Found an interesting agate today

[EricTheCat]

I found an interesting agate today and I thought I would share some pics. This agate has some very interesting bubbly structure on one side of it which almost looks like a clump of fish eggs.





This pic shows some orange staining on some of the banding on this side.


Rough side


Close up of the bubbles


I found a very similar agate near the same location a couple weeks ago. The one from a couple weeks ago is on the left and the one I found today on the right.


I hope you enjoyed. I've been meaning to post more of my agate finds from this year. Nature has been good to me.

Happy hunting,

Eric

 

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[Bajahunter]

Looks like a nice piece of lace agate.
It looks like the darker part with the botryoidal, cluster of grapes, form might be a different type of chalcedony. It looks like it was formed first, then the white/clear part was laid down afterward.
Are they the same hardness?

 

[EricTheCat]

Looks like a nice piece of lace agate.
It looks like the darker part with the botryoidal, cluster of grapes, form might be a different type of chalcedony. It looks like it was formed first, then the white/clear part was laid down afterward.
Are they the same hardness?

I have not done a hardness test on it yet. However, being a non-expert as myself I had to look up botryoidal on wikipedia. Botryoidal - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It mentions hematite so I decided to take a magnet to it. I hung a magnet on a string and sure enough that part of the rock is magnetic. My guess is that it probably has a good concentration of hematite there. I agree the white/clear part was laid down afterward as you say.

 

[Bajahunter]

Eric
Chalcedony can also have that botryoidal form.
The test you did was a test for iron. It is attracted to a magnetic field.
To test for magnetism you would just use a small piece of metal, like a paperclip or sewing needle, on a string.
Here is a link to an article on magnetic properties in rocks: Magnetic Properties: Mineral Properties - The Mineral and Gemstone Kingdom
The last paragraph:
NOTE: Most mineral guides list minerals attracted to magnetic fields as "magnetic". This may lead to confusion, for there is a difference between "magnetic" (acts as a magnetic field) and "attracted to magnetic fields" (drawn toward magnetic fields). To avoid this confusion, this guide makes a distinction between "magnetic" and "attracted to magnetic fields".

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Hematite is a hardness 5-6. Chalcedony is a 7.
Bloodstone is a type of blue green chalcedony with iron oxide in it.
Also check out aventurine and fire agate, two more types of chalcedony with hematite or goethite in it.

 

[EricTheCat]

Bajahunter,
Thank you for all of the information. This is VERY helpful. I will research this some more when I have some time. Also I will try to re-train myself on what the term magnetic means.