March 2024 • Nebraskaland 45
Five Finds Worth Keeping
Lake Superior agates
These beautiful gemstones
are highly sought after and
were carried here during the
last Ice Age, from glaciers
originally located north of
Lake Superior. They are
banded and are typically red
and white, but can also be
blue, pink, orange or black.
Look for them in eastern
Nebraska, particularly in the
southeast.
Fairburn agates
The northwestern corner
of Nebraska is known for
Fairburn agates, which are
typically red, yellow, pink
and black, and are very
colorful. They feature a
striped "fortification" pattern
resembling holly leaves,
and are good for cutting
and polishing, as are Lake
Superior agates and petrified
wood.
Pleistocene ("Ice Age")
fossils
Fossil teeth and bones from
ancient mammals can be
found throughout the state.
These include ancient bison,
horses, camels, elephants
and other mammals. These
animals lived here during
the Pleistocene epoch, from
approximately 2.6 million
years to 11,000 years ago and
were buried by ash, silt, dirt
or sand.
Gypsum
Gypsum, including the
variety called selenite,
typically appears as clear
crystals assuming a range of
shapes and sizes. Gypsum
is a soft mineral that can
be scratched with your
thumbnail — that's the easiest
way to tell it apart from other
minerals. Wooldridge typically
finds gypsum in south-central
and southeastern Nebraska.
Silicified ("Petrified") wood
Found across Nebraska,
petrified wood ranges in
color from black to brown,
white, red and yellow, with
browns fairly predominant.
The original trees fell and
were covered by ash, loam,
dust, silt or sand. Saturated
conditions and the lack of
oxygen in buried sediments
kept the wood from rotting.
Then, silica precipitated from
groundwater replaced cell
walls and filled void spaces in
the wood.
A Lake Superior agate with an
amethyst interior, found in
southeastern Nebraska.
Wondering what to look for? Here are some of the things Wooldridge finds most often.
Rough and polished Fairburn
agate, found in northwestern
Nebraska.
A fossilized elephant tusk, an Ice
Age fossil, found in north-central
Nebraska.
Stem of petrifi ed wood found in
western Nebraska.
A mammoth tooth, an Ice Age
fossil, found in south-central
Nebraska.
A piece of gypsum found in south-
central Nebraska.
Piece of root with black opal
interior from the largest petrifi ed
stump found in Nebraska, from the
north-central part of the state.
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