jasperfanatic
spending too much on rocks
Member since January 2019
Posts: 463
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Post by jasperfanatic on Dec 2, 2019 22:59:07 GMT -5
I'm fortunate in that there's no shortage of cool rocks to look at around the house, but very few so captivate me that I keep visiting it to take a look...but this one does. Discovered this one last weekend and I just can't get enough of it, so thought I'd share.  IMG_E2108 by Kevin, on Flickr  IMG_E2111 by Kevin, on Flickr  IMG_E2112 by Kevin, on Flickr |
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Post by Pat on Dec 2, 2019 23:04:53 GMT -5
What a beauty! What is it? Thanks.
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jasperfanatic
spending too much on rocks
Member since January 2019
Posts: 463
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Post by jasperfanatic on Dec 2, 2019 23:07:30 GMT -5
What a beauty! What is it? Thanks. Thanks, Pat! It's fire obsidian/magnetite. |
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Post by RocksInNJ on Dec 2, 2019 23:22:42 GMT -5
I don’t blame you. That’s awesome and I’d be staring at it multiple times a day. Possibly eve hang it in front of a sunlit window for all to admire.
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Post by fernwood on Dec 2, 2019 23:33:07 GMT -5
Wow! I thought it was Labrodorite at first.
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Post by knave on Dec 2, 2019 23:53:44 GMT -5
Beeeeayootiful!!
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Dec 3, 2019 0:12:57 GMT -5
Love precious Fire obsidian. Rarer than even black opals with color play, and literally dazzles the eyes (takes mine a while to recover after playing with them). Really hard to photograph the optical phenomenon, and you did a great job!
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Post by miket on Dec 3, 2019 10:28:49 GMT -5
I'm speechless.
Well, except to say that I really need to get my hands on some Fire Obsidian. Seriously.
Ok, now I'm speechless.
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Post by greig on Dec 3, 2019 10:38:54 GMT -5
Very nice! I'd hate to be the rock sitting next to that one.
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jasperfanatic
spending too much on rocks
Member since January 2019
Posts: 463
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Post by jasperfanatic on Dec 3, 2019 13:42:14 GMT -5
I'm speechless. Well, except to say that I really need to get my hands on some Fire Obsidian. Seriously. Ok, now I'm speechless. Hey Mike, reach out to Emory Coons if you're looking for some to play with. You can find him on Facebook pretty easy searching on his name, or Coons Lapidary. He's a good guy and owns a couple of claims for the fire magnetite and that's where I got the stuff I've been playing with - tell him I sent you his way. He's also an amazing resource on flint knapping, if you have an interest in that stuff. |
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Post by miket on Dec 3, 2019 13:53:03 GMT -5
I'm speechless. Well, except to say that I really need to get my hands on some Fire Obsidian. Seriously. Ok, now I'm speechless. Hey Mike, reach out to Emory Coons if you're looking for some to play with. You can find him on Facebook pretty easy searching on his name, or Coons Lapidary. He's a good guy and owns a couple of claims for the fire magnetite and that's where I got the stuff I've been playing with - tell him I sent you his way. He's also an amazing resource on flint knapping, if you have an interest in that stuff. Thanks! |
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Post by opalpyrexia on Dec 3, 2019 19:25:43 GMT -5
Beautiful. I was unaware of the existence of fire obsidian. Thanks for posting it.
I wish that I had known about it because then I would have included it in the presentation on opal that I recently made to my local club. In that talk, I briefly mentioned other minerals that have fire. In all of them, including opal, the fire is due to the diffraction of light due to geometries that are on the order of the wavelengths of visible light. Opal's fire is due to silica sphere matrices plus water, while the fire of the Feldspars (moonstone, labradorite, sunstone), Aragonites (ammolite, pearl), and Chalcedony (fire agate) are due to overlapping layers or plates of the mineral. I just looked up fire obsidian and its fire is due to the latter type of structure.
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jasperfanatic
spending too much on rocks
Member since January 2019
Posts: 463
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Post by jasperfanatic on Dec 3, 2019 19:51:47 GMT -5
Beautiful. I was unaware of the existence of fire obsidian. Thanks for posting it. I wish that I had known about it because then I would have included it in the presentation on opal that I recently made to my local club. In that talk, I briefly mentioned other minerals that have fire. In all of them, including opal, the fire is due to the diffraction of light due to geometries that are on the order of the wavelengths of visible light. Opal's fire is due to silica sphere matrices plus water, while the fire of the Feldspars (moonstone, labradorite, sunstone), Aragonites (ammolite, pearl), and Chalcedony (fire agate) are due to overlapping layers or plates of the mineral. I just looked up fire obsidian and its fire is due to the latter type of structure. I'm no expert, but that's essentially my understanding of fire obsidian, specifically it's a layer (sometimes stacked) of magnetite. You can't see it in my pics, but the layer is like a piece of paper (albeit much thinner) encased in glass. Higher grades of magnetite produce better colors and brightness, though there are some colorless variants that are pretty spectacular in my opinion, particularly the "mirror" variant where the magnetite layer is basically like a polished chrome. I also believe that the other types like midnight lace, gold sheen, etc. are also composed of magnetite layers, just a lower grade magnetite. In any case, every stone is wonderfully unique and captivating, but some just outshine the others. |
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Post by opalpyrexia on Dec 3, 2019 21:24:43 GMT -5
Beautiful. I was unaware of the existence of fire obsidian. Thanks for posting it. I wish that I had known about it because then I would have included it in the presentation on opal that I recently made to my local club. In that talk, I briefly mentioned other minerals that have fire. In all of them, including opal, the fire is due to the diffraction of light due to geometries that are on the order of the wavelengths of visible light. Opal's fire is due to silica sphere matrices plus water, while the fire of the Feldspars (moonstone, labradorite, sunstone), Aragonites (ammolite, pearl), and Chalcedony (fire agate) are due to overlapping layers or plates of the mineral. I just looked up fire obsidian and its fire is due to the latter type of structure. I'm no expert, but that's essentially my understanding of fire obsidian, specifically it's a layer (sometimes stacked) of magnetite. You can't see it in my pics, but the layer is like a piece of paper (albeit much thinner) encased in glass. Higher grades of magnetite produce better colors and brightness, though there are some colorless variants that are pretty spectacular in my opinion, particularly the "mirror" variant where the magnetite layer is basically like a polished chrome. I also believe that the other types like midnight lace, gold sheen, etc. are also composed of magnetite layers, just a lower grade magnetite. In any case, every stone is wonderfully unique and captivating, but some just outshine the others.
I decided to do a little more reading about fire obsidian, so I did Google search for 'fire obsidian magnetite'. The first hit at the top of the page was this technical article: The Origin of Color in “Fire” Obsidian, with one of the authors being a James Miller. Coincidentally, Mr. Miller happens to be a member of my local club, so I'll make sure to mention your post when I see him at our December meeting! |
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jasperfanatic
spending too much on rocks
Member since January 2019
Posts: 463
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Post by jasperfanatic on Dec 3, 2019 21:51:05 GMT -5
I'm no expert, but that's essentially my understanding of fire obsidian, specifically it's a layer (sometimes stacked) of magnetite. You can't see it in my pics, but the layer is like a piece of paper (albeit much thinner) encased in glass. Higher grades of magnetite produce better colors and brightness, though there are some colorless variants that are pretty spectacular in my opinion, particularly the "mirror" variant where the magnetite layer is basically like a polished chrome. I also believe that the other types like midnight lace, gold sheen, etc. are also composed of magnetite layers, just a lower grade magnetite. In any case, every stone is wonderfully unique and captivating, but some just outshine the others.
I decided to do a little more reading about fire obsidian, so I did Google search for 'fire obsidian magnetite'. The first hit at the top of the page was this technical article: The Origin of Color in “Fire” Obsidian, with one of the authors being a James Miller. Coincidentally, Mr. Miller happens to be a member of my local club, so I'll make sure to mention your post when I see him at our December meeting! Awesome! |
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller 
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,723 
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Post by Fossilman on Dec 4, 2019 10:00:35 GMT -5
SWEET! Yup, I thought of Emory as soon as I seen your material...… He has the claim at Glass Buttes and will share information about fire Obsidian.... His collection is far from none too.. Worth the visit or talk with at guy!
He does magic with this material and knapping...(His Dad is great with Obsidian also).
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