|
Post by txrockhunter on Jan 25, 2016 15:30:56 GMT -5
Cut up a few recent finds from the San Jacinto River Gravels. Most of these are 1" to 3", perfect for the 7" tile saw......my only means of cutting. A friend gave me an old Raytech TV-5, that I will polish the small ones with. Sorry for the crappy background. Wet plywood is not a good backdrop for photography! Thanks for looking! - Jeremy Some sort of Moss Agate. Haven't seen any others with this kind of pattern. Moss Agate (should look much better without all the saw marks) Orbicular Orbicular I guess some sort of Moss Agate This was my favorite. It was white encrusted with the patterns raised through the surface. Not sure what this is....don't see much blue in the gravels here. Suggestions??? More Moss Agate. Fortification Agate Moss Lots of color...thinking some sort of Jasper. Some sort of Jasper? Orbiclar Botryoidal- Braccia? More Moss Agate Jasper with little black crystals (maybe). They sparkle when turned in the right direction. More Moss Agate I think this is some form of Orbicular Jasper. Form of Moss Agate Jasper Some form of Agate, not sure of the ID. More Moss Agate Some Petrified Wood (probably should have put in the Post your favorite petrified wood thread, but oh well). I guess this is Shrink Wood? More Shrink Wood Thought this was pretty cool. The fibers appeared to be floating And one lone Sagenite. This Sagenite was different than most of the stuff that I have found. Instead of the crystals being colored and the main focal point, they were clear and showed as voids in the Jasper.
|
|
rockroller
spending too much on rocks
Be excellent to each other.
Member since October 2013
Posts: 359
|
Post by rockroller on Jan 25, 2016 15:51:53 GMT -5
Whoa buddy you've been busy!! Those are marvelous! Looks like you are really learning to pick out the great ones. I finally got a batch of my SJ finds into the tumbler. Can't wait to see them at the end!
~Roland
|
|
|
Post by Pat on Jan 25, 2016 15:57:51 GMT -5
That's a beautiful bunch! Going to make a lot of outstanding cabs. Thanks for the show!
|
|
|
Post by txrockhunter on Jan 25, 2016 16:03:24 GMT -5
Whoa buddy you've been busy!! Those are marvelous! Looks like you are really learning to pick out the great ones. I finally got a batch of my SJ finds into the tumbler. Can't wait to see them at the end! ~Roland Thanks, Roland! I think have developed a better eye and more importantly, the ability to realize that every rock can't be great! I think that gravel bar has been turned over 2 - 3 times since you were here and has revealed some really cool stuff. I would love to see your batch, so please post picks! Hope all is well! Jeremy
|
|
|
Post by txrockhunter on Jan 25, 2016 16:16:49 GMT -5
That's a beautiful bunch! Going to make a lot of outstanding cabs. Thanks for the show! Thanks, Pat! I have never made a cab, so the addition of a vibe has opened the door for me.
|
|
NDK
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 9,440
|
Post by NDK on Jan 25, 2016 16:28:12 GMT -5
Wow what a display, gotta love the Tx gravel! I've got a few pieces of that yellow/gold moss. I may need to dig around & find it. Nice pix too!
|
|
|
Post by txrockhunter on Jan 25, 2016 16:50:07 GMT -5
Wow what a display, gotta love the Tx gravel! I've got a few pieces of that yellow/gold moss. I may need to dig around & find it. Nice pix too! I'm very lucky to have such a good source of material so close by! Working on improving my photography skills. I think a purple towel like jamesp, would make a huge difference! Thanks for looking! -Jeremy
|
|
|
Post by Jugglerguy on Jan 25, 2016 17:10:49 GMT -5
That's some awesome stuff. Thanks for taking the time to post all the pictures. Is this stuff rare or common where you hunt? When I look for lakers in Michigan, I can spend three days hunting all day long and only find a few mediocre agates. How long would you have to hunt to find the rocks pictured above?
|
|
|
Post by rockjunquie on Jan 25, 2016 17:16:49 GMT -5
Whoa! What can I say? I'm kinda bowled over by so many great slabs of such quality and variety. I esp love the orbiculars. You seriously need to learn to cab. There's some amazing cabs in there.
|
|
|
Post by txrockhunter on Jan 25, 2016 18:33:42 GMT -5
That's some awesome stuff. Thanks for taking the time to post all the pictures. Is this stuff rare or common where you hunt? When I look for lakers in Michigan, I can spend three days hunting all day long and only find a few mediocre agates. How long would you have to hunt to find the rocks pictured above? Thanks! I really enjoy the photography side, just need to keep developing developing better techniques. This is about 10 - 12 hours of hunting in 2 hour increments after work. I have been blessed / cursed with a great resource 15 minutes from my office. In 2 hours of hunting, I am usually leaving with about 30 lbs of rock. About 75% of the load is good, 25% being really good. Quite a few of the rocks below weren't good until they were opened, so there is definitely a learning curve to picking up the right rocks. I probably cut 100 rocks this weekend and about 50% were great, 25% were good, and the other 25% were filler for the garden. In all, I probably spent about 10 hours hunting for these rocks (this is about 1/2 of the keepers). Thanks for Looking!
|
|
Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,466
|
Post by Sabre52 on Jan 25, 2016 18:48:58 GMT -5
Wow, you know I am really fascinated by your finds. Some are obviously wood or wood casts but I find myself wondering where the in situ deposits of agate exist or existed that have supplied all those fine agate nodules. Have you ever read or found out any information about where the upstream deposits for those agates are?. Many of those tube, polka dot and fortification types are very unlike other Texas agates. I'm definitely gonna have to launch a little research into this. Wonderful display of agate and well photographed too.....Mel
|
|
|
Post by orrum on Jan 25, 2016 18:50:15 GMT -5
I just gotta go prowl n them Texas gravels!
|
|
|
Post by toiv0 on Jan 25, 2016 18:55:15 GMT -5
very nice, can you read jealousy in this post!
|
|
jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,179
|
Post by jamesp on Jan 25, 2016 19:29:41 GMT -5
Amazing agates. Never seen such patterns. The fact that drainage is so far east is puzzling. And does not seem to be a big drainage for so much variety.
photos excellent. Please don't post any purple dish rags LOL
|
|
|
Post by beefjello on Jan 25, 2016 19:36:02 GMT -5
That first tubey moss reminds me of some Bull Canyon stuff I've seen. Awesome orbiculars.. excellent finds!!
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 25, 2016 20:00:52 GMT -5
Wow very nice.might drive down to Conroe this weekend. Dave
|
|
|
Post by Jugglerguy on Jan 25, 2016 20:50:30 GMT -5
Some day when I retire, I'm going to have to visit Texas. I'm a teacher, so I have summers off, but I doubt that's a good time to visit. I'd love to find rocks like those!
|
|
Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,687
|
Post by Fossilman on Jan 26, 2016 0:52:14 GMT -5
HOLY MOLLY!!!!!!!!!!!
|
|
delo
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since February 2014
Posts: 134
|
Post by delo on Jan 26, 2016 9:40:19 GMT -5
Those are all amazing!
|
|
Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,466
|
Post by Sabre52 on Jan 26, 2016 17:22:15 GMT -5
Howdy folks, Been deep into my geological research on the origin of this San Jacinto agate and I've got to say it's quite a puzzle as upstream of these deposits there is certainly nothing close except sedimentary deposits. So, this leads me to two theories #1 Best guess: Since the red jasper and pet wood you are finding is almost identical to that of the Brazos River gravels and the Brazos runs a long ways bisecting Texas from NW to SE, the agate and jasper you are finding could have traveled all the way across Texas from the agate and chert deposits of NW Texas in the Ogallala sediments, because in the old pluvial periods ( think great floods when you think pluvial periods) these rivers were huge. Some of the NW Texas deposits do have nice agate, even today ( think Canadian River Plume, Alibates Flint). And these particular sediments could have even come from way further north up Nebraska way etc. Also good agate country.
Theory #2 The agates are locally sedimentary in origin like the stuff in the Dakotas. Formed in pockets left by wood casts, corals, crinoid heads or other marine life and the silica source is sponge spicules, diatoms etc. The Texas sediments upstream from the San Jacinto gravels are very colorful with lots of iron salts which would explain the nice colors, a lot of your agates have an organic look to them, you are finding a lot of wood, and there are good siliceous limestone/slaty deposits upstream from the area you are collecting. Remember, Prairie Agate, Dryheads, Fairburns, Union Road, Kentucky agate etc are all colorful agates from sedimentary deposits.
So, there ya go. No real answers until you find something that is definitely a dead ringer for a known deposit but sure interesting to think about.....Mel
|
|