Removing the rind off of a 30 pound silicified cor

This coral is one of our few silicified materials in the SE.This coral is the state stone of Florida.And i do not know the difference-cast/replacement.I know that every piece of this coral has a finger print in the form of a network of very fine holes in the same pattern as pekosty or indonesian corals.It just lacks the patterns of color.These fine holes define every piece of this material be it chip,arrowhead,fragment..And in many cases patterns are preserved.Tell me what is the difference.I may have heard these terms before John.And here is a close photo of an above average pattern.Thanks,am anxious to know

These coral heads are common cobbles lining the bottoms of rivers for miles down here.The boaters hate them and like to have them out of their way.I think a large part of Florida is covered with these and they lay piled up in piles as problem rocks in AG fields...like kudzu of rocks.I know what you are saying though.It is a large magnificient fossil till i got a hold of it.

Definitely a mineral replacement then. With mineral replacement the material is covered by silica rich mud and as each cell dissolves it is replaced by mineral so patterns ( like growth rings in wood) are still visible. I only saw the coral markings on the exterior in your photos. With casts the material is covered but rots away (or burns away if covered by hot volcanic ash) leaving a void shaped like the original item. It fills later with minerals so you get exterior detailing but interior will be random agate or other. On limb casts you will see bark or wood on exterior only but no sign of rings, knots, etc. on interior. When I was in Miami I spent most of my time staring at the fossil coral limestone used everywhere for walks and walls.

I magnified a photo of an old chipped area on this 30 pounder to show the texture on this particular chunk.It is heavily stained as it is an old chip but it allows the coral structure to be seen on a more close up veiw.

Crystals growing in pockets would not be pseudomorphs. If you found agate in the shape of a calcite crystal that would be. It has to be a mineral that replaces another mineral. Some of the more common ones are the Utah agatized barite (agate pseudomorph after barite), tiger eye ( agate pseudomorph after asbestos), weird sandstone "quartz crystals". I could send you some of the barites if you want to trade for coral.

I would think they are hollows where crystals were able to grow. Geodes and amygdules are not psuedomorphs either.

The heat treatment went well.And no fractures.600 degrees in my wife's counter top convection oven!Had already heat treated a couple of chips off of this before wasting a heat treatment.Most corals do not change so i learned to do a sample to see if it will be purdy.Removed 12 pounds of rind off of this monster and have tumbled these chips a couple of days to get the sand stain off of them.These were randomly picked out of the top tumble load,not cherry picked.Gravity must have an impact on chemical make up.I remember spending 20 minutes prying this chunk out of blue clay using a 5 foot pry bar.The colors after heat treatment varied top to bottom(the top is the scaly side).Also the root side verses the feeding side,and the portion sticking up out of the clay exposed to swamp water flowing in the river effects color.

Come again.Don't know what wear glasses are.Help me again please:>

Oh this sentence is a mod-i just got your humor-well done mate.
Losing close up eyesight is a drag.Your good:>Southern skulls are thicker than ave.

Bring it on.It's you old schoolers that lead the troups.