crazysanman
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Post by crazysanman on Dec 6, 2017 7:49:29 GMT -5
Hello all, I recently went on a several day rockhounding camping trip in the Yellowcat Flat area of Utah, northeast of Moab. I was mainly looking for agate. I thought I could identify it, but I can't find pictures of material similar to what I collected in Google image searches so I may have targeted the wrong stuff. I've got pictures of different specimens to post. I'm going to put each type in a different post to make it easier to comment on. Thanks in advance! First, here are two pictures of some of the material as I found it on the desert floor. Photo 1 Photo 2 Is this stuff agate? I found it ranging from almost clear to milky white, gray, blue, and red. Photo 3 This stuff was opaque, ranging from red to orange to brown to black. Is this agate or jasper, or something else entirely? Photo 4
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crazysanman
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Post by crazysanman on Dec 6, 2017 7:50:14 GMT -5
I found this jutting out of the ground in a few spots. It's delicate and reminds me of mica, but it's definitely not the mica I used to find on the east coast. Photo 5
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crazysanman
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Post by crazysanman on Dec 6, 2017 7:51:03 GMT -5
Is this petrified wood? Photo 6
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crazysanman
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Post by crazysanman on Dec 6, 2017 7:52:58 GMT -5
Is the white mineral in these calcite?. Are these septarian nodules? I found them open like this. Photo 7
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crazysanman
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Post by crazysanman on Dec 6, 2017 7:54:03 GMT -5
Agate? Photo 8
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crazysanman
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Post by crazysanman on Dec 6, 2017 7:54:33 GMT -5
This one has a lot going on. What are the main minerals in This? Photo 9 Photo 10 Photo 11
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crazysanman
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Post by crazysanman on Dec 6, 2017 7:55:09 GMT -5
Another unknown to me, seen from two different sides. Photo 12 Photo 13
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crazysanman
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Post by crazysanman on Dec 6, 2017 7:56:13 GMT -5
Last one. What is the main mineral in this one? Photo 14 Photo 15 Thanks for looking!
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Post by MsAli on Dec 6, 2017 10:56:48 GMT -5
Agate? I am not the one to ask for identification but this is incredible!
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Post by Peruano on Dec 6, 2017 12:10:21 GMT -5
Welcome and congratulations on getting a haul out of the Yellow Cat. First off, do you have a Geiger counter? I'm still trying to determine if some of the stuff I collected there is hotter than I want it to be if I'm going to grind on it. Your first photo does indeed show an agate. For the future if you want folks to be able to distinquish photos, it would help if you numbered them. It avoids everyone having to count. I'm ok with calling the material is the 2nd and 3rd photos agate as well, although the foggy spots in them could indicate a chert origin. The three purplish stones in the fourth photo may be the same as some I collected in that area. It occasionally will have a red thread through it and cabs nicely. All of these in photo 4 are probably jasper, but the purple one seems a bit soft for typical jasper. You do not seem to have collected any of the reddish limb casts that the yellow cat area is famous for - btw neither did I so I'm not criticizing your effort. I'll let someone else comment on the whitish carbonates. That area is probably well known by some folks - it has been written up in the guides and some magazine articles.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 6, 2017 14:56:11 GMT -5
To the OP, thanks for the thread and the pics. Congratulations on your finds. No help otherwise. Hey Tom! You can make a Geiger counter for $100What is the type of radioactivity that is present? Just curious. We just drive thru there and I knew that area had cool stuff but perhaps I want stop in that desolation next time if the materials are hot. PeruanoSee you in Q?
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Post by rmf on Dec 6, 2017 15:07:12 GMT -5
Crazysanman
Image #1 One piece of red agate as previously noted. Image #2 One piece of red agate and 7 pieces that I noticed of chalcedony (Kal said knee) Basically agate with few mineral inclusions to give it color. Image #3 Pieces with red agate other pieces are chalcedony Image #4 There appears to be one piece of Agate at about 2 o'clock in the image and the rest appear to be jasper. Jasper and agate are like cousins in the quartz family jasper tends to have a different internal structure. Image #5 Selenite crystals Image #6 looks like bone to me (D. bone) Image #7 Maybe limestone (or mud stone) with Calcite or Quartz and maybe some smokey quartz. This is where ther is not enough detail in the image to say 100%. Needs to have hands and a loupe to verify Image #8 Agate showing botryoidal structure Image #9, #10, #11 Chalcedony with calcite and limestone Image #12 Quartz Image #13 Hard to tell Quartz or calcite Image #14 & #15 Chalcedony with country rock maybe limestone
If you want to do some sluthing on your own. Calcite has a hardness of 3 and quartz(includes Agate, Chalcedony and Jaspers) are around hardness of 7. A pocket knife hardness 5.5-6 If pocket knife scratches the white then calcite. If not take a piece of the Cahacedony from image 2 and scratch it if it does not scratch or they scratch each other equally then you have Quartz.
Also muratic acid will clean off calcite if there is a reason to do so.
Nice collection of material.
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crazysanman
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Post by crazysanman on Dec 6, 2017 15:08:36 GMT -5
To the OP, thanks for the thread and the pics. Congratulations on your finds. No help otherwise. Hey Tom! You can make a Geiger counter for $100What is the type of radioactivity that is present? Just curious. We just drive thru there and I knew that area had cool stuff but perhaps I want stop in that desolation next time if the materials are hot. The area is riddled with old uranium mines. I have been wondering myself if any of the stuff I brought back is radioactive. For now it's all being kept in my shed out back.
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crazysanman
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Post by crazysanman on Dec 6, 2017 15:28:56 GMT -5
Crazysanman Image #1 One piece of red agate as previously noted. Image #2 One piece of red agate and 7 pieces that I noticed of chalcedony (Kal said knee) Basically agate with few mineral inclusions to give it color. Image #3 Pieces with red agate other pieces are chalcedony Image #4 There appears to be one piece of Agate at about 2 o'clock in the image and the rest appear to be jasper. Jasper and agate are like cousins in the quartz family jasper tends to have a different internal structure. Image #5 Selenite crystals Image #6 looks like bone to me (D. bone) Image #7 Maybe limestone (or mud stone) with Calcite or Quartz and maybe some smokey quartz. This is where ther is not enough detail in the image to say 100%. Needs to have hands and a loupe to verify Image #8 Agate showing botryoidal structure Image #9, #10, #11 Chalcedony with calcite and limestone Image #12 Quartz Image #13 Hard to tell Quartz or calcite Image #14 & #15 Chalcedony with country rock maybe limestone If you want to do some sluthing on your own. Calcite has a hardness of 3 and quartz(includes Agate, Chalcedony and Jaspers) are around hardness of 7. A pocket knife hardness 5.5-6 If pocket knife scratches the white then calcite. If not take a piece of the Cahacedony from image 2 and scratch it if it does not scratch or they scratch each other equally then you have Quartz. Also muratic acid will clean off calcite if there is a reason to do so. Nice collection of material. Thanks!
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Post by Peruano on Dec 6, 2017 19:08:39 GMT -5
Yep, the Yellow Cat was a uranium mine and trace radioactivity should be expected in this material even if from surface dust. The area is definitely of interest, and relatively accessible if it hasn't rained recently. A bit of clearance on the vehicle would be nice but I made it in with a Sprinter RV. I collected lots of reds and some very rough (read irregular) purple agate. The guides mention agatized barite and what sounds like botryoidal clusters, but I didn't come up with anything like that. Its probable that the first photo of the OP includes the agatized barite balls. Everything I collected was small in size, but I'll admit to giving it the rush because I didn't want to get caught by dark that far from the road with questionable weather. rmf you are undoubtedly more informed on the area than I am. Thanks for the info. @shotgunner = I'm envisioning a short visit to Quartzite this winter with a bit of bike riding around Palm Springs and a San Diego stint to see friends. Maybe we will cross paths.
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crazysanman
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Post by crazysanman on Dec 6, 2017 19:47:12 GMT -5
The petrified wood / dino bone flouresces red
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Post by Deleted on Dec 6, 2017 19:54:38 GMT -5
Uranium is green in shortwave UV.
Red in longwave? Dunno. Not much fluoresces in longwave.
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Post by fernwood on Dec 6, 2017 22:39:09 GMT -5
# 3, 1st post, is almost identical to some of the Pet Wood from the Navajo Res in NE AZ. The two upper pieces are identical to some of my finds. I have lots of it I collected while living there. Nazlini area. Some pieces have the bark, some do not.
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crazysanman
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Post by crazysanman on Dec 7, 2017 8:04:35 GMT -5
# 3, 1st post, is almost identical to some of the Pet Wood from the Navajo Res in NE AZ. The two upper pieces are identical to some of my finds. I have lots of it I collected while living there. Nazlini area. Some pieces have the bark, some do not. I've seen some pictures of similar-looking petrified wood, and I'm hesitant to call this stuff agate because of the lack of any kind of banding in it. Some of the pieces I've found on this and other trips there are large. One camping trip in the Moab area I came upon a fire ring that had three football-sized pieces of this material as part of the ring. At that time I was doing a lot of flint knapping and assumed it to be chert.
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Post by Peruano on Dec 7, 2017 9:24:59 GMT -5
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