Post by jamesp on Sept 20, 2013 8:41:35 GMT -5
In the saw. They are always full of usually pure white/blue clay. This one had a tiny breach and the clay turned a bit brown.
It is the paste iest clay. Only direct spray from a pressure washer will remove the clay. This is a good find because there will be more.
And they are some of the highest grade corals in this vein i have been working for years. So the psuedos will be fine ones.
They are in sand and tend to crush more from overburden. Clay protects them better but prying them out of clay is hard to do.
It is the wedge on the right. The wedges often form a 3/4 ball like the small 1/2 ball on the left(brain coral).
Another cut could be taken off the left side and most likely expose another cavity. They are a science to know how to cut or if they are hollow.
The 1/2 round above was dead solid but had the classic 'skin' of a hollow psuedomorph. And they were found together. It's a guess.
This is the 1/2 round. It is a classic example of a whole 1/2 round brain shaped coral. Notice the radiating grain from the 'root' at bottom. Radiating
outwardly to the light grabbing 'lense' at top. The lense is shaped so that it can capture light from sun up to sun down. This is a baby. As it grows it will segregate into many wedges
and fans within the 1/2 ball. I have found these 1/2 ball colonies 8 feet in diameter in the river bank. They wash out and fall apart in to many 'wedges' to litter the river bottom.
There is not a single fracture in this specimen. Very dense material. Topish view.
Judging from the heavily botyroidal skin i would have lost $50 bet that it was hollow. Shows what i know.
The whole lens was actually a psuedomorph. That's why there is botyroids covering the top of this head. Look at the photo
above with the glasses on it and notice the skin(top of psuedomorph) is removed by tapping w/hammer. I had to remove it
to clamp it in the saw. It was so delicate i was afraid it would crack from the force of the saw clamp, get loose and bend my blade.
It is the paste iest clay. Only direct spray from a pressure washer will remove the clay. This is a good find because there will be more.
And they are some of the highest grade corals in this vein i have been working for years. So the psuedos will be fine ones.
They are in sand and tend to crush more from overburden. Clay protects them better but prying them out of clay is hard to do.
It is the wedge on the right. The wedges often form a 3/4 ball like the small 1/2 ball on the left(brain coral).
Another cut could be taken off the left side and most likely expose another cavity. They are a science to know how to cut or if they are hollow.
The 1/2 round above was dead solid but had the classic 'skin' of a hollow psuedomorph. And they were found together. It's a guess.
This is the 1/2 round. It is a classic example of a whole 1/2 round brain shaped coral. Notice the radiating grain from the 'root' at bottom. Radiating
outwardly to the light grabbing 'lense' at top. The lense is shaped so that it can capture light from sun up to sun down. This is a baby. As it grows it will segregate into many wedges
and fans within the 1/2 ball. I have found these 1/2 ball colonies 8 feet in diameter in the river bank. They wash out and fall apart in to many 'wedges' to litter the river bottom.
There is not a single fracture in this specimen. Very dense material. Topish view.
Judging from the heavily botyroidal skin i would have lost $50 bet that it was hollow. Shows what i know.
The whole lens was actually a psuedomorph. That's why there is botyroids covering the top of this head. Look at the photo
above with the glasses on it and notice the skin(top of psuedomorph) is removed by tapping w/hammer. I had to remove it
to clamp it in the saw. It was so delicate i was afraid it would crack from the force of the saw clamp, get loose and bend my blade.