English: Flint in the Pennsylvanian of Ohio, USA

Flint is the "official" state gemstone of Ohio (actually, there's no such thing as "official" anything). "Flint" is sometimes used as a lithologic term by modern geologists, but it is a synonym for chert. Flint and chert are the same - they are cryptocrystalline, quartzose sedimentary rocks. Rockhounds often assert that flint is high-quality while chert is low-quality. Some geologists assert that "flint" implies a biogenic origin and "chert" implies a chemical origin.

Many cherts do have a chemical origin - chert nodules are moderately common in some limestone units. The nodules form during diagenesis - pre-existing silica components in the carbonate sediments are dissolved, mobilized, and reprecipitated as chert masses. Some cherts do have a biogenic origin - for example, radiolarian cherts (rich in radiolarian microfossils) or spicular cherts (rich in siliceous sponge spicules).

The most famous flint deposit in Ohio is Flint Ridge, in Licking County. At this locality, the Middle Pennsylvanian-aged Vanport Flint is exposed in several places. The geologic literature on the Vanport Flint is relatively sparse, with inaccurate, incomplete descriptions and characterizations. For example, the literature describes the Vanport as a sheet of flint at Flint Ridge - it's actually a meganodule horizon. Other descriptions refer to the chert as the remains of siliceous sponges. In reality, siliceous sponge spicules are quite scarce in Vanport samples.

Two graduate student projects during the 2000s, conducted at two different universities, had very different conclusions & interpretations about the origin of the Vanport Flint. A 2003 study concluded that chert at Flint Ridge is biogenic in origin. A 2006 study concluded that the chert is chemical in origin. Some Pennsylvanian-aged cherts in eastern America are inferred to be ultimately derived from quartzose eolian dust on seafloors.

Modern flint knappers value the Vanport Flint for being multicolored and high-quality (= very few impurities). With artificial heating, the flint is more easily knapped into arrowheads, spear points, and other objects. Prehistoric American Indians quarried the Vanport Flint at many specific sites on Flint Ridge. Old Indian flint pits can be examined along hiking trails in Flint Ridge State Park. Many authentic Indian artifacts found in Ohio (arrowheads & spearpoints - "projectile points") are composed of Vanport Flint.

Seen here is a flint specimen at Nethers Flint Quarries near the eastern end of Flint Ridge. This is a fee site - currently $7.50 per person to collect and 50 cents per pound of flint kept. Pits have been frequently dug out and filled in over the years. Many pits encounter flint meganodules. Flint colors here range from white to black. Other common colors include reddish, yellowish, brownish, grayish, and bluish. Many samples have paleofractures and small vugs filled with chalcedony and/or megaquartz (= visible quartz crystals in a chert / flint). Larger vugs are often not completely filled and are lined with quartz crystals ("geodes", but usually not subspherically shaped). Brecciation is present in some samples - the angular clasts are cemented together by chalcedony. Thin color bands called "pinstripes" are often present - such samples are called "Nethers Flint". Rottenstone / tripoli can be seen at the edges of some flint pieces here; rottenstone forms by long-term weathering. Weathering spherulites can be present in either the flint or the rottenstone. Fossils at this site are uncommon, but include fusulinid foraminifera, corals, and molluscs. Tiny peloids or peloid-like structures can occur in the flint. Minerals observed here include quartz, macrobotryoidal chalcedony, hematite, limonite, turgite, barite, siderite (or ferroan dolomite), and rarely pyrite. The iron oxides coat fractures and joint surfaces.

Stratigraphy: Vanport Flint, Allegheny Group, upper Middle Pennsylvanian

Locality: Nethers Flint Quarries - flint pit in the woods on the southwestern side of Flint Ridge Road, eastern Flint Ridge, far-western Muskingum County, east-central Ohio, USA (vicinity of 40° 00.137’ North latitude, 82° 11.544’ West longitude)