- California State Gem: Benitoite
- Information is slim on the exact discovery of the Benitoite, but it is listed by some authors as February 1907, and the discoverers thought they were "Blue Diamonds" weathered out on white hillside near the headwaters of the San Benito River in San Benito County. Professor George Louderback is credited by some for helping name this new find with the locality uppermost in their minds at the time.
Mathematically there had been a vacant spot in the table of possible crystal shapes, but nothing to match had ever been found before, nor has any other mineral been found which fits this particular one's peculiarities. Basically, it is hexagonal; and technically it is ditriagonal bipyramidal, which does not occur in any other classes of crystal. Benitoites are colorless and sapphire blue in color.
This, then, is indeed a true California "first!' and has been identified as a barium titano silicate, 6% in hardness, and lends itself to brilliant sapphire-like stones when a gem quality crystal is faceted.
- CFMS Emblem
- The emblem of the CFMS is a triangle surrounding a Golden Bear. The Bear is, of course, the Golden Bear Nugget. The triangle with its points cut off was selected with pride and purpose for its representation of the unique crystal formation of the mineral Benitoite. Benitoite was found as a new mineral in 1907 in San Benito County, California.
- California State Rock: Serpentine
- The rock called Serpentine has been designated by the State of California as the "State Rock."
- California State Fossil: Smilodon Californicus
- The fossil called Smilodon Californicus (Saber-tooth Cat, also called Saber-toothed tiger) has been designated by the State of California as the "State Fossil."
- California State Mineral: Gold
- The discovery of large amounts of gold at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California caused a great migration to California from all over the world. Millions of dollars in gold have been recovered from the earth in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California.
- Nevada State Gems: Turquoise and Fire Opal
- Turquoise, a mineral valued as a jewelry stone for its hardness and exquisite sky blue color. Turquoise is a hydrous phosphate of aluminum and copper. The copper gives it its blue color.
Fire opal is classed as an oxide of silica with a small amount of water. The percentage of water is less than 10% but this is what gives it rainbow colors when struck by light. Opal, especially the fire variety, is highly prized as a gemstone.
- Nevada State Rock: Sandstone
- Sandstone was a natural for designation as a state rock. Most of the state was under water as part of a huge Inland Sea that stretched from the Sierra Nevada range to the Rocky Mountains. One might say that Nevada was beachfront property hundreds of million years ago. That is why you find so much sandstone here today.
- Nevada State Fossil: Ichthyosaur
- Jurassic strata of northern Europe contain many fossil reptiles whose vertebrae are convex fore and aft, like those of fishes. Indeed, they were described as fishes in 1699 by Edward Llwd, curator of the museum at Oxford. He also explained that they came from eggs of marine fishes that had been lifted up to the clouds by vapors and then had fallen with rain. It carried the eggs into the ground, where they grew into imperfect versions of the creatures they would have been had they hatched in salt water. More than a century later the fossils were christened Ichthyosaurs ("fish lizards") on the assumption that they link those two groups. Though Ichthyosaurs still breathed air, they led purely aquatic lives. They fed upon fish, squids, and belemnites. Cymbospondfylus was a primitive Ichthyosaur of Triassic Nevada.
- Nevada State Metal: Silver
- Discovery of a rich vein of silver and gold in 1859 in the Virginia Range of Western Nevada on the site of Virginia City was named the Comstock Lode. This discovery was named for Henry Tomkins Paige Comstock, a California prospector who first laid claim to the land. This one lode yielded more than $300,000,000.00 (three hundred million dollars) in gold and silver in 20 years. This bonanza resulted in a great increase in the Nevada population. Other strikes were made but none could compare to the size of the Comstock.
- Arizona State Gemstone: Turquoise
- Arizona's beautiful state gemstone has been used for centuries by southwest Native Americans for making jewelry. This blue-green stone has a somewhat waxy surface and can be found throughout the state.
- Arizona State Fossil: Petrified Wood
- Petrified wood is Arizona's state fossil. Millions of years ago, when much of the area was covered by swamps, fallen trees became buried under layers of sediment. Slowly, over sixty million years, each cell of the plant was replaced by quartz, making a brightly colored replica of the original living plant. Most petrified wood comes from the petrified forest in northeastern Arizona.
Woodworthia
Winslow AZ - Chinle FM
triassic - 219 mbp
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