INTERESTING FLOATING ROCK (NOT PUMICE).. HELP PLEASE! THX! :)

mar83

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Apr 7, 2016
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HI to everyone!:hello:

I've found this rock in KAREKARE beach near Auckland (West coast of North island- New Zealand).

Light grey color with several dark crystals included , very fractured (like clay), quite hard consistency, scratching with a metal key it shows very shallow marks...and it FLOATS!!

This rock is really solid and doesn't have any porosity and to me looks more like an Argillite (floating one?)... so If I exclude Pumice I don't have any idea of what could be!

PS: The dark material visible in some of the the fracture is sand.

Thank you! :)
 

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Robot

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Might it be Petrified Bone?

Petrified Bone unlike Wood may float if an air pocket is inside.

Petrified Bone will react to acid, wood does not.

Petrified Bones 2.jpg
 

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Back-of-the-boat

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Petrified Bone unlike Wood may float if an air pocket is inside.

Petrified Bone will react to acid, wood does not.

View attachment 1296670

I don't have any knowledge on this, but could it be a fossil Dinosaur egg? Would that float?
 

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mar83

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Thx to everybody!:notworthy:

Mmmm.. for the moment I d say that the @MUD HUT "theory" of a meerschaum/sepiolite is the most probable...

I ve even notice that when you break it smells of sulfur, so might be the saturation of this gas to allows the floating??:icon_scratch:
 

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kcm

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"This rock is really solid and doesn't have any porosity..."

Place a drop or two of water on the dry rock. If the water soaks into the rock, then it is porous. If the water beads on top, the rock is not porous.

Another idea is to weigh the rock dry. Then soak the rock in a bucket of water overnight. Allow the outter surface to thoroughly dry, then weigh again. If the 2nd weight is greater, it is porous.
 

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Robot

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"If it Looks Like a Duck, Quacks, Walks, Like a "Duck...It Still May Not Be a Duck!

I wish!!eheh :tchest:

...but it s a rock 100%!!

The "Internet" states the only rock that "Floats" is "Pumice"

Pumice is vesicular or has gas pockets, or in easier terms, holes on the outside of the rock. This makes the rock less dense so it will float on water.

If it is not "Pumice" and "Floats" than it is "Not" a "Rock"

Try posing on Treasure Net Forum Member he may have the answer
Dustedyou
Got A Rock you Want Identified? Post it here! gimme a good picture or 3 or 4!
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/h...ified-post-here-gimme-good-picture-3-4-a.html
 

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Mud Hut

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Apr 23, 2014
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The "Internet" states the only rock that "Floats" is "Pumice"

Pumice is vesicular or has gas pockets, or in easier terms, holes on the outside of the rock. This makes the rock less dense so it will float on water.

If it is not "Pumice" and "Floats" than it is "Not" a "Rock"

Try posing on Treasure Net Forum Member he may have the answer
Dustedyou
Got A Rock you Want Identified? Post it here! gimme a good picture or 3 or 4!
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/h...ified-post-here-gimme-good-picture-3-4-a.html

Meerschaum floats ..not all of it but a lot of it floats.
 

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Customx_12

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Interesting. It almost looks like a ball of old clay.
 

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Robot

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“Rocks and minerals: the oldest storytellers.”

Meerschaum floats ..not all of it but a lot of it floats.

Meerschaum is a mineral
Meerschaum is a hydrous magnesium silicate; its technical name is sepiolite. It is found in veins or naturally occuring lumps in Turkey and neighboring countries. It has been used extensively for pipe bowls and is highly prized because it carves easily, holds wonderful detail, and, when smoked over a long period of time, takes on a glass-like surface and deep plum-red colour.
Sepiolite,[4] also known as meerschaum ( i/ˈmɪərʃɔːm/ MEER-shawm or /ˈmɪərʃəm/ MEER-shəm, German for foam of the sea) is a soft white clay mineral

There are over 500 minerals that "Float"

"A rock is a solid, inorganic, naturally-formed substance without a particular atomic structure or chemical composition. It's probably easier to just remember that rocks are made up of two or more minerals."

"My Research Shows" Only "One Rock" really "Rocks" when it comes to "Floating" and that is "Pumice"
 

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