wywyrd Gem & Jewelry Studio
Welcome to wywyrd Gem and Jewelry Studio!
This site highlights rocks, gemstones and jewelry that I have collected.
Part of my fascination with rock collecting is the fun and adventures I have while I are out looking for them. Another part is the knowledge that I gain as I find new and interesting rocks and other specimens. Not only the information about the rocks but the area that it comes from as well and the people who find them…this is a lot of history just waiting to be told! But perhaps the most valued part of my collection is the jewelry that we enjoy to adorn ourselves with. We hope you truly enjoy your visit with me and find our rock collection to be as precious as I do.
Feel like going on an adventure of your own? Last
summer a I was lucky enough to find myself out and about on a little day
trip to the Rock Elm Disturbance. The Rock Elm Disturbance, located near the
entrance of Nugget Lake Park, is an area approximately four miles across that
is an impact site caused by a meteorite. Despite being rather difficult to see
as a crater, the Rock Elm Disturbance
is
one of the most geologically interesting spots in western Wisconsin. It was
discovered when H.F. Nelson noted unusual rocks near Rock Elm, Wisconsin in
1942.
The rocks appeared to have been punched out of the ground forming unusual structures. Besides the unusual formations of rock the Rock Elm region has been the site of scattered finds of gold and diamonds in the stream sediments. Mining companies have explored the disturbance as recently as 1988. The gold that is present is called “flour gold” for it is in very fine particles. It was during gold placer mining in the 1880’s when at least ten tiny diamonds were discovered. The diamonds found were very small, the largest being two karats, and were pale blue to yellow in color but not gem quality. These minerals so far have not been found in any local bedrock, so their connection, if any, to the odd bedrock geology remain like so much else about the disturbance, a mystery.
