Traverse, Northern Michigan’s – July 2019

Traverse, Northern Michigan’s Magazine | JUL ’19 53

PETOSKEY STONES

Michigan was once covered by seas that were home to

a variety of corals, including Hexagonaria percarinata.

Petoskey stones were created about 400 million years

ago. They are deposits from the ancient coral, which

became embedded in limestone bedrock. During the

Ice Age, glaciers broke up the bedrock, and the ice’s

movement smoothed the chunks of fossilized coral.

PETOSKEYSTONESAREN’TONLYFOUNDATTHEBEACH.

They are scattered everywhere across the Lower Peninsula. You can even find

them in parking lots and your own backyard. However, there are no Petoskey

stones north of Harbor Springs. The northern rim of the coral reef was there,

and glaciers pushed the stones south.

Wanna be a Petoskey pro + learn how to polish them at home?

MyNorth.com/WeLovePetoskeys

LELAND  BLUE    +   MORE...

These brilliant blue, green and purple treasures aren’t

actually stones. They’re slag, a byproduct of Michigan’s

historic smelting industry. When raw ore is heated,

the iron ore is separated from impurities. After the

impurities cool, the result is slag. Slag can be found in

Frankfort, Cadillac, Elk Rapids, Fayette, Marquette—

anywhere smelting was done. When the smelting

industry ended in Leland, heaps of slag were dumped

in Lake Michigan. Because slag is still commonly found

in the area, it’s become known as Leland Blue.

FUNFACT:SLAGISFOUNDINAVARIETYOFCOLORS

LIKEFRANKFORTGREEN.

Why? Some people think it’s due to the type of wood used to fuel the smelting

furnace, but the same type of wood found in Frankfort back in the 1800s would

likely have been found in Leland, too. Kevin’s theory: “I think they were experi-

menting with increasing and decreasing oxygen levels to create a higher-quality

steel since loggers needed hard and springy saws.”

PUDDING STONES

Glaciers brought these conglomerates (which resemble

a Christmas pudding) south from Thessalon, Canada.

The stone contains rounded pebbles of red jasper,

black chert and white quartzite “cemented together” by

quartz. You’ll find pudding stones on Drummond Island

and along Michigan’s eastern shore (you can find small

ones in Lake Michigan, but they’re very rare). Large

pudding stone boulders have been found near Clare.

THEPEBBLESINPUDDINGSTONESDATEBACK2.4BILLIONYEARS.

The pebbles were smoothed and rounded by an ancient river. When glaciers

compressed the river bottom, the pebbles were “glued” together.

LAKE    SUPERIOR    AGATES

These semi-precious gemstones range from pea-sized

to 20-plus pounds and occur in a variety of colors

including brown, white, red, gray, pink, black and yellow.

Lake Superior agates are the oldest on earth. They

formed 1.2 billion years ago during lava eruptions. The

next oldest are the Montana moss agates, a mere 370

million years old.

NICKNAME:“LAKERS”

What town’s beaches are prized for agates? Find out at MyNorth.com/

AgateParadise

FAVOSITE    FOSSILS

This petrified coral is also known as Charlevoix Stone

and is a cousin of the Petoskey. It actually resembles

a “miniature” Petoskey stone, because the coral had

a smaller exoskeleton chamber. (Think of a Petoskey

stone as a bundle of pencils and the Charlevoix stone

as pencil tips.)

CHARLEVOIXSTONESARERARERTHANPETOSKEYS.

It’s more common to see them at popular beaches, because most of the

Petoskeys have already been picked up.

OPPOSITE PAGE: LUCY HUNTER // BEACH TREASURES

I GREW UP IN ELBERTA AND MY DAD WOULD TAKE MY FIVE SIBLINGS AND ME DOWN TO ELBERTA BEACH AFTER A BIG STORM

TO LOOK FOR PETOSKEY STONES WITH SOME FRANKFORT GREEN SLAG THROWN IN EVERY NOW AND THEN. I HAVE FOUND MANY

PETOSKEY STONES AT POINT BETSIE AS WELL. ABOUT THREE YEARS AGO, I STARTED LOOKING FOR LELAND BLUES IN LELAND.

THIS IMAGE IS AN ACCUMULATION OF STONES THAT I’VE COLLECTED OVER A SPAN OF 50-PLUS YEARS.

LAST FEBRUARY, I WAS GRIEVING THE LOSS OF MY DAD WHO PASSED AWAY ON DECEMBER 6, 2018, AND THE INSPIRATION

TO STAGE AND PHOTOGRAPH MY COLLECTION CAME. THIS PRINT HAS BECOME MY BEST SELLER.”

FIND MORE OF LUCY’S IMAGES ON FACEBOOK @UPNORTH IMAGES AND INSTAGRAM @FISHER806LADY

M

IC HIGAN R

OCKS TARS

LUCY HUNTER