Virginia DMME Field Trip Report
Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals, and Energy Field Trip 7/16/19
Fourteen club members met at the DMME offices in Charlottesville to learn about the resources available there and view some of the recent displays of rocks, minerals, and fossils.
The two state geologists that graciously took time to show us around were William Lassiter and Matt Heller.
The “tour” started with an overview of what is located in the resource library, which is usually open to the public from 9 to 4:30 Monday through Thursday. Mr. Lassiter explained the role of our state geologic survey as one of Virginia’s state agencies, whereas some other states’ geologic surveys are hosted on a university campus.
From the state website: “The Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy (DMME) enhances the development and conservation of energy and mineral resources in a safe and environmentally sound manner to support a more productive economy. The agency regulates coal and mineral mining sites as well as natural gas sites for safety and environmental protection. It also is the leader in carrying out the Governor’s Virginia Energy Plan and encourages energy efficiency, renewable energy as well as use of alternatively fueled vehicles.”
Mr. Lassiter explained how the DMME has over the last decade continued the process of curating the mineral, rock, and fossil collections from the University of Virginia. With the help of Mr. Rudy Bland (a former UVA geology student), some of these treasures are now housed in the resource library. These displays include Virginia’s igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks, fossils and minerals; as well as a fluorescent minerals case, a case dedicated to the history of the Brooks Collection, and displays of various mineral properties.
Also located in the resource library are numerous geologic periodicals, topographic quads, federal geologic reports, guides for geologic field trips, and publications from other state geologic surveys (maybe something to research if you are planning a trip to another part of the country.)
The geology offices waiting room also contains displays of fossils, mineral resources, and historic geologic maps.
Matt Heller guided our tour through the triangle of geology offices, mineral identification room, maps publication room, and the DMME sales office which handles online orders of maps, publications, reports, and mineral samples.
We were shown how field samples are sawn into billets (small rectangular blocks), which are then sliced into thinner sections. These are glued to a microscope slide and ground down extremely thin so they can be viewed under the polarizing microscope. We used the polarizing microscopes to view a field sample from Pittsylvania County.
Mr. Lassiter took us across the street to the rock repository where we saw the extent to which the agency has preserved samples of Virginia’s rocks, minerals, and fossils (many from sites that are now buried under buildings, roads, or parking lots). This is where the field samples referenced on geologic maps are stored.
We concluded our tour with a walk through the outdoor rock garden which contains over 43,000 pounds of Virginia rocks. https://dmme.virginia.gov/dgmr/Rockgarden.shtml
We were very appreciative of the time Mr. Lassiter and Mr. Heller took to host our group, show us around, and answer our questions.
If you would like to plan your own trip to the DMME, or order any publications, check out their website below.
https://dmme.virginia.gov/dgmr/divisiongeologymineralresources.shtml
Scott Steele
Field Trip Coordinator