🔎 UNIDENTIFIED Help Identifying Creek Rock

[cooperdrummond]

I found this rock on our property in Northwest Arkansas. It was in some creek gravel that is from this area.

I would like to know what kind of material it is and why the interesting color contrast on it? It seems relatively dense but porous to the eye.

Any information I would love to learn about it.

 

[ToddsPoint]

Sedimentary or metamorphic? Looks like sandstone or quartzite to me. This is quartzite from the glacial till in central IL. That purple and orange colored quartzite is pretty common here. Looks a little like your rock. Just a wild guess.
I should add that I made this banner. I started doing lapidary in 1980.

 

[Gulf Coast Pirate]

That's neat!

 

[cooperdrummond]

How would I tell if it is sedimentary or metamorphic? I don't really know very much about rocks and trying to learn.

 

[ToddsPoint]

How would I tell if it is sedimentary or metamorphic? I don't really know very much about rocks and trying to learn.

You have to hit the internet and dig in and learn. Geology isn’t an easy field. Making a positive ID is difficult with many types of rock. There are 3 groups. Igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary. Learn a few basic types in each group. For igneous, learn to ID granite, basalt, diorite and porphyry. Metamorphic rocks like shist, slate, and quartzite. For sedimentary, learn to ID limestone and sandstone. Once you learn the common ones, you can go deeper into each type. Concentrate on the rocks found where you live first. I’ve messed with rocks for many yrs and I’m still learning and still get stumped all the time.

 

[tamrock]

Yin Yang stone.

 

[cooperdrummond]

Thank you for the input - definitely a lot to learn about!!