Geologist Walk and Talk in Johns Creek April 12 

Bill Witherspoon, co-author of the popular guide, Roadside Geology of Georgia, will present a talk and walk, “Geology, Gold, and the Making of Georgia,” at Autrey Mill Nature Preserve, 9770 Autrey Mill Rd, Johns Creek at 2:00 PM Sunday, April 12. The event is free and open to the public. The geology walk will pass by a vertical shaft in the preserve, probably dug while prospecting for gold. Though not among the six prospects in Fulton County mentioned in Georgia’s 1896 and 1909 state gold reports, this shaft lies only two miles west of two of them, in the vicinity of Johns Creek High School, and four miles east of two others, near The Home Depot on Holcomb Bridge Road. Preceding the walk, in a slideshow with animations, Dr. Witherspoon will explain the science behind the formation of North Georgia’s gold deposits over a time span of half a billion years, from earliest volcanic activity through the rise of the Appalachians to the settling of nuggets in streams. Although Georgia did not host the first gold discovery in the US, it can claim the first gold rush. Many of Georgia’s ‘29ers took their know-how to the 1849 California gold rush. Insights from historians show how Georgiaʼs gold rush fostered its industry and helped give it a different character from neighboring states. Roadside Geology of Georgia, a full-color 320-page guide, has sold more than 10,000 copies. “Our goal is to take the reader to Georgia’s natural wonders and explain the science that lies behind the scenery,” says Witherspoon, who taught geology to K-12 students and their teachers for 17 years at DeKalb County Schools’ Fernbank Science Center, and co-authored the 2013 book with Dr. Pamela Gore of Georgia State University.