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Post by Cher on Jul 26, 2005 10:02:38 GMT -5
Wow what an awesome find Ron, it's a gorgeous color. I'd be back there digging like crazy hoping for more.
Cher
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Post by Tweetiepy on Jul 26, 2005 10:13:00 GMT -5
Wow that is amazing - what could cause the blue color? I've never seen blue wood - but then again this WAS many lifetimes ago that these things existed
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MichiganRocks
starting to spend too much on rocks
"I wasn't born to follow."
Member since April 2007
Posts: 154
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Post by MichiganRocks on Jul 26, 2005 12:49:20 GMT -5
Hey Tweetie, the original wood wasn't blue. The blue comes from the minerals that were deposited in place of the wood. Copper, Cobalt, and even Manganese can give a blue color. I don't what caused this to be blue, but I know that this area has lots of Copper and Manganese so I would guess it's one of them.
Ron
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Post by Alice on Jul 26, 2005 13:03:54 GMT -5
Wow, how cool it that!!!
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Post by Tweetiepy on Jul 26, 2005 13:17:22 GMT -5
Hey Ron, maybe we can put my pink pet wood together with your blue & get a purple pet wood - I really like purple!
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Post by cookie3rocks on Jul 26, 2005 17:20:31 GMT -5
That's beautiful, never saw anything like it.Should be really nice polished.
cookie
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Post by krazydiamond on Jul 26, 2005 18:19:53 GMT -5
that is pretty amazing, we should have a whole Pet Wood Hall of Fame photo thread. the variations are so incredible. great finds, Ron!
KD
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Post by rockyraccoon on Jul 27, 2005 2:42:14 GMT -5
beautiful ron!
kim
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Post by creativeminded on Jul 27, 2005 8:24:48 GMT -5
That is beautiful.
Tami
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stefan
Cave Dweller 
Member since January 2005
Posts: 14,113
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Post by stefan on Jul 27, 2005 9:59:27 GMT -5
Cool- I like the shade of blue- How big was the original chunk?
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ArkieRockhound
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since February 2005
Posts: 870
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Post by ArkieRockhound on Jul 28, 2005 9:31:41 GMT -5
I really like that blue. Is that local Michigan rock? I think I'd be out going through that gravel pit with a fine toothed comb after finding something like that.
Trish
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MichiganRocks
starting to spend too much on rocks
"I wasn't born to follow."
Member since April 2007
Posts: 154
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Post by MichiganRocks on Jul 28, 2005 14:08:18 GMT -5
This piece was fairly square at 3.5x3.5x3.5 inches.
Hey Trish, the glacial till that formed these hills came down from Canada. This piece of wood could have come from anywhere between Roscommon County, Michigan and James Bay, Ontario. I find a little bit of most everything, but finding one piece unfortunately doesn't mean you'll find another. I do however occasionally find pockets of a certain rock. It is possible that the tree that produced this blue rock could have started it's journey as a much larger log, and thus more pieces could be in the area. Of course, I'm in a gravel pit with literally billions of rocks. I usually go out looking when the sun is shining as the harder rocks like Quartz and Agate tend to shed dirt and they glisten like diamonds in the yellow sand. Diamonds are like that, dirt will not stick to them very well. A simple rain shower will wash it off. The harder rocks also are more efficient at heat transfer. When you dig rocks out of the ground, the harder rocks will feel colder. With the light sand, and no wind in the forest or down in the pit, and lots of bright sunlight and humidity, it turns into an oven. It is difficult to stick with it for more than an hour.
This piece of blue wood was not on the surface. I found an area in a hill a little ways from the pit that is producing ground that is solid rocks. Something that the men digging the gravel from the pit many years ago never found. I'm really anxious to see what that will yield, it's just more work digging up rocks than looking for them on the surface.
Sorry for rambling.
Ron
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ArkieRockhound
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since February 2005
Posts: 870
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Post by ArkieRockhound on Jul 28, 2005 15:12:16 GMT -5
Very interesting Ron,
I'm always glad to learn about finding rocks. Hope you find lots more.
Trish
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textiger
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since May 2005
Posts: 946
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Post by textiger on Jul 28, 2005 15:32:22 GMT -5
Love the blue. And am intrigued by the idea of an accessible gravel pit. We don't have those here in Houston. We have clay. Lots of sticky, black clay. All our rocks are imported.
What kind of rock are they digging out of that gravel pit for their commercial livelihood? Is it typical to find other goodies there or does that have more to do with the kind of rock they are originally mining---i.e. if they are digging out limestone for roadways, do they find other stuff?
matt
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MichiganRocks
starting to spend too much on rocks
"I wasn't born to follow."
Member since April 2007
Posts: 154
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Post by MichiganRocks on Jul 28, 2005 19:05:29 GMT -5
Hey Matt, the four gravel pits that I normally frequent are all abandoned (they were dug in the early 1900's) and are located on state land in the Huron State Forest. The bulk of the rock are the hard varieties like Quartz, Agate, Jasper and pet wood. The softer rocks tended to get ground down faster by the glacier. There are pieces of marine fossil all mixed in but mainly the hard silicified parts that survived. I do find some petosky rock on occasion. These pits were dropped bucause it was no longer profitable to dig. Over the years the rain has washed a lot of sand away and the pits tend to be just full of rocks again. That's the process that caused the rock deposits in the first place when the glaciers melted and the runoff carried away sand from certain areas. There are some huge pits nearby that are still in operation. I always drool when I drive by them.  People here buy the washed rock in 10A and larger sizes for landscaping and it's really quite expensive. I've got two 30 gallon garbage cans full of rocks that I've collected this summer. And that's on top of the 75 pounds or so that I've got in various stages of tumbling. I've sawed open roughly a hundred rocks getting prospects for making cabs or other slab oriented work. I find a fair amount of pet wood, just wish I could find more of the blue stuff. Sorry, there I am rambling again. Ron |
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stefan
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2005
Posts: 14,113
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Post by stefan on Jul 29, 2005 8:37:56 GMT -5
We have Gravel Pits here in NY- Great big Honking Gravel pits- There is some unusual stuff but mostly Sandstone- Boring worthless sandstone!
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deepsouth
fully equipped rock polisher
He who rocks last rocks best
Member since January 2004
Posts: 1,256
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Post by deepsouth on Jul 30, 2005 15:10:39 GMT -5
Wow Ron , what amazing beautiful blue petwood. I bet you had a huge BUZZZ when you found that piece.
And I haven't noticed anybody rambling at all . love to hear you describing where you find your rocks.
May you continue for a long time yet.
Jack
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Nov 15, 2024 17:44:51 GMT -5
Nov 15, 2024 17:44:51 GMT -5
