Finding flint?

Question

Help I need to find flint for a science project I am in the Front Roual area (look it up on Google Earth) any ideas where flint forms? Ex.) near water, high alltudes, etc.

Front Royal is in Virginia

Answer 1

You should be able to find it right in Front Royal. On the east side of the river near where Luray Ave and River Drive are near the river, the bedrock is Ordovician age Beekmantown Formation. This is a medium- to light gray dolostone with a butcher block structure. Wherever a stream has cut through it you are likely to find gray chert that is present in the dolostone as lenses and beds. Gray chert is flint.

Another geologic formation that is adjacent to the Beekmantown Formation, to the west is the Ordovician age Edinburg Formation. This formation extends to the west side of the river. This is a black to gray limestone with chert found near its base. Also in that same area is the Lincolnshire Limestone with is a light to dark gray thick bedded limestone with black chert nodules. These are most often called flint simply because of their black color. They are more resistant to weathering than the limestone, so they will likely be found in any stream beds that have cut through the limestone.

Here is a geologic map of Front Royal. If you go down and read the descriptions of the rock units you will be able to identify the ones that contain chert. :
http://ngmdb.usgs.gov/ngm-bin/ILView.pl?sid=78182_1.sid&vtype=b&sfact=1.5
If that link does not work for you go here and click on one of the options:
http://ngmdb.usgs.gov/Prodesc/proddesc_78182.htm

To identify "flint" also known as black-colored chert take a look at these pages. Keep in mind that in most cases the only difference between chert and flint is the color. The mineral composition is the same. Both are varieties of chalcedony. and are cryptocrystalline varieties of quartz. Chert is usually gray to white; jasper is red, and flint is dark brown to black.:
See:
http://www.uky.edu/KGS/rocksmn/silicates.htm

The chert and flint found in these rocks has two likely methods of formation. Often in carbonate rocks there are certain amounts of silica that are deposited as the remains of animals like zooplankton, or even as sponge spicules. These will often over time become nodules of chert. In other instances fluids that are high in silica flow through the carbonate rocks and a chemical reaction causes the silica to precipitate, forming beds, lenses, and nodules of chert, often around some existing silica, such as sponge spicules. In other cases the fluids will dissolve out certain parts of the carbonates, and deposit silica, leaving silica as a replacement mineral, replacing things like corals or other shells that might have been in the limestone. The source of the silica for the chert could have also been deposits of volcanic ash. There are quite a few possible scenarios that can form chert. It is also sometimes found in shales.

Answer 2

There's a professor in lynchburg who gives classes in flint knapping. You can probably contact him for sources in your area. http://www.errettcallahan.com/index.htm

Answer 3

You can find it sometimes used as railroad rock. You could try looking there, unless you want to find it naturally occurring.