Sabre52
Cave Dweller 
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,503
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Post by Sabre52 on Sept 12, 2005 11:44:28 GMT -5
Howdy, Just took my final batch out of the polish for awhile. ( everything grinding now) These are fresh from the city dump at Yermo , Calif. This odd material is called red petrified palm bog or palm root depending on how many roots show in the piece. Lots of vegetation and fan palm roots that were buried by a volcanic eruption in the area. My lighting and camera don't show the shine well but it takes a mirror polish as it's very hard. Is very difficult to cut on the diamond saw! Closeup shows a better view of the roots which are about 1/4 to 1/2 inch in diameter. Thanks for lookin...Mel   |
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stefan
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2005
Posts: 14,113
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Post by stefan on Sept 12, 2005 12:12:23 GMT -5
Way cool-
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Post by krazydiamond on Sept 12, 2005 12:36:19 GMT -5
interesting stuff... ihave something similar but it's on the soft side, so it can't be the same.
have you tried to cab any of that, Sabre?
KD
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,503
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Post by Sabre52 on Sept 12, 2005 12:52:32 GMT -5
KD: I've cut one cab for my collection from this same lot. Came out real good with one huge root right in the middle of it. Mirror polish. One of the displays I do for our gem show is polished fossils and palm root and fiber are a couple of my favorite materials. The palm root from Edison ,Calif. is really spectacular. I'll post a couple of more pics sometime....Mel
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yeahda1
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since August 2005
Posts: 201
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Post by yeahda1 on Sept 12, 2005 13:00:20 GMT -5
looks great mel something to be proud of
Dick
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,503
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Post by Sabre52 on Sept 12, 2005 13:02:05 GMT -5
Oh what the heck, the camera was still out. Here ya go KD. Yermo Palm Root (30x40) on the left and Edison Palm Root on the right.  |
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ArkieRockhound
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since February 2005
Posts: 870
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Post by ArkieRockhound on Sept 12, 2005 13:10:52 GMT -5
I sure would love to see your rock collection some day. Wouldn't have to look anywhere else to see it all! I've never seen nor heard of most of the rocks you have pictured. They are all beautiful!
Trish
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Dr DG
fully equipped rock polisher
Gone Fishing
Member since April 2005
Posts: 1,848
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Post by Dr DG on Sept 12, 2005 13:14:05 GMT -5
California has the best places to collect, glad I live in Anaheim woot wooot
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,503
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Post by Sabre52 on Sept 12, 2005 13:14:23 GMT -5
Trish: *sigh* I must admit I am obsessed with quartz gems and have been for years. Have a lot of rocks that's for sure, Unfortunately have several other obsessions that take up time too. Pretty convinced I need to be mulltiple people to have time enough for everything! *L*
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Post by krazydiamond on Sept 12, 2005 17:42:38 GMT -5
is there some similarity to this, Sabre?  those are very cool cabs you posted above! KD |
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,503
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Post by Sabre52 on Sept 12, 2005 18:45:00 GMT -5
KD: The cab you've pictured is what we call Orbicuar or Bird's Eye Rhyolite and is not fossil in origin like palm bog but rather a crystalized volcanic ( igneous) rock. It does tend to be a bit softer and frequently more porous than other quartz gems. When fully silicated, these orbicular rhyolites sometimes form what we call "poppy jaspers". Ocean Jasper and Morgen Hill Poppy Jasper are good examples of this replacement of orbicular rhyolite with colorful iron rich oxides of silica. The palm bog (root) and another related material which is fossilized reed Actually show good enough replacement of the plant structures with silica that you can easily see the vascular bundles and some of the cellular structure in the polished specimens..mel
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Post by krazydiamond on Sept 12, 2005 18:54:49 GMT -5
;DWOW, Mel, thanks for that info!! i love it when i can ID a heretofore "idon'tknowite" type rock. especailly when i can use the term "orbicular"...makes it sound SO MUCH more impressive!!!  KD |
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,503
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Post by Sabre52 on Sept 12, 2005 19:01:08 GMT -5
KD: This is an example of the same sort of rhyolite material you've shown cabbed that has been infused with iron oxides and additional silica to form the Poppy Jasper I find at my ranch in nodular form ( Sierra Primrose Jasper).  |
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Post by cookie3rocks on Sept 12, 2005 19:09:30 GMT -5
WOW
Excuse me a moment..
OK, I've wiped the drool from my face. All this go-out-andfinderite is just killing me!
Beautiful stuff. KD, I have some of what you have and thought it was pet barnicals! Live and learn.
cookie
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yeahda1
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since August 2005
Posts: 201
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Post by yeahda1 on Sept 12, 2005 19:38:00 GMT -5
great stuff now i'm going to have to start taking pictures
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Post by gaetzchamp on Sept 12, 2005 20:05:34 GMT -5
Sabre-
That is really great stuff. I've heard about palm and how cool and sometimes rare it is. I'll bet you have to dig pretty hard for it 'eh?
gaetz
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,503
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Post by Sabre52 on Sept 12, 2005 20:40:35 GMT -5
Gaetz:*L* You obviously give me credit for being much less lazy than I am. I'm more of a walker not much of a digger.Tough to find hunks with really great roots and the actual palm onions ( the root ball) are real rare but all the palm I have, I just walked around and picked up mainly around the Yermo City Dump. When they grade the road it's great too. Found some big pieces that way. Harder to hunt now though. They discovered one of the oldest U.S. early man sites right where the palm is and have closed most the area to collecting. Now you have to go further back in the hills but there's still a lot of material around. A few years ago my wife even found a huge 100# hunk of red palm which is agatized to the point of being highly translucent, while hiding behind a bush to ummm take a break *L*. We had to wrap it in a tarp to carry it out and I'm sure the local dump users though we were nuts! And of course, it's now her rock and she won't let me cut it.
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Post by gaetzchamp on Sept 12, 2005 20:53:14 GMT -5
Wow, that really sounds cool. I'd love to see some picts of that bad boy. How big is it???
Funny story...I was out helping collect funds for the boy scouts and noticed some nice pet wood in this lady's garden. I asked her about it and she said her father used to run a grader/dozer while cutting roads in the mtns and he used to pick it up. I've since wanted to go down there again and see if they'd give up where they picked it up.
gaetz
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Debs
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since February 2005
Posts: 1,252
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Post by Debs on Sept 12, 2005 21:40:56 GMT -5
Beautiful! I have several mirror like polished petrified palms. I have been collecting them for awhile now. They have such beautiful colors and patterns. I purchased all of mine from a guy called Rockshop on Ebay or Sticks In Stones his business. You should check out his site if you like petrified palms. He travels all over collecting this stuff and does great work with them. I love that California Poppy Jasper but it seems kind of hard to find sometimes and goes really fast on Ebay along with Morgan Hill.
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,503
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Post by Sabre52 on Sept 12, 2005 22:56:26 GMT -5
Gaetz: I always watch for rock gardens at garage sales and such. Actually scored a twelve pound hunk of tiger eye, an gorgeous hunk of amethyst sage agate and a big hunk of jade and more from a flower garden last year. ( cost me $25.00 for about fifty pounds of great material that day). I did a happy dance! The big boy palm hunk is about 16" in diameter and at least 100 pounds (I tried and carry it on my back first but a sharp edge was killing me!) I'll try a pic soon.
Debs: Been to that guys site and your right. Great specimens! I shop at E-Bay quite a bit too but man, stuff isn't going cheap there nowadays. Too little good stuff being fought over by too many people. Makes for an expensive shopping environment!
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