djaxon
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since February 2015
Posts: 159
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Post by djaxon on Jan 26, 2016 19:07:40 GMT -5
These are great! thanks for sharing - so much color, texture, just beautiful! and Mel, please share the results of your research !
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snuffy
Cave Dweller
Member since May 2009
Posts: 4,319
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Post by snuffy on Jan 26, 2016 19:32:22 GMT -5
Mel,I find it very puzzling too! A half century of hounding a little above this area and no hint of some of these kinds of material!
snuffy
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,472
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Post by Sabre52 on Jan 26, 2016 20:35:37 GMT -5
Snuffy, Yep, a real head scratcher. Aside from a couple of pet wood articles, I can find nothing written at all on the San Jacinto gravel beds. Tx's pics represent some pretty odd and interesting types of agate too. I do have to keep reminding myself though, that the George West triangle wood zone has a lot of limb casts that show agate characteristics only and no internal wood grain at all. I've got tubes, and fortifications, moss,plumy stuff etc that from the exteriors are plainly wood but, if the exteriors were removed by stream action, you'd just say moss agate or tube agate and never guess they started out as wood. Matt Dillon has a lot of agates from that region too. Since all the area around the San Jacinto is a good wood region, I find myself wondering how many of these agate types are simply the worn down interiors of what was originally pet wood where no internal wood structure remains. As exampples, these are all actually agate pet wood casts....Mel
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snuffy
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Member since May 2009
Posts: 4,319
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Post by snuffy on Jan 26, 2016 20:54:49 GMT -5
Snuffy, Yep, a real head scratcher. Aside from a couple of pet wood articles, I can find nothing written at all on the San Jacinto gravel beds. Tx's pics represent some pretty odd and interesting types of agate too. I do have to keep reminding myself though, that the George West triangle wood zone has a lot of limb casts that show agate characteristics only and no internal wood grain at all. I've got tubes, and fortifications, moss,plumy stuff etc that from the exteriors are plainly wood but, if the exteriors were removed by stream action, you'd just say moss agate or tube agate and never guess they started out as wood. Matt Dillon has a lot of agates from that region too. Since all the area around the San Jacinto is a good wood region, I find myself wondering how many of these agate types are simply the worn down interiors of what was originally pet wood where no internal wood structure remains. As exampples, these are all actually agate pet wood casts....Mel Much wood found! However,in this region it is highly silicified,have not found any agatized that I recall.
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jamesp
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Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,280
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Post by jamesp on Jan 27, 2016 7:07:20 GMT -5
Some day when I retire, I'm going to have to visit Texas. I'm a teacher, so I have summers off, but I doubt that's a good time to visit. I'd love to find rocks like those! If I could outrun you I would take you to the Rio Rob. That way the cartel may nab you instead. Yes, summer is brutal.
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snuffy
Cave Dweller
Member since May 2009
Posts: 4,319
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Post by snuffy on Jan 27, 2016 8:30:03 GMT -5
Some day when I retire, I'm going to have to visit Texas. I'm a teacher, so I have summers off, but I doubt that's a good time to visit. I'd love to find rocks like those! If I could outrun you I would take you to the Rio Rob. That way the cartel may nab you instead. Yes, summer is brutal. Yeah,its a shame that an area of Texas that rich in wonderful rocks is unsafe to rockhound in.Just need to rely on Mel to have the pebblepups supply them. snuffy
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Post by txrockhunter on Jan 27, 2016 8:38:25 GMT -5
Whoa! What can I say? I'm kinda bowled over by so many great slabs of such quality and variety. I esp love the orbiculars. You seriously need to learn to cab. There's some amazing cabs in there. Thanks for the compliments! I am working on some equipment upgrades that should give me a shot at making cabs. I have some fantastic information here, as well as amazing examples. In the meantime, I will keep cutting an photographing. Thanks, again!
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Post by txrockhunter on Jan 27, 2016 9:01:06 GMT -5
Amazing agates. Never seen such patterns. The fact that drainage is so far east is puzzling. And does not seem to be a big drainage for so much variety. photos excellent. Please don't post any purple dish rags LOL Thanks, James! They are fun to collect, too! My search for a purple dish towel resulted in permission to take a light blue one LOL! Not sure it will have the same magical properties......
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Post by txrockhunter on Jan 27, 2016 9:05:19 GMT -5
That first tubey moss reminds me of some Bull Canyon stuff I've seen. Awesome orbiculars.. excellent finds!! That 1st one is one of a kind so far, but it really stood out when I saw it. I love the orbiculars too and wish I could find more! Thanks for looking! - Jeremy
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Post by txrockhunter on Jan 27, 2016 9:06:42 GMT -5
Wow very nice.might drive down to Conroe this weekend. Dave Let me know if you can make it down and I will take you out. - Jeremy
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Post by txrockhunter on Jan 27, 2016 9:16:17 GMT -5
Some day when I retire, I'm going to have to visit Texas. I'm a teacher, so I have summers off, but I doubt that's a good time to visit. I'd love to find rocks like those! Looks like you are on the index finger in MI. I went to school @ Ferris St., so I know that climate well! Texas does take some getting used to, but this Northerner has adjusted just fine! If you decide to visit Texas, make this your 1st stop. It sounds like jamesp is setting up a date with the border patrol on your Rio visit LOL!
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Post by txrockhunter on Jan 27, 2016 9:24:25 GMT -5
Howdy folks, Been deep into my geological research on the origin of this San Jacinto agate and I've got to say it's quite a puzzle as upstream of these deposits there is certainly nothing close except sedimentary deposits. So, this leads me to two theories #1 Best guess: Since the red jasper and pet wood you are finding is almost identical to that of the Brazos River gravels and the Brazos runs a long ways bisecting Texas from NW to SE, the agate and jasper you are finding could have traveled all the way across Texas from the agate and chert deposits of NW Texas in the Ogallala sediments, because in the old pluvial periods ( think great floods when you think pluvial periods) these rivers were huge. Some of the NW Texas deposits do have nice agate, even today ( think Canadian River Plume, Alibates Flint). And these particular sediments could have even come from way further north up Nebraska way etc. Also good agate country. Theory #2 The agates are locally sedimentary in origin like the stuff in the Dakotas. Formed in pockets left by wood casts, corals, crinoid heads or other marine life and the silica source is sponge spicules, diatoms etc. The Texas sediments upstream from the San Jacinto gravels are very colorful with lots of iron salts which would explain the nice colors, a lot of your agates have an organic look to them, you are finding a lot of wood, and there are good siliceous limestone/slaty deposits upstream from the area you are collecting. Remember, Prairie Agate, Dryheads, Fairburns, Union Road, Kentucky agate etc are all colorful agates from sedimentary deposits. So, there ya go. No real answers until you find something that is definitely a dead ringer for a known deposit but sure interesting to think about.....Mel Mel, that is some amazing information! I have tried to research the history, but like you said, there is very little information out there! "No real answers until you find something that is definitely a dead ringer for a known deposit" With that being said, I guess I will continue to post my finds as evidence. Maybe one of the finds will give more information that you can pull from. Thanks for taking the time to educate! - Jeremy
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Post by txrockhunter on Jan 27, 2016 9:31:37 GMT -5
Mel,I find it very puzzling too! A half century of hounding a little above this area and no hint of some of these kinds of material! snuffy Snuffy, not sure if you ever get down this way, but I would love to get you out to these gravels. I haven't spent much time looking, but have you posted any photos of material you find in the Brazos Gravels? I would like to get an Idea of what you typically find up there. - Jeremy
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,280
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Post by jamesp on Jan 27, 2016 10:51:43 GMT -5
Some day when I retire, I'm going to have to visit Texas. I'm a teacher, so I have summers off, but I doubt that's a good time to visit. I'd love to find rocks like those! Looks like you are on the index finger in MI. I went to school @ Ferris St., so I know that climate well! Texas does take some getting used to, but this Northerner has adjusted just fine! If you decide to visit Texas, make this your 1st stop. It sounds like jamesp is setting up a date with the border patrol on your Rio visit LOL! The DEA ? I was thinking about using him for cartel bait. sorry Rob.
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snuffy
Cave Dweller
Member since May 2009
Posts: 4,319
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Post by snuffy on Jan 27, 2016 11:59:34 GMT -5
Mel,I find it very puzzling too! A half century of hounding a little above this area and no hint of some of these kinds of material! snuffy Snuffy, not sure if you ever get down this way, but I would love to get you out to these gravels. I haven't spent much time looking, but have you posted any photos of material you find in the Brazos Gravels? I would like to get an Idea of what you typically find up there. - Jeremy Jeremy,I'll have to lookup pics of some of my finds.I always concentrated on pet wood,which we have in great abundance. In fact I had only planned to tumble pet wood until I found this site about 8 years ago,then of course had to get every kind of rock there is!! I live on the Catahoula geological formation,runs through Brazos County,Huntsville,Livingston,east into Louisiana.I'm about 60 miles from Conroe as the crow flies. In my research in ancient times great rivers flowed bringing material off the east side of the emerging Rocky Mountains down towards and into the Gulf of Mexico.I could see a scenario where the San Jacinto cut into one of the earlier ancient flows and formations such as the Catahoula formed later overrunning these.We have no deep canyons or rivers to cut that deep to show earlier material.Who knows what happened over millions of years.One only needs to check out the different oil formations to see how these stacked up thousands of feet over the eons! snuffy
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Post by Jugglerguy on Jan 27, 2016 16:39:13 GMT -5
Some day when I retire, I'm going to have to visit Texas. I'm a teacher, so I have summers off, but I doubt that's a good time to visit. I'd love to find rocks like those! Looks like you are on the index finger in MI. I went to school @ Ferris St., so I know that climate well! Texas does take some getting used to, but this Northerner has adjusted just fine! If you decide to visit Texas, make this your 1st stop. It sounds like jamesp is setting up a date with the border patrol on your Rio visit LOL! Yep, I'm a few hours northeast of Big Rapids. I have an older sister who went to dental hygiene school there. I visited the school with a bunch of middle schoolers last spring too. I might take you up on a guided rock hunt some day.
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Post by txrockhunter on Jan 27, 2016 17:18:16 GMT -5
I wanted to update 2 of the pictures after 3 days in the vibe. Sorry about the redundancy, but I've only had a Vibe for a week and was excited about the difference in clarity. Anyway, thanks for looking!
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
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Post by Deleted on Jan 31, 2016 18:04:29 GMT -5
Id buy an lfrb of your super fancy 'gravel'. Seriously, pm me a price if you have such and want to sell some.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 31, 2016 18:09:09 GMT -5
Cut up a few recent finds from the San Jacinto River Gravels. Most of these are 1" to 3", perfect for the 7" tile saw......my only means of cutting. A friend gave me an old Raytech TV-5, that I will polish the small ones with. Sorry for the crappy background. Wet plywood is not a good backdrop for photography! Thanks for looking! - Jeremy Some sort of Moss Agate. Haven't seen any others with this kind of pattern. Moss Agate (should look much better without all the saw marks) Orbicular Orbicular I guess some sort of Moss Agate This was my favorite. It was white encrusted with the patterns raised through the surface. Not sure what this is....don't see much blue in the gravels here. Suggestions??? More Moss Agate. Fortification Agate Moss Lots of color...thinking some sort of Jasper. Some sort of Jasper? Orbiclar Botryoidal- Braccia? More Moss Agate Jasper with little black crystals (maybe). They sparkle when turned in the right direction. More Moss Agate I think this is some form of Orbicular Jasper. Form of Moss Agate Jasper Some form of Agate, not sure of the ID. More Moss Agate Some Petrified Wood (probably should have put in the Post your favorite petrified wood thread, but oh well). I guess this is Shrink Wood? More Shrink Wood Thought this was pretty cool. The fibers appeared to be floating And one lone Sagenite. This Sagenite was different than most of the stuff that I have found. Instead of the crystals being colored and the main focal point, they were clear and showed as voids in the Jasper. With all the fortification stuff and such, I cannot get away from the idea that many of those started out as thundereggs and or amygdules (whats the dif anyways?). Dug my first t eggs last week. That is what got me thinking. Sabre52
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,472
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Post by Sabre52 on Jan 31, 2016 19:34:47 GMT -5
T-eggs and amygdules form much differently. The former are gas pocket nodules that are usually found in basalt or andesite. Agate/chalcedony infills an often roughly almond shaped void in the host rock. Amygdules do not have the classic t-egg matrix shell. Too much typing to do T-egg ( lithophysae) formation but you can Google lots of explanations. Basically ( a way too simple explanation) t-eggs differ in that the star shaped gas pocket forms inside the matrix "shell" before infilling with chalcedony and the host rock tends to be an ash/perlite type deposit....Mel
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