Glossary Category: Field Terminology

Rockhounding field terminology covers the common language used by rockhounds to describe collecting sites, tools, and conditions encountered while prospecting and collecting.

Glossary HomeCollecting TechniquesField Safety & PreparednessField TerminologyField Tools & EquipmentLocations & Site TypesNavigation & Trip Planning

Bag-and-Tag Routine

Label and bag each find immediately with a unique number and micro-location so specimens never lose provenance in the field.

Bearing and Azimuth Note

A direction note (compass bearing/azimuth) that tells you where you moved or which way a feature trends.

Bedding Orientation Note

A quick record of how a layered rock unit tilts and trends at the spot you’re collecting.

Bedrock

Solid rock in place beneath soil and loose debris; collectors use bedrock exposures to confirm source rock and structures.

Concentrate Reprocessing

Concentrate reprocessing means running your saved concentrate again—often with a finer screen or slower technique—to recover what was missed the first time.

Contact

The boundary where one rock unit meets another; contacts help collectors separate contexts and target zones like veins and fossil beds.

Coordinate Datum

The map datum your GPS coordinates are based on (for example WGS84), which must match your maps.

Coordinate Format

How your device displays coordinates (decimal degrees, degrees-minutes-seconds, UTM), which must stay consistent.

End-of-Day Field Review

An end-of-day field review is a short check that your labels, notes, photos, and GPS points still match before memory fades or bags get mixed.

Erosion

The removal and transport of weathered material by water, wind, ice, or gravity; erosion exposes new rock and concentrates float.
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