|
Post by snowmom on Aug 20, 2014 6:23:34 GMT -5
this is a picture of the cut from one of the rocks I gave away because of the grain it seemed to have. Spouse is very worried about asbestos and does not want anything remotely resembling it around. Arrowhead Dave is the proud owner and is asking me to send more as he tries to get it identified. He is consulting rock experts, and they all seem to think it is some sort of agate/quartz/chalcedony...not nephrite it sure has got a lot of depth and interest to it. Epidotite or serpentinite with epidote seems likely to me. It will be interesting to see what name/s it turns out to have. Anybody seen anything like this before?
before cutting, outside stained yellow from tannins and iron, etc. in the water.
cut image so green!
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 20, 2014 7:23:14 GMT -5
I am voting for a quartz, nephrite or quartz, serpentine mix because it is way too hard to be just serpentine. The similar piece you sent to me broke similar to quartz and I had a hard time scratching it with a file. Kind of strange though because a piece split off like a cleave and quartz does not have cleavage. I can not remember if I did an SG test on my piece or not. When it appeared to be quartz I tossed it aside. I should have cut it. I do know where it is so I will do a little more checking. The stone and color to me is gorgeous.
I would love to know the specific gravity on that piece. I find stone here (slabbed and photoed some yesterday) that looks almost exactly the same and it weighs from 2.7 to 2.87. My problem is that my camera can not photograph the green correctly in any kind of light. If I remember I will put up a photo when I get them into the computer. What I find here does not have the staining because it has not been standing in water for a long long time. Jim
|
|
|
Post by snowmom on Aug 20, 2014 7:30:03 GMT -5
more of the same or similar stuff.. stained from the lake, the largest piece is for sure the same, and maybe a couple of the smaller ones also.. the rest are probably cousins or wannabes... ArrowheadDave thinks his will take a polish. yeah, I think it is real pretty too. Dave says not nephrite... olivine/epidote are common here...
|
|
rockroller
spending too much on rocks
Be excellent to each other.
Member since October 2013
Posts: 359
|
Post by rockroller on Aug 20, 2014 8:03:09 GMT -5
Wow, That green is amazing! Dave has some good resources and a little asbestos wouldn't bother him any! But if you need to get rid of any more of that awesome stuff (for the spouses' sake), I will be happy to trade some safer stuff with you!! Cheers, Roland
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 20, 2014 8:24:23 GMT -5
Epidot has come up in my research quite a bit also. Don't remember why I did not pursue it further. Just checked my book for peridot and peridotite and in some ways they are similar (color) but peridot has a SG of 3.2 to 4.3 which is way heavier than what I have.
The wheels of injustice just keep on turning. Someday. Jim
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 20, 2014 8:41:21 GMT -5
Here are some pics that I had taken a while back of that same stuff. The color is not quite right but the similarities are amazing. Jim
|
|
|
Post by snowmom on Aug 20, 2014 13:42:20 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by snowmom on Aug 20, 2014 13:52:10 GMT -5
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 20, 2014 16:06:44 GMT -5
Jeeze I hate to do this BUT I still think you need to keep looking. Those threads do not list hardness and SG so I looked in my book. Hardness is 3 to 5 which is way too low and the SG is 2.5 to 2.6 which is also way to low for the rocks that I tested. I slid a file across a lot of those rocks and I think it only scratched two.
But ain't we learning a lot and eliminating a lot. lol Jim
|
|
|
Post by snowmom on Aug 21, 2014 10:40:43 GMT -5
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 21, 2014 10:58:01 GMT -5
They certainly have a similar look. But that is the problem. Way too many things that look similar but are totally different. I am hoping a strong microscope will settle things. Jim
|
|
|
Post by washingtonrocks on Aug 21, 2014 12:08:54 GMT -5
Awesome rocks, snowmom! I love the process of trying to identify unusual stones! The second photo in particular with the cut face showing sure looks like Epidote to me, including what looks like a monoclinic crystal structure. Plus or minus some other neat stuff like Amphibole, Olivine, Pyroxene, etc...Olivine and Ca rich Plagioclase crystallize at similar temps and often occur together so maybe that's something to consider...The slightly wonky hardness and SG numbers might simply come down to multiple minerals with multiple variables in a relatively small zone. And if a specimen has undergone alteration or partial alteration (i.e. Ca-Feldspar -> K-Feldspar -> Quartz, or somewhere along that scale) that can only confuse things more! Let us know what the final verdict is if you get further testing done!
|
|
SJPatrick
starting to spend too much on rocks
2 1/2 years into rock hounding and I'm still a newbie!
Member since September 2013
Posts: 124
|
Post by SJPatrick on Aug 21, 2014 17:24:21 GMT -5
Well I can't make a guess as to what sort of rock it is. But that cut piece sure is pretty.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 21, 2014 20:54:29 GMT -5
The rock is very hard.the majority of it is a6-7 moh.i will be taking a slab of it to the university of texas geology dept.when I get a chance to see what the proffesionals say.it is a very beautiful stone,whatever it is it will make some fine pistol grips with matching knife scales.once again snowmom thank you for your pretty green rock.:-) Dave
|
|