Sabre52
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Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
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Post by Sabre52 on Nov 15, 2012 17:33:37 GMT -5
Howdy folks, Well, made it back from my horse clinic in one piece. Today's clinic was very challenging, mudholes, shallow water crossings with very steep muddy banks, jump offs etc. Ole Hopper actually did pretty well after the first few times when he reared up and tried to buck me off. Anyway, got back and started taking pics for my Rio grande Gravel thread until my battery went dead. this is the first installment, mostly non agate rocks. All these are from Eagle Pass, Texas Thanks for looking.....Mel Devils Toenails, shells in silicified limestone.  Chert with fossils:  Puddingstones and breccia. Most these are sealed with red or gold jasper and are very hard material.   Banded chert. Much of this is very like Polish Flint with contrasting Liesgang lines.  Wonderstone/Hickoryite type rhyolite:  Orbicular rhyolite. This comes in almost every color of the rainbow but reds and browns are the most common.  More rhyolite, spotted and brecciated. there are lots of banded forms too:  One of my two favorite rhyolite types. This is sometimes called Rio Grande Poppy Jasper but there is a true poppy jasper there too. Takes a good polish anyway and easy to spot because of all the spots on the exterior.  Rio Grande petrified wood. Mostly all very stream rounded and many different types and colors:  My other favorite rhyolite, fake dino bone rhyolite. This stuff really looks like dino bone!  Dendritic Agates:   Finally, weird quartz nodules. Some are spider webby, some orbicular and some banded but all are colorful and interesting:  When my battery recharges, I'll do more of the agate types. |
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Nov 15, 2012 18:38:14 GMT -5
That helps a lot Mel.Have found about a third of those down at Falcon Lake.The toenails are cool.Good name.The rhyolite that looks like D bone i mistook it for P wood.Those rhyolite is mind blowing.And the variety of it.And i found cobbles of devil's toenails about 50 miles north of Laredo in a dry creek.That form of P wood and poppy jasper eluded me.That wood is wild.The final statement'weird quartz nodules'is an understatement for those gravels.I will be watching your stuff.I am preping for 10-14 days at Falcon Lake in December.Almost can't sleep. Thanks
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Post by geoff on Nov 15, 2012 22:36:25 GMT -5
Nice haul! I like the orbicular rhyolite.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 15, 2012 22:55:34 GMT -5
I found some pieces similar to the fake dino bone rhyolite but I was guessing that it is jasper mainly because I do not have a clue what I am finding except for the really common stuff. I will have to compare mine to yours and see how similar they are.
Is there a way of telling the difference between rhyolite and jasper or are they pretty much the same thing?
Jim
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Nov 15, 2012 23:00:47 GMT -5
Good question
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itsandbits
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since March 2012
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Post by itsandbits on Nov 15, 2012 23:05:31 GMT -5
what a bunch of interesting rock!!
That's a lot of amazing future slabs and cabs
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Sabre52
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Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
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Post by Sabre52 on Nov 15, 2012 23:28:19 GMT -5
Jim: For me, not being a geologist, that's a tough question. Based on what I've seen, there appear to be specimens that actually overlap. Most rhyolite is a bit softer and more porous than jasper but dang, some specimens of rhyolite are altered and have a lot of silica and are as hard as jasper, so I'd call them jasper. I think rhyolite has feldspar in it's makeup and is a bit more crystalline which is why it's often more porous or coarse grained and comes from volcanic flows not cooler deposition like jasper but that's about it for my knowledge of the subject. May be someone else can help us out on this subject....Mel
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Nov 18, 2012 10:21:50 GMT -5
This material that is hard to descibe is in so many forms colors and patterns.Lots of purple-what is that caused by?
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Sabre52
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Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
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Post by Sabre52 on Nov 18, 2012 21:09:59 GMT -5
James. Often purple is caused by beryllium or manganese but I think in these instances, most the coloring is actually purplish shades grading from red which is due to various degrees of iron oxide content mixed with other impurities. I have found massive quartzite from these gravels that definitely has a purple tone and some agate with amethyst banding. This would be due to manganese and iron....Mel
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Fossilman
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Post by Fossilman on Nov 19, 2012 0:13:13 GMT -5
Rio Grande petrified wood,now that stuff is awesome!!!
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Post by beefjello on Nov 19, 2012 8:25:29 GMT -5
Some great stuff to be found out there! Mel have you cabbed the 'fake bone' material?
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,492
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Post by Sabre52 on Nov 19, 2012 19:22:39 GMT -5
Brian: No I have not. As it is, it's too big a hunk for my ten inch saw ( most this Eagle Pass stuff is from the oversized rock pile so is big. so I'm gonna hafta smack it and see if I can reduce it in size. It is on my short list though as, man it is very colorful stuff and looks like it will cab up well. Hardness appears to be about mohs 5 or so and is seems fine grained. It's getting cool enough to do some sawing now so I may try to cut some soon....Mel
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itsandbits
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since March 2012
Posts: 825
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Post by itsandbits on Nov 20, 2012 1:31:18 GMT -5
with material like that you don't have to go anywhere else!!
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Nov 27, 2012 7:00:15 GMT -5
Falcon Resovoir is 35 feet low exposing 1000's of acres.Lots of rock hunting in mild short sleeve weather.My wife is packing my bags.
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Post by Tonyterner on Nov 29, 2012 12:03:47 GMT -5
Great finds but that Rio Grande Poppy Rhyolite steals the show for me.
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Post by beefjello on Nov 29, 2012 19:32:19 GMT -5
Glad it's on your short list Mel.. I sure look forward to seeing how it works up.
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Post by gingerkid on Nov 29, 2012 21:47:48 GMT -5
Enjoyed your pics with info, Mel!  Really like the dendritic agate and the fake dino bone. The rhyolites are sweet! After asking you about the Devil's Toenails, I got a bit tickled when I ordered some GA staurolite from South Gem & Minerals and they sent me a Devil's Toenail shell fossil and an Apache Tears as free gifts.  It's from Utah though. Guess it's the same as the one found in Texas? |
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,492
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Post by Sabre52 on Nov 30, 2012 20:37:40 GMT -5
gingerkid: I'm not sure, Devils Toenails seems to the the common name for a bunch of primitive oysters in the Texagryphea or Exogyra group here but all the species in this group in my fossil book are larger than the shells in my Devil's Toenails limestone so I don't know...Mel
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Really like the dendritic agate and the fake dino bone. The rhyolites are sweet!
It's from Utah though. Guess it's the same as the one found in Texas?
