|
My Second Re-Reg posted:I watched this earlier and thought it might be good for the thread. There's a lot of information in here that applies to more than just hunting lake rocks. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_t4LC13utM I've been subscribed to that Michigan Rocks channel for a while but saw this video and loved the extra information, so I tracked down the geologists - she has a channel with a lot of short informative videos and also some geology course videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/DrNat13
|
#
?
Aug 17, 2022 23:18
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 30, 2024 09:01 |
|
|
Hey is this the defacto geology thread? Just wondering as I have a couple questions. Can a solution cave occur in igneous/metamorphosed igneous rock? Gneiss and Granite specifically. A place a few hours from here has a solution cave in it that I'd like to check out. There are also supposed to be marble deposits in the area. I *kinda* figure that the cave would be in the area of marble deposits, but I don't know for sure. If they can occur in Igneous rock, then that sucks because my search are just got a whole lot bigger. But if I can stick to areas where there is known to be marble deposits, then that narrows things down considerably.
|
|
#
?
Aug 24, 2022 01:55
|
|
|
I'd stick to the marble deposits, or any other deposits of limestone/salt/gypsum/ ECT. I don't really see any typical formation of solution caves in igneous or metamorphic terrains.
|
|
#
?
Aug 24, 2022 02:35
|
|
|
Thanks, I figured that was the case. I had a few leads and looked at some mineral exploration reports that identified some areas with marble deposits, and then when I was fiddling with google earth, trying to find some other info that I've got in there, I clicked on "karst" (which I've never done before) and a marker came up right about where I had it zoomed to. Which is in the vicinity of where I'd "heard" that the caves were. So, I guess thats as good a spot as any to start with.
|
|
#
?
Aug 25, 2022 01:39
|
|
|
I dated a geologist in college who taught me a little about finding fossils and cool rocks but hadn't gone out searching since that relationship ended a decade ago. I have always wanted to go out to bumfuck, Oklahoma and dig for selenite crystals, so I did just that yesterday. The dig site is a couple of hours from where I live and is on a bit of a sketchy dirt road, but crystals are plentiful and easily found.   Everything I collected:    
|
|
#
?
Sep 6, 2022 16:14
|
|
|
Last weekend I went fossil hunting out in West Virginia following an old book, Jasper Burns’ “Fossil Collecting in the Mid-Atlantic States.” I started at a roadcut near Wardensville (site 17) that I remember going to as a kid. It has definitely been 20 years, but I found some fossils I was happy with. Trilobites:   Nautiloid and Brachiopod:   Then I went to site 28 near Gainesboro VA. This was on a busy highway but I managed to find more Brachiopods and quartz crystals:   Finally I stopped near Leesburg VA following the “Rockhounding Virginia” book (mediocre book) to collect samples of Potomac Marble - a weirdo marble used in the interior of the US Capitol: 
|
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2022 21:49
|
|
|
I went picking for cool looking rocks along the train tracks the other day and found a neat one. https://imgur.com/a/7oWfYrz I have no idea what it is, but the test piece I broke off is tumbling up real nice. https://imgur.com/a/mB2lYH7 XeeD fucked around with this message at 07:34 on May 10, 2023 |
|
#
?
May 10, 2023 07:32
|
|
|
The tumbled rock is probably a granitoid
|
|
#
?
May 10, 2023 13:25
|
|
|
XeeD posted:I went picking for cool looking rocks along the train tracks the other day and found a neat one. That looks really cool, if you don't mind me asking what region/area did you find it in?
|
|
#
?
May 10, 2023 16:32
|
|
|
FEMA summer camp posted:That looks really cool, if you don't mind me asking what region/area did you find it in? Don't mind at all. I found it in north central Saskatchewan. I'm assuming the rail line brought the stone in from somwhere localish. Hoping to get out again in the next few days and see if I can find another chunk. I absolutely love the look of it after even just a week in the tumbler.
|
|
#
?
May 10, 2023 20:47
|
|
|
I want to find cool rocks but I never remember to bring a guide to clue me in. 
|
|
#
?
Jun 21, 2023 03:57
|
|
|
I don't have the skill to go out myself, but I like going to rock shows. Picked up some Kyanite infused with ruby and Yooperlite. They look sick under black lights
|
|
#
?
Jun 21, 2023 04:32
|
|
|
Busters posted:I don't have the skill to go out myself, but I like going to rock shows. Picked up some Kyanite infused with ruby and Yooperlite. They look sick under black lights 
|
|
#
?
Jun 21, 2023 05:50
|
|
|
When I was at the show, the only sizeable bit of Yooperlite was in the shape of a dragon's head. It feels stupid to try to make a perfectly interesting rock into some hot topic KICKIN RAD dragon, but eh. Spoilers because of big picture size Normal Yooperlite :  Under UV Light  Normal Kyanite  Under UV Light  I got a few more fluorescent bits in my collection
|
|
#
?
Jun 21, 2023 06:52
|
|
|
Busters posted:When I was at the show, the only sizeable bit of Yooperlite was in the shape of a dragon's head. It feels stupid to try to make a perfectly interesting rock into some hot topic KICKIN RAD dragon, but eh. Wow, those look amazing. Is there some trick to getting good UV pictures like that?
|
|
#
?
Jun 21, 2023 16:52
|
|
|
FEMA summer camp posted:Wow, those look amazing. Is there some trick to getting good UV pictures like that? Not at all. Just set up somewhere with low lighting and no natural lighting. Held the phone in one hand and a cheap $20 black light flashlight in the other. I'm just lucky to have very reactive pieces.
|
|
#
?
Jun 21, 2023 19:32
|
|
|
Ooh, are we posting fluorescent rocks? I took a trip to South Dakota this spring to visit some friends and spent a bit of time rock hunting there. Despite several nighttime outings to places I saw mentioned as having UV reactive rocks, by far the best fluorescents came from the landscape rock in my friends yard. White light:  Longwave UV:  Shortwave UV:  We also went out to Buffalo Gap National Grassland and found some cool agates, several of which glow green. White light:  Shortwave UV: 
|
|
#
?
Jun 27, 2023 19:17
|
|
|
poo poo these look very similar to some mystery rocks in my collection that seemed too plastic and fake feeling to be actual rocks, I'll have to reevaluate them. Though I would not be suprised if they were fake given the source. To make a long story short I had an aunt that got in way too deep on some cable gem shopping channel in the late 90s and gave me some rocks for Christmas. Which was nice as I was super into rocks, but she had lost the invoice and didn't remember what rock was what. So she covered for this by telling me that I could "just identify them, you should be able to, it'll be a fun challenge!" Ten year old Turbinosamente could not identify them. Fast forward to now, when adult me gets a bright idea to organize the old rock collection, make it more accessible to look at rather than keeping it in boxes in the basement, and cull inferior and duplicate specimens. Google and the internet has helped quite a bit, but there are still some problem pieces I can't pin down an ID on, so I hope no one minds if I post some things I need help with. I also promise to post some actual rock hound finds, so glad to have been able to identify some honeycomb coral fossils I've had for 20+ years with the internet! And yes, I am suspicious of the selenite and other poo poo from some 90s cable shopping channel as there's things like a trilobite who's head is clearly carved to complete a fossilized butt, and the citrine l have now looks suspiciously like heated amethyst: more brown than orange. Really makes me suspicious of the whole lot from my aunt.
|
|
#
?
Oct 10, 2023 19:16
|
|
|
Seriously identifying pretty rocks is like the only thing I'm good at. Please give me a chance to use this otherwise useless "talent."
|
|
#
?
Oct 11, 2023 00:24
|
|
|
FEMA summer camp posted:
It's been a couple of chaotic days but here comes an image dump of some of the unidentified shopping network rocks. I'm starting with the ones that have been bugging me the most for decades at this point. First a confirmation, is this just some sort of milky or cloud quartz cluster? is it anything more special than just quartz? It's also been hilariously misidentified for years as illinois flourite by kid me.   This one has been pissing me off for years because it has always looked fake to me: as in the green crystal bubbles always looked like an induced chemical reaction instead of something naturally occurring. if it is natural I assume the bubbles are the reason this rock would have been advertised for sale on cable television.      The next few groups are the same rocks shown on both white and black backgrounds to help visiblity. Starting with this pair:   Which I am not sure if it belongs with this other group of more transparent orange chunks:   And finally for this section I think this group of white and clear stones is probably a couple of different types that have gotten jumbled together over the years.   Back to single rock images there's this purple and white rock that might be on the softer side? I don't have any official hardness testing things rounded up yet. Also it is from a shameful period in which kid me called anything exhibiting any sort of vague banding as banded gneiss.   and the last for this round of ID request is this that I don't remember having at all, but is neat.  Now I promised some actual rock hound pics so here's two. Starting with my best piece of honeycomb coral I found in a neighbor's garden as a kid. I have a couple others from the beach, but they show the creature from the side where it looks more like a small net.  And this big old rock with three very visible chunks of crinoid arms, picked up along the southern edge of Lake Ontario.    Google tells me New York State is lousy with Devonian era marine fossils. Apparently there is also a pay to dig place south of Buffalo called the Penn Dixie fossil park where you can get them, but their season is almost over for this year, so maybe I'll try it next summer. It's the site of an old quarry which is what I'm assuming brought so many fossils up to the surface for easier picking.
|
|
#
?
Oct 12, 2023 01:44
|
|
|
Turbinosamente posted:It's been a couple of chaotic days but here comes an image dump of some of the unidentified shopping network rocks. I'm starting with the ones that have been bugging me the most for decades at this point. This looks like a quartz cluster. Turbinosamente posted:This one has been pissing me off for years because it has always looked fake to me: as in the green crystal bubbles always looked like an induced chemical reaction instead of something naturally occurring. if it is natural I assume the bubbles are the reason this rock would have been advertised for sale on cable television. In a way you are right about this one, in what that is, is a secondary reaction to the original rock which is that dark possibly basalt stone. There is a clear crack in the rock where this secondary mineral has deposited. It is natural, probably a hydrothermal inclusion, of what would be called a botroyidal mineral, possibly gibbsite? Really hard to tell from the photo for me but maybe you'll get a few more shots at ID on that one. It's a cool rock. Turbinosamente posted:and the last for this round of ID request is this that I don't remember having at all, but is neat. I think this is Fluorite Dr. Fraiser Chain fucked around with this message at 02:42 on Oct 12, 2023 |
|
#
?
Oct 12, 2023 02:39
|
|
|
Probably quartz, might be calcite; calcite is softer than quartz so see if it scratches easily. Also likely some kind of druzy calcite or quartz. I have a whole bunch of similar pieces with druzy calcite on them from rock hunting trips. As Dr. Frasier mentioned above it could also be gibbsite or any number of other things but I'm thinking calcite based off what looks like a small cluster of crystals hanging out around the edge of the crack? Hard to tell from a distance. A note on calcite: It will react poorly/etch when exposed to acids so be careful when washing, as many liquid detergents contain citric acids. Would put money on this being iron-bearing quartz. They look exactly like the quartz crystals found in geodes in central Kentucky. These almost look more like glass?? Not to say quartz can't break that way, but the cleaves on the rocks (particularly in the second picture) almost look more like how a chunk of glass or obsidian fractures and 'flakes' off. Looks like maybe some quartz mixed with flourite; the pieces with the more matte exterior have that sort of waxy/'soft' look that flourite can get. Looks like flourite with mica - I've found tons of opaque white flourite before, occasionally with little bits of purple in it like that. Seconding that this is flourite, like, 100%. Would probably be a really pretty display piece if cleaned up a bit! My Second Re-Reg fucked around with this message at 06:07 on Oct 12, 2023 |
|
#
?
Oct 12, 2023 06:00
|
|
|
Thanks for the ID help so far guys, gives me a lot more possibilities to google. So far I did dig up some picture frame glass and the quartz cluster did indeed easily scratch it, now that's triple confirmed and I'll scrub off the fluorite too. I'm also thinking My Second Rereg is correct that the one group of orange rocks that cleaves like glass is indeed glass. As far as I know there is no type of obsidian that is that shade of orange and some of the planes have a little ripple texture in them that catches the light which iirc is a sign of slag glass. I'm going to strike them from the collection and yeet them into the bin since this stuff appears to be sold as landscape glass for like $20 a pound. I'm also not surprised that something "fake" turned up either as my aunt was quite fond of scams, usually as the perpetrator but she fell for investing in gems hook line and sinker, swearing that all the stuff she bought would make her millions one day, and that the sellers she got them from didn't know what they had, they were totally undervalued etc, etc. Speaking of suspect stuff from the aunt's shopping channel addiction, what do you all think of this trilobite?    It's obvious the head is a poor carving of the rock the fossil is embedded into, and that assumes that what's there is even real and it was done to complete a damaged specimen. It also looks faker and faker every time I look at it, especially compared to my only other trilobite from an estate sale:  Which I'm leaning towards being a better example even though half of it is missing and it's an impression type of fossil. The questions I have about this situation are as follows: is the brown blob trilobite partially or totally fake? Would you even bother to keep it in your collection if you had it? And if not is it even worth giving to a 10 year old? I had planned to give my excess rocks to my boyfriend's nephew as he's just getting into it, and I would rather not knowingly give him fake garbage. Bonus mystery rock, is it yet another variety of quartz? It has that prism shape halfway embedded on one side.    edit: gently caress may have stumbled onto this one myself, ferruginous quartz maybe? Turbinosamente fucked around with this message at 00:08 on Oct 13, 2023 |
|
#
?
Oct 12, 2023 23:11
|
|
|
I’ve got some family that are taking a trip out west. From Las Vegas they’re making a loop north through Utah and Arizona - seeing Zion, Escalante, Monument Valley, Grand Canyon, the whole deal. Anyone have recommendations for additional rock related sites or stores? They are well behaved and know better than to take material from National Parks, etc.
|
|
#
?
Oct 27, 2023 15:36
|
|
|
Bryce Canyon is the more interesting geology spot than Zion, imo.
|
|
#
?
Oct 27, 2023 16:18
|
|
|
Have 'em put the Rockd app on their phone, can give a good overview of whatever spot one happens to be standing on. Glen Canyon is absolutely worth a tour, even if they don't stop some of the vistas from route 95 are bonkers pretty. And if they go further north, Goblin Valley and the San Rafael Swell (an enormous anticline). Plus all the badlands around Hanksville (any AWD SUV can get to the moon overlook if it's dry). Might as well hit natural arches if they go that route too. edit - the cool part of Rockd is the checkin feature. If one has internet access you can toggle that on in the map and see if any interesting outcrops or features are in the area. xzzy fucked around with this message at 20:02 on Oct 27, 2023 |
|
#
?
Oct 27, 2023 19:41
|
|
|
ohhyeah posted:I’ve got some family that are taking a trip out west. From Las Vegas they’re making a loop north through Utah and Arizona - seeing Zion, Escalante, Monument Valley, Grand Canyon, the whole deal. Anyone have recommendations for additional rock related sites or stores? They are well behaved and know better than to take material from National Parks, etc. I have found many nice chunks of Azurite and Malachite at some of the many small abandoned copper mines in the St. George/Cedar City area if they go through there. I can be more specific than that the next time I'm not phoneposting, if you like.
|
|
#
?
Oct 27, 2023 20:44
|
|
|
Can someone help me and my daughter identify this? She spotted it on a hike today and wanted to know, best I can come up with is biotite maybe? Very small, thin flakes. Black, with pretty flecks of color.  Shiny, almost glass-like. Flakes apart very readily, is pretty pliable.  All the clumps we found were embedded in quartzy stuff.    Found on the shore of this man-made lake at about 8000’ in the Rockies, west of Denver.  I’m sure it’s wholly unexciting but it was new to us and had interesting properties, so I’d like to be able to tell her for sure what it is. 
|
|
#
?
Nov 7, 2023 05:46
|
|
|
You got it. It's probably Biotite
|
|
#
?
Nov 7, 2023 05:52
|
|
|
Oh hey! I never knew this thread existed. I took a bunch of geology classes in college. In the mid 90s my friend and his dad used to go opal mining at Royal Peacock opal mine in Virgin Valley, Nevada, and I went with them two or three times. I can't really recommend it any more, it got a lot more expensive and they stopped offering the "good" mine sites to the public many years ago, but the last time we went was a couple weeks after 9/11 and I still have all my opals from those trips, mostly in jars full of water. I also have a lot of other random rocks. I'll take some pics and share. I wound up not being a geologist because I was afraid of the math classes, but in a different life I might have been. My mineral identification skills, limited as they were when I was actively studying, have eroded a lot more in the subsequent 20 years, but I still have enough baseline understanding of geology that I can maybe help out a bit. My wife and I like to collect when we are at random places like beaches or public land where it's allowed, but we don't actually plan trips to collect stuff. We're in the SF bay area, there's a lot of interesting geology in California, so just any random outing to an outdoor place is likely to turn up a few interesting things to look at and stuff in pockets maybe. ohhyeah posted:I’ve got some family that are taking a trip out west. From Las Vegas they’re making a loop north through Utah and Arizona - seeing Zion, Escalante, Monument Valley, Grand Canyon, the whole deal. Anyone have recommendations for additional rock related sites or stores? They are well behaved and know better than to take material from National Parks, etc. Did they already go? There's a pretty good rock shop in the town just outside the south entrance to Zion in Springdale called Zion Prospector. It is high priced because of the location and the very nice setup they have I guess, but they have a significant amount of local stones, which is what I always look for at rock shops. There's another rock shop in that town called Zion Rock and Gem. I think it's a lot less "upscale" and fancy looking, it's more of the usual rock shop look & feel of tons of bins of random stuff everywhere. I went there after Zion Prospector and we picked out some stuff that was cheaper but just as good. They also have a pretty cool fossil exhibit, like a mini-museum. My usual rock shop advice is: avoid the imported stuff and focus on what the local geology is producing, because that will be both a souvenir from your visit that is relevant to where you visited, and usually lower priced because it didn't require costly shipping to get there. I believe both of these shops do their own cutting and polishing of local stuff. I particularly like the local layered sandstone, which is usually cut flat and sometimes framed that way as it has a sort of landscapey texture to it. For example: 
|
|
#
?
Nov 8, 2023 19:53
|
|
|
At the moment I've had to hurriedly pack away my collection for now, but how do you guys keep your collections? Just on a shelf or in a cabinet? I got nicer trays for the smaller stuff but need solutions for the bigger stuff. The answer I don't want to face is the prospect of cleaning off a shelf for them since I don't have a spot for the stuff on the shelf.
|
|
#
?
Nov 8, 2023 20:16
|
|
|
I throw a lot of it in the yard. I used to have a big fuckoff "box of rocks" that I've been just peppering about the garden. I find it more fun to "re-find" them while weeding or fixing a sprinkler than buried in the garage. I have a few quality pieces on a shelf collecting so much dust. A giant piece of petrified wood that I've been carting around since undergrad is my doorstop to the garage.
|
|
#
?
Nov 8, 2023 20:29
|
|
|
fuckin, rocks lying around here and there, some on like shelves in the living room, an ancient styrofoam cooler in the garage full of rocks, rocks in the plants out front and out back, I got a sterlite container with most of the opal stuff in it under some stuff in the garage, you know. Hell there's two or three specimens in the toad tank because we needed some rocks in there and what am I gonna do, go outside and dig in the dirt to find a rock when there's rocks already lying around?
|
|
#
?
Nov 9, 2023 06:36
|
|
|
Leperflesh posted:Did they already go? They did go, and based on the pictures it looked like the coolest trip ever. The Grand Canyon was almost underwhelming because they saw a dozen other treasures in Utah before then? When I see them at thanksgiving I’ll have to ask what souvenirs they picked up.
|
|
#
?
Nov 10, 2023 13:58
|
|
|
ohhyeah posted:They did go, and based on the pictures it looked like the coolest trip ever. The Grand Canyon was almost underwhelming because they saw a dozen other treasures in Utah before then? When I see them at thanksgiving I’ll have to ask what souvenirs they picked up. I've heard that Bryce Canyon is better/prettier than the Grand Canyon, but idk how true that rumor is, I'm not widely traveled enough to know. And thus far in organization land I've put my trays in a drawer and shoe horned a couple pieces on to my shelf of crap, but there's definitely too much crammed in there. At least the best part of my collection is accessible for viewing now.
|
|
#
?
Nov 10, 2023 14:44
|
|
|
IMO bryce, zion, the grand canyon, and grand staircase are all uniquely beautiful and worthwhile in their own rights and hell, throw in Arches too if you have the time. Also goblins state park is really cool. Utah is amazing.
|
|
#
?
Nov 10, 2023 18:04
|
|
|
Don't forget glen canyon, capitol reef, and the badlands around hanksville! Or fantasy canyon which has the best cross bedding panel I've come across. Looks like a diagram on a chalkboard. 
|
|
#
?
Nov 10, 2023 18:11
|
|
|
xzzy posted:Don't forget glen canyon, capitol reef, and the badlands around hanksville! On crossbedding: this was a work photo I took many years ago. From a simple parking lot at Zion. It is still my go-to example of crossbedding. 
|
|
#
?
Nov 10, 2023 19:15
|
|
|
How thick was the pavement.
|
|
#
?
Nov 10, 2023 20:04
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 30, 2024 09:01 |
|
|
withak posted:How thick was the pavement. I think that was the whole point. Places it was <5 inches, others it was >2ft. I always thought pavement radar was boring as hell, but will admit I had a good run for a while. Got paid to go work in Zion, Glacier, Yosemite, Denali, Volcanos and Haleakala. Often "backstage" which was fun. But that work dried up years ago.
|
|
#
?
Nov 10, 2023 21:37
|
|