Chalcedony or agate?

matt2432

Newbie
Sep 4, 2014
1
0
North Dakota
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
IMG_1638.JPG IMG_1640.JPG IMG_1642.JPG IMG_1643.JPG

I need help identifying these stones. They have a somewhat waxy luster and are translucent when held to the light. They do not scratch with quartz. The longer one I believe is agatized wood. There is distinct banding when wet, but the smaller pieces have no banding whatsoever. The larger nodual has some sort of green inclusion and has a small cavity with crystals lining the inside of it. The nodules seem almost like agate, but don't have any banding. My best guess is Chalcedony, but the color is very weak, almost a light amber. Any ideas?
These were all found in glacier deposit near the Canadian border in North Dakota.
 

Jim in Idaho

Silver Member
Jul 21, 2012
3,320
4,698
Blackfoot, Idaho
Detector(s) used
White's GM2, GM3, DFX, Coinmaster, TDI-SL, GM24K, Falcon MD20, old Garrett Masterhunter BFO
'Way Too Cool' dual 18 Watt UV light
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
For all practical purposes, agate is chalcedony. The old definition of agate was banded chalcedony, or chalcedony with different-colored layers. Lots of people just call small pieces of chalcedony "agate". It's all microcrystaline quartz. Because of the micro grain size, it's denser and harder than pure quartz. Chalcedony also usually has impurities in it, giving it different colors, and sometimes, crystal growths encased inside.
Jim
 

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