Discover Middle Georgia: Geology at the Museum of Arts and Sciences

“Everything you do, there’s minerals involved in your products that are made. You can’t get around with not having any minerals.”

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) — In the downstairs of the Museum of Arts and Sciences in Macon, you can expect to learn a lot about what’s lying beneath our feet and sometimes all around us.

President of the Middle Georgia Gem and Mineral Society is Geology enthusiast, Jay Batcha, has been learning about geology for the past 25 years. He says it all started as a hobby for his son.

Batcha says minerals are present in our everyday lives, from the concrete your house sits on, to the iron skillet in your kitchen, and the paper you write on.

“Everything you do, there’s minerals involved in your products that are made. You can’t get around with not having any minerals,” he said.

Professions that use technology like electric cars, windmills, solar farms and mining, all require the study of minerals and geologists work to develop what other things minerals could be used for.

When asked about what substances make a big impact here in Middle Georgia, Batcha told us about Kaolin. It is used in common products like deodorants, makeup, ceramics, paint fillers and paper. According to Batcha, Kaolin is made of things like decomposed feldspar.

Aside from being useful in our products, geology can teach us about what our world may have looked like many years ago.

“The limestone tells us that, you know that’s usually formed in oceans, mostly. So that it actually has ocean fossils in it like sand dollars and sea urchins. So you know that tells us that at one time, just south of here we were ocean, and pretty much just north of Macon, we were the shoreline,” says Batcha.

When we asked about that all-too-common red Georgia clay, we learned the bright color comes from a high presence of iron. Other minerals you can find in Middle Georgia include mica and quartz.

At the museum, you can learn about rocks and minerals from around the world, as well as some local specimens.

If you’re interested in learning more about Geology, the easiest ways to get involved is by joining a the Middle Georgia Gem and Mineral Society. You can learn more about them here.