricity cycle and further still by a ~1.8Myr cycle. This is based on semi-quantitative measurements of drill cores from the Newark Basin Coring Project
Graphic from Olsen and Kent 1996.
Examples of “Depth Rank” semi-quantitative
proxy of lake depth in the Newark Basin.
Core Example from Olsen 1996.
Meeting starts at 7.30PM Arizona time.
MSA FIELD TRIP
CAMP VERDE SALT MINE
(Glauberite Pseudomorphs:
Calcite, Aragonite & Gypsum)
North America’s Oldest Mine
PLUS PICNIC POTLUCK
MSA MEMBERS
Join us for a return to one of Arizona's classic collecting localities, the Camp Verde Salt Mine and surrounding area, where we'll hunt for glauberite pseudomorphs after calcite, aragonite, and gypsum, along with thenardite and halite.
After the collecting, the fun continues with a picnic/potluck at a nearby ranch hosted by one of our MSA members, a great opportunity to relax and enjoy each other's company!
When you register (or later, once you've decided), let the Trip Leader know what dish you'd like to contribute to the potluck.
POTLUCK DETAILS:
TRIP LEADER: Chris Whitney-Smith
MEET-UP TIME: 8:45 AM in Camp Verde (meeting location will be sent after registration).
Allow extra 30 minutes to make meet-up location due to traffic.
END TIME: Estimate trip end by 5:00 PM.
LIMITED TRIP: No Limit
TRAVEL NOTE: Check with the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) website to see if there are any delays on you route. https://az511.gov/
PHYSICAL DEMANDS OF TRIP: Easy to Moderate
VEHICLE: Mid-Clearance. High clearance vehicles is best.
SAFETY: Please bring a whistle in case we need to find you or gather up the participants. Youth Must stay with parents.
TRIP PREPAREDNESS / RECOMMENDATION: Arrive with full tank of gas and good tires. Sturdy shoes or boots, Long sleeve shirt, Safety Glasses, Gloves, Sunscreen, Hat, Water, Lunch, Bug Spray, Bucket, First Aid Kit, and other Normal day hiking items.
TOOLS NEEDED: Garden Fork/Rake, Screwdrivers. Bring bucket, bags and egg cartons for fragile mostly float material.
MATERIAL: Glauberite Pseudomorphs: Calcite, Aragonite & Gypsum along with Thenardite, Glauberite, and Halite.
RSVP REQUIRED by Friday, November 6, 2026 @ 3:00 PM - MSA Members Only
GLAUBERITE PSEUDOMORPHS: CALCITE, GYPSUM, ARAGONITE.
Chris Whitney-Smith photos and collection.
EXAMPLES
Here are a few examples of the pseudomorphs
you can find on the trip:
Calcite Pseudomorph after Glauberite. Stan Celestian photo.
Aragonite Pseudomorph after Glauberite. Stan Celestian photo.
Aragonite Close Up View. Stan Celestian photo.
Gypsum Pseudomorph after Glauberite. Stan Celestian photo.
November 19, 2026 @ 7.30 pm Arizona time
NOVEMBER
Mineral of the Month:
TBA
Program TBA.
LOCATION
TBD
Revealed After Registration & Payment.
December Holiday Jamboree is more than just a party and meeting; it is also election of 2027 Officers and Board and election of 2026 Rockhound of the Year.
HOLIDAY JAMBOREE CONSISTS OF FOLLOWING:
RSVP REGISTRATION & PAY FEE OF
$TBD PER MEMBER PRE-PAYMENT REQUIRED.
* Payment is non-refundable *
REGISTER & PAY:
Log-In to your MSA Profile on msaaz.org,
go to EVENTS tab to complete registration and pay.
DEADLINE TO RSVP REGISTER & PRE-PAY:
December 9, 2026
LIMITED (TBD) PAID MSA MEMBER ONLY EVENT.
Community and Camaraderie: Whether you're a seasoned collector or a curious newcomer, MSA offers a welcoming environment to connect with fellow enthusiasts and deepen your appreciation for the natural world.
Founded 90 years ago, the Mineralogical Society of Arizona (MSA) has long been a hub for rockhounds, mineral collectors, and geology enthusiasts. This milestone anniversary is a tribute to the society’s enduring passion for earth science and its vibrant community of members.
January 21, 2027 @ 7.30 pm Arizona time
Meeting is on 3rd Thursday.
* No refreshments
MEETING will be In-Person and Zoom.
April 15, 2027 @ 7.30 pm Arizona time
APRIL
May 20, 2027 @ 7.30 pm Arizona time
MAY
September 16, 2027 @ 7.30 pm Arizona time
SEPTEMBER
October 21, 2027 @ 7.30 pm Arizona time
ABOUT MSA
Mineralogical Society of Arizona's purpose is to promote interest and education in Earth Science, and related fields.
CONTACTS
MSAClub1935@msaaz.orgPO Box 54307Phoenix, AZ 85078
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Copyright © Mineralogical Society of Arizona 2026
