
Rockhounding Tennessee
Tennessee is a good state for rockhounding. Eastern Tennessee (like western North Carolina) is home to ancient mountains and associated mineral and gemstone deposits. Much of western Tennessee was a historic sea bottom and, as a result, marine fossils are common. Limestone is widespread throughout Tennessee and the state has numerous caves and caverns. In addition, Tennessee has three meteor craters (the Flynn Creek Structure, the Howell Structure, and the Wells Creek Basin).
State Rocks, Gemstones, Minerals, Fossils, & Dinosaurs
Rockhounding Tip: Knowing state rocks, gemstones, minerals, fossils, and dinosaurs often can be very useful information for rockhounders. Ordinarily, states with significant mineral deposits, valuable gemstones, fossils, or unusual or significant rock occurrences will designate an official state mineral, rock/stone, gemstone, fossil, or dinosaur to promote interest in the state’s natural resources, history, tourism, etc. Accordingly, such state symbols often are a valuable clue as to potential worthwhile rockhounding opportunities.

Calcium Carbonate
State Rock: Calcium
Carbonate (1979)
Tennessee designated calcium carbonate,
commonly known as limestone, as its official state rock in 1979. Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed
largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal
forms of calcium carbonate. Limestone is very common in Tennessee (which also
means that Tennessee has numerous caverns and caves). Note: Between 1969 and 2009, Tennessee had
designated agate as its official state stone.
In 2009, however, Tennessee designated agate as its official state
mineral.

Freshwater River Pearls
State Gem: Pearl (1979)
Tennessee designated the pearl (taken from mussels in the fresh water rivers of the
state) as its official state gem in 1979. Freshwater river
pearls are created by mussels and occur in a variety of colors and shapes. Prior
to World War I, freshwater pearls occurred in a variety of Tennessee streams.

Agate
State Mineral: Agate (2009)
Tennessee originally designated agate
as its official state rock in 1969. In
2009, however, Tennessee designated agate as its official state mineral. Agate, a semiprecious gemstone, is a
cryptocrystalline
variety of the mineral
quartz. Agate is
common in Tennessee and occurs in a variety of colors.

Pterotrigonia (Scabrotrigonia) thoracica of the Coon Creek Formation
State Fossil: Pterotrigonia thoracica (1998)
Tennessee designated Pterotrigonia (Scabrotrigonia) thoracica of the Coon
Creek Formation as it official state fossil
in 1998. Pterotrigonia (Scabrotrigonia) thoracica (nick
named ‘Ptero’) was a Cretaceous
bivalve found in
the Coon Creek Formation of West Tennessee. Bivalves are the class of mollusks
that includes clams, oysters, mussels, and scallops. Ptero
was a wedge-shaped, shallow burrowing suspension
feeder that inhabited the marine clay sand ocean
floor seventy million years ago when a
shallow sea covered west Tennessee. Ptero shells of are preserved unaltered
in great abundance. The associated ocean
floor inhabitants were diverse and included other bivalves, snails, squid like animals, worms, sponges, corals, crustaceans,
sharks, fish, turtles, and marine reptiles.
Ptero now is extinct. Only the genus Neotrigonia, with five species, has survived to the present, and
is found only in the Pacific Ocean, most commonly near New Zealand. Coon Creek
is a seventy-three million-year-old fossil site located about ninety miles east
of Memphis in McNairy County, Tennessee.
Rockhounding Resources

State-specific rockhounding books (including the books listed here as well as other books), regional rockhounding site guides, and other helpful rockhounding resources are identified - by category - in the Books & Gear section of Gator Girl Rocks with a link to the Gator Girl Rocks Amazon Store where you may easily browse selected resources and securely place an order. Your order will benefit Charity Rocks!


Mid- Tennessee Gem & Mineral Society
Active rockhound club with useful website.
Nashville Fossils
Useful website focusing on Nashville Basin
fossils.
- Allan W. Eckert, Earth Treasures Vol. 2 - Southeastern Quadrant (1985; reprint in 2000).
- James Martin Monaco & Jeannette Hathway Monaco, Fee Mining & Mineral Adventures in the Eastern U.S. (2d ed. 2010).
- Kathy J. Rygle & Stephen F. Pedersen, Southeast Treasure Hunter's Gem & Mineral Guide (4th ed. 2008).
Museums of Interest to Rockhounders

Frank H. McClung Museum
University of Tennessee – Knoxville, Tennessee
Museum exhibits include the geology and fossil
history of Tennessee.

Gray Fossil Site Museum
East Tennessee State University – Gray, Tennessee
The museum – called the ETSU and General Shale Brick Natural History Museum
and Visitor Center at the Gray Fossil Site – exhibits fossils pertaining to the
Gray Fossil Site. The Gray Fossil Site
is Miocene (7 – 4 million-year-old) lakebed that formed a sinkhole from a
collapsed cave creating a watering hole that attracted animals. The sinkhole trapped animals and the
fossilized remains were discovered in 2000 when Tennessee Department of
Transportation workers were widening State Route 75. Thousands
of fossil specimens have been recovered.
Museum exhibits include fossils of a red panda,
a short-faced bear, saber-tooth cat, ground
sloth, rhino, and badger. The site even
contains a strange, shovel-tusked elephant whose intruding lower jaw held flat,
bladelike lower tusks used for stripping the bark of trees and tearing up
vegetation.

MTSU Mineral, Gem, & Fossil Museum
Middle Tennessee State University – Murfreesboro,
Tennessee
The museum has two main exhibit rooms and a
smaller black light room that displays fluorescent minerals. Samples on display come from every state in
the U.S. as well as from over fifty other countries.

Pink Palace Museum & Planetarium
Memphis, Tennessee
Museum exhibits include regional rocks,
minerals, and fossils.
Places to Visit - Interesting Sites To See

Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Eastern Tennessee
Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most
visited national park in America. Cades
Cove, in the western portion of the Park, has some Paleozoic fossils.

Burra Burra Mine Historic District
Ducktown, Tennessee
The Historic District, in southeastern Tennessee,
includes a museum and the legacy Burra Burra copper mine site.

Ruby Falls Cave
Chattanooga, Tennessee
The Ruby Falls Cave is located deep in
the heart of Lookout Mountain. It is a
limestone cave (sometimes called a Solution Cave). Ruby Falls is a 145-foot underground
waterfall.

Cumberland Caverns
Southeast of McMinnville, Tennessee
Cumberland Caverns is one of the longest caves
(over 27 miles) in Tennessee.
Historically, Cumberland Caverns functioned as a small saltpeter mine
(used to make gunpowder).

Chucalissa Archaeological Site
T.O. Fuller State Park – Memphis, Tennessee
Chucalissa Indian Village is a Mississippian
culture archaeological site dating back over five hundred years. Tennessee, of course, is famous for historic
(and prehistoric) arrowheads (as well as Clovis points).
Rockhounding Sites for Children & Families
Fossils
Coon Creek
Science Center - Adamsville, Tennessee
The Coon
Creek formation in western Tennessee (and northeast Mississippi) is a Late
Cretaceous (about 73 million years old) sedimentary sandy marl deposit. Local fossils include marine shells, snails, and
shark teeth.
Minerals
Burra Burra Mine Historic District
– Ducktown, Tennessee
Commercial
(fee access) business. Visitors may
collect specimens (chalcopyrite, pyrite, garnet, etc.) from a collecting area
of stockpiled ore.