Sabre52
Cave Dweller 
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,504
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Post by Sabre52 on Sept 21, 2011 14:56:49 GMT -5
Howdy folks, Had planned to go shooting this morning but the weather was nice and I've been jonesing for a rock hunt so instead I went to my favorite rockyard and hit the old Eagle Pass rock pile. All new stuff but still not spectacular hunting as it seems the quarry is in a section of the ground that is not very agate rich. Got only maybe forty pounds of rough in three hot hours of digging. Anyway, here are pics of some of my finds. Rio Grande Rhyolite. This is actually sort of a poppy jasper and don't look like much till you crack it open. The outside:  A look inside:  Another type of rhyolite. This is very brightly colored stuff!  Misc jaspery quartz things:  Couple of big puddingstone boulders. Much prettier in person. The red one appears sealed with mossy red jasper:  Clear sort of dendritic agate types :  Sort of a brecciated pastelite looking stuff. There was lots of this but I only took a couple.  Whopping big Rio Grande golden moss and plume:  More Rio Grande agates:  Big flashy jasper:  Wood cast:  And finally, some black flint with shells:  |
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grayfingers
Cave Dweller
Member since November 2007
Posts: 4,575 
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Post by grayfingers on Sept 21, 2011 15:11:55 GMT -5
Those are all great finds, Looks well worth the hot work! That Rio Grande Rhyolite is cool as can be, guess knowing what may lie inside a light colored rock is a good example of how experience pays off!
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Post by rockrookie on Sept 21, 2011 16:07:36 GMT -5
nice finds , Mel !!
--paul
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Post by Toad on Sept 21, 2011 17:24:03 GMT -5
Great loot for a few hours work. Really like that first one.
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Post by tandl on Sept 21, 2011 17:34:14 GMT -5
You done real good ! Those are all cool as heck . Like to have a atleast a lfr`r box  What type rock quarry ? Is this overburden? The rocks look tumbled. |
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,504
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Post by Sabre52 on Sept 21, 2011 18:11:22 GMT -5
Ted, This is all ancient river gravel from the Rio Grande River. The site it originates from is a gravel pit in Eagle Pass, Texas. It seems though that the deeper they get into the gravel, the less agate. I've been told the upper gravel layer is the most productive. Hence the good finds made by guys like Carlos and Matt Dillon on the surface of exposed terraces way above river level......Mel
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Post by tandl on Sept 21, 2011 18:32:41 GMT -5
I see , Thanks !
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Post by Woodyrock on Sept 22, 2011 0:53:16 GMT -5
Pretty nice for being the 'poor quality ' material. I would have a hard time passing this gravel pit without stopping.
Woody
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Post by paulshiroma on Sept 22, 2011 8:57:40 GMT -5
Thanks for "taking us along", Mel. That rhyolite is pretty cool! Great finds!
Paul
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,504
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Post by Sabre52 on Sept 22, 2011 9:14:22 GMT -5
Paul: If you want a cool place to take the kids for a rock hunt. Go east of Barstow on Hwy 15 till you hit Basin RD. ( about 45 miles). Go south on Basin road to the RR tracks and work the river bed gravel bars west along the Mojave River as it emerges from Afton canyon. You'll find most the same stuff you'd find in our Texas Rio grande gravels, including good moss and plume agate, jasper, wood ( including palm) and even the poppy- jasper- like rhyolite.....Mel
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Post by tandl on Sept 22, 2011 9:22:10 GMT -5
Mel , i believe you have something there . Is`nt poppy jasper a lap name for what is a rhyolite .
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Post by FrogAndBearCreations on Sept 22, 2011 9:29:07 GMT -5
What a nice big lot of great looking rock!
the slabs if you cut them up are gonna be beautiful
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,504
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Post by Sabre52 on Sept 22, 2011 9:35:23 GMT -5
Ted, Lapidary terms for rhyolite often call it jasper ( ie: Leopardskin jasper) and if it has enough silica and is fine grained enough, rhyolite can pretty much be the same as jasper. Where I hunted the "poppy jasper" by our ranch in Hornitos, there were specimens that sure appeared to originate as a rhyolite flow before they became poppy jasper as the poppies showed a hexagon shape. Thing is, poppy jasper, like the Morgan Hill stuff, is actually supposed to be a sedimentary chert that originated as an ocean ooze deposit while rhyolite based poppy jasper would be a volcanic igneous deposit. I suspect "poppy jasper" originates in several different way as, if you think about it, lots of agate has orbs similar to poppy jasper too and those forms did not originate as either rhyolite or oceanic ooze.....Mel
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Post by tandl on Sept 22, 2011 9:50:54 GMT -5
i agree totally . i find a "chert" here that has been slightly metamophosed . Rarely are the fossils identifiable but offten turned to blue chalcedony, sometimes with fortifications-agate . This is essentially a rhyolite then . i also find a green poppy rhyolite that is a metamorphosed basalt ! so what had already been through igneous hell changed again by another hell . i will post a pic here . Here is a example of the poppy . i will get the chert .  ........................Here is a "chert" example, blue agate upper corner  ..........Here is a quite nice blue agate cut from another of the cherts  |
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What type rock quarry ? Is this overburden? The rocks look tumbled.
