Shepherd of the Hills Expressway Roadcut
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Details: The roadcut here has been blasted for some development leaving piles of exposed rock and freshly exposed walls. I don't know how long this last, so if you see this make a trip over there for the holidays. You'll especially feel festive because of the holiday colors found in the minerals. Although I've found good golden to brown calcite in Branson, this spot is nice because of the different variety of specimens.
Basically there are more small vugs of sugary quartz crystals from 1-2 inches wide which have chalcopyrite, limonite, hematite, and malachite in them. I found one small ball of malachite, but mostly I found it growing on the chalcopyrite pyramids, making them look like bright little christmas trees. Sometimes the chalcopyrite is covered with limonite, sometimes surrounded by orange/red hematite, glazed by bright malachite, or by itself in a nice range of colors. I'll post pictures soon. There are also calcite crystals here with malachite and chalcopyrite embedded in them. It ranges from white calcite to yellow.
The vugs can be found mostly in a marblish onyx kind of rock. I don't know for sure, but it is like banded onyx a little bit. I don't think it is onyx but a limestone version possibly.
Directions: Looks at the GPS coordinate placemark on the Google Map. In Branson, it is near the light display. From the intersection of Roark Valley Rd and Shepherd of the Hills Expressway travel north on Shepherd of the Hills Expressway. Just around the corner and at the top of the hill you can find the roadcut and blasted rock on the right.
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GPS Coordinates (lat,long): ( 36°39'18.51"N, 93°15'45.98"W)
or (36.655141, -93.262772)
Google Map: (The GPS marker is supposed to be exact.)
Tags: Shepherd of the Hills Expressway, Roark Valley Road, Branson, Missouri, roadcut, road cut, chalcopyrite, irridescent chalcopyrite, peacock chalcopyrite, rainbow chalcopyrite, malachite, green malachite, malachite on chalcopyrite, limonite, limonite on chalcopyrite, sugary quartz, druzy quartz, quartz, calcite, yellow calcite, white calcite, marble, onyx, limestone
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