lostintheforest
off to a rocking start
Member since February 2013
Posts: 19
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Post by lostintheforest on May 29, 2014 15:59:40 GMT -5
Hi all, Been collecting since I was a kid, but only started tumbling in the last couple of years. I've got a lot of rough as well as currently tumbling stones, mostly from southern and central california and would appreciate any input on the identification of them. a few of them i have a fairly good idea about (but could use confirmation), but others i just don't know. I will probably upload quite a few photos of my finds in the next few days but will start with the most recent one, found yesterday at the beach in santa monica. Thanks in advance for your everyone! pretty sure this is a chalcedony nodule but haven't found one quite this large before. It also seems to be lacking much of the distinct white "rind" characteristic of the other pieces of chalcedony but is extremely pock-marked.
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,466
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Post by Sabre52 on May 29, 2014 16:46:46 GMT -5
Definitely a chalcedony nodule. Several places in the volcanics of the Santa Monica Mtns have agate nodules. Some have very nice sagenite and plume....Mel
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lostintheforest
off to a rocking start
Member since February 2013
Posts: 19
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Post by lostintheforest on May 29, 2014 16:54:41 GMT -5
Thanks for the quick reaponse and info sabre! I actually picked up my first piece (ever) of easily identifiable banded agate while in malibu a few weeks ago. Its going through the first rough grind at the moment (should have taken before pics doh!) but will probably post a pic after its done with the rough. Ive also got a batch from cambria in the polish stage at the moment and will certainly be posting photos of those as many of them are beautiful but unidentified. Thanks again for your answer!
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,466
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Post by Sabre52 on May 29, 2014 18:52:18 GMT -5
lost: Malibu has some real fine polishable coquina in a black base ( common name Pt. Mugu Shell rock) Found on the real rocky steep beaches south of Pt.Mugu Rock. Kanan Road goes through the agate zone and has locations for sagenite etc. You need to join my old club, The Ventura Gem and Mineral Society. Great group and they can give you a lot of help on collecting locations...Mel
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lostintheforest
off to a rocking start
Member since February 2013
Posts: 19
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Post by lostintheforest on May 29, 2014 21:45:30 GMT -5
Thanks for the local tips and info Sabre! I'm not sure but I found something a while back down around Palos Verdes which i thought was turtella (i'm still quite the novice) but after looking up photos of coquina, i think i might have found some of this stuff you're talking about (i will post a photo below). I will look into The Ventura Gem and Mineral Society, sounds like a great way to learn more about what's around me locally and to learn more about geology in general. don't have many friends who share my enthusiasm for rocks...haha anyway here are some more photos if you or anyone else would like to take a guess. Thanks again! 1. first here is that piece i mentioned earlier (it's one of my favorite finds), what do you think? 2. this is really gorgeous when wet, i've found similar stuff on the beaches and while hiking in the santa monica mtns.. 3. this stuff seems to come in a huge variety of colors and patterns, but it's the silky almost waxy texture of the surface that really stands out when wet. 4. initially i thought this was some kind of petrified wood, but am now wondering if it's some kind of sedimentary rock...reminds me a lot of Jupiter, complete with the spot and everything!! 5. this one i'm very curious about. it's mostly a purple quartz-like material with streaks of dark green running through it. i'm pretty sure the green material glistens slightly in the sunlight, but it's very weathered. couldn't come up with fruitful search keywords when i tried to look online. Any ideas anyone? Thanks!
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Post by mohs on May 29, 2014 22:52:44 GMT -5
that first one is really cool some swirly symbols of quartz in basalt? very cool ed
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Post by Pat on May 29, 2014 23:01:57 GMT -5
#1 is embedded fossils.
The last one , purple and green , is interesting. The color combination is new to me, but I really like the purple.
Nice finds all!
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,685
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Post by Fossilman on May 30, 2014 9:19:10 GMT -5
Fossil for sure and looks like quartz agate and quartz rocks on most of them...That purple quartz is killer cool!!!!
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billg22
spending too much on rocks
Member since November 2011
Posts: 451
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Post by billg22 on May 30, 2014 14:13:27 GMT -5
That Palos Verdes area is very interesting. Did you get to the quarry off of Forrestal drive? My wife and I were just up the a couple of weeks ago. Came out with a couple of bags of rocks. I wanted to get down to the beach but ran out of time. Lots of cool stuff there. I gather lots of driftwood near Malaga cove.
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Post by Pat on May 30, 2014 14:23:13 GMT -5
We used to live in Palos Verdes. The only interesting rock I ever found was at the beach (Malaga Cove). It was an embedded fossil. Still have it. Good memories.
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miander
spending too much on rocks
Searching for the shop of my dreams...
Member since November 2013
Posts: 407
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Post by miander on Jun 1, 2014 9:29:17 GMT -5
Nice finds lif! I am in the Bay Area and have found pieces like your chalcedony, just browner. I really like your finds Welcome to RTH!
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miander
spending too much on rocks
Searching for the shop of my dreams...
Member since November 2013
Posts: 407
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Post by miander on Jun 1, 2014 9:31:29 GMT -5
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lostintheforest
off to a rocking start
Member since February 2013
Posts: 19
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Post by lostintheforest on Jun 3, 2014 15:14:27 GMT -5
wow, thanks for all the replies everyone! The Palos Verdes area is indeed an amazing place to find cool stuff. I've only been down to the beach so far, but found loads of embedded fossils as well as crystals (which i think are baryte). Definitely need to do a more thorough exploration so thanks for the tips billg22! Anyone have any ideas about #'s 3, 4 or 5? I'm curious to know if i can tumble (and get a shine out of) the material in #3. I have a few pieces of it and although it seems to naturally have a smooth texture, i'm worried that it is too soft to get a shine out of. Which scratch test would be best to determine if it's worth giving it a shot? hi miander, thanks for the welcome and for sharing what you've been finding in your neighborhood! it's so cool to see how the same material can take on many different appearances based on geographical location.
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