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Barite from Palos Verdes

This article was originally published by The-Vug.com in January, 2016

The-Vug.com brings you this article about the barite deposits of Rancho Palos Verdes,
a wonderful classic rockhounding area in Los Angeles County.

FortySevenPress.com features an Android App that includes this location, plus 7 others, including step by step
GPS directions to the location. There is a FREE TRIAL Version that INCLUDES Palos Verdes,
as well as the FULL version, which includes several more great locations you’ll want to visit!

 For more great articles, check out the website, www.WhereToFindRocks.com

4. Palos Verdes Barite

Collecting a Legacy

by Justin Zzyzx

In the middle of the concrete heart of Los Angeles, rock collecting opportunities lay right below your feet. For any self respecting mineral collector on these gritty streets, mastering Palos Verdes is a right of passage.

Palos Verdes has been known as a classic Southern California mineral collecting location since the begining of the building of Los Angeles County.

This page will tell about the Rich deposits of crystallized Barite found in the rock deposits of Palos Verdes Peninsula. With a long abandoned quarry permitting rockhounding, to collecting along the cliffs of the peninsula, Palos Verdes is a jewel of a mineral location! The rock layers of the peninsula contain several minerals, most forming in small grains, or otherwise not of interest to the general public.

The main exception is the formation of barite crystals forming in between blocks of breccia. Typically, most of the crystals are formed as plates and clusters with a tight grip on the surface of the blocky rock found in various areas along Palos Verdes, which are visible all along the area of Pelican Cove.

Crystals of Barite found in the cliffs to the West


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Pelican Cove stretches from Point Vicente Lighthouse to the resort built over the old “Marineland of the Pacific” attraction. Public access to Pelican Cove has been available since the foundation of the first houses in the area. A free public parking lot is available, with a well maintained path down to the rocky beach below.

 
To the West, towards the lighthouse, Barite is found on the rocks below, starting after passing the black basalt outcrop. The material here is typicall beige or honey colored.

Cliffs of Palos Verdes looking to the East
To the East, towards the direction of the resort, smaller crystals of Barite are found, however, they are typically clear, which is interesting.

The organizers of the Forrestal Nature Reserve are to be commended for creating a public park that made rockhounding in the area to be an ongoing right. This area has been a popular location for dolomite, barite and fossils.
You can access the park during normal operating hours and collect a reasonable amount of material. We love collecting dolomite crystals at tihs location, with their large saddle shapped crystals found in abundance.
Many of the minerals from Rancho Palos Verdes, the barite, selenite and dolomite, are all interesting to view under Ultra Violet light.

You can read more about the uncommon minerals of Palos Verdes on www.WhereToFindRocks.com.

A map and more information are provided inside The-Vug.com Quarterly Magazine Book, available for sale directly from The-Vug.com

You can be taken to this location and several more via GPS on your Android wireless device, with this app available on the Google Play Store.