More obsidian

[BosnMate]

The rock to the left was found out in south central Oregon. We were driving to the ghost town of Blitzen, heading out across a huge flat. At that time out on the desert fences were rare, they might be a little more common now, but I had to stop and open a rare gate, then when closing the gate, I was looking at the various rocks laying about. There was the usual lava rock, and in amongst that were these rounded rocks. Fifteen thousand years ago where I was standing was a lake. When the ice age melted, the water that flowed east had no outlet, and parts of Oregon and Nevada were under the waters of Lake Lahonton. I suppose these rocks blew out of a volcano like Glass Butte, and landed in the lake in order to be formed into this cobble shape, because they were all located a long way form running water at any time in the past, so they aren't creek cobbles. So I picked one up, and when it was turned over, someone had purposely knocked spalls off or it, or perhaps preforms for making a point. Anyhow it's obviously obsidian, of the same type that is on Wagontire mountain. The next photo shows where the spalls were knocked off, which is the reason I kept it and brought it home. Because Gets The Point identified my large bi-face from the Roseburg apartment construction, as being basalt, I decided to take a photo of them side by side. It's obvious that the blade is not obsidian. So I decided to put this rock between two pieces for obsidian that I picked up on Glass Butte out of the area of obsidian that I showed in a previous post. The stones from Glass Butte have a bit of red, or mahogany color in them, and the difference in the two stones is pretty subtle, but eyeballing there is a difference. Anyhow I thought this was interesting enough to post, hope you guys agree with me.

 

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[rock]

Looks like the stuff I find here in cobble form but mine in this area has a tan cortex then black inside. Nice I would of kept it also.

 

[kuger]

I wish there was a way to capture on film the blazes,silver sheen,gold sheen,rainbow,etc,in the different obsidian from those parts.I am very partial to the gray that almost looks like plastic.
That is a nice basalt piece!!I have one nice piece that is pretty unique,most we encounter are pretty crude.I seen a cache of basalt points that were all 6-10" long and 1-3" wide,I think there was 8 of them(?)A sheep herder found them under a flat rock...thats the kind of stuff I wish I would have taken pictures of!

 

[Tnmountains]

I remember the post and the I.D. I am glad you posted it here and did a follow up. Pretty interesting stuff. I would not know obsidian from basalt. Collective knowledge is a powerful tool.

 

[kuger]

I remember the post and the I.D. I am glad you posted it here and did a follow up. Pretty interesting stuff. I would not know obsidian from basalt. Collective knowledge is a powerful tool.

You would when you held the two That being said....not all obsidian is created equally either.Many types,colors,textures.Bosn you ever notice those cobble like ones that have fossil shapes in that outside coating?I will have to see if I have any in the pile when I get over to the ranch and will post what I mean.I always wondered how/why they came out like they did....how about the obsidian needles?

 

[rock]

Your cobble looks almost like it could of been a Dino Stone. Cant remember the name of it sorry. Then of course it was started as a artifact and if finished would of made a nice Kerville knife

 

[BosnMate]

You would when you held the two That being said....not all obsidian is created equally either.Many types,colors,textures.Bosn you ever notice those cobble like ones that have fossil shapes in that outside coating?I will have to see if I have any in the pile when I get over to the ranch and will post what I mean.I always wondered how/why they came out like they did....how about the obsidian needles?

No, haven't seen the fossil shapes, and I've never found the needles, although I've seen them. If I remember correctly they come from Arizona. I do know that Apache tears come from Arizona, and I think that's the same kind of deal, the molten obsidian cooling in the air and perhaps landing in water, only a lot smaller than the cobbles out on the Oregon desert.

 

[blindpig]

Hay BosnMate ,. another GREAT post !!
Don't find much obsidian here in San Diego,. but a real treat when we do , I've seen those "fossil shapes ,. on the dull/ "ash" skins ',,maybe has to do with the cool- down ,. much like a baked potato ??
Well'.. when I'm as old as my body feels ,..I'm going up there for a time ,.. have a good look around .. Thank's Blindpig

 

[kuger]

Bosn,I know where there are thousands of needles 1 hour from Reno


Pig,thats a great explanation for what I am trying to describe!!I dont know that they are even fossils per se,they are shapes of some kind or organic materials(?)As you said imprints while still hot.....?

 

[surf]

I suppose these rocks blew out of a volcano like Glass Butte, and landed in the lake in order to be formed into this cobble shape, because they were all located a long way form running water at any time in the past, so they aren't creek cobbles.

Hello BosnMate,

Glass Buttes were domes. Mount Mazama, the present day Crater Lake, was the volcano. Mt. Shasta, and Mt. Lassen, too. Lake and Klamath Counties are awash in Obsidian, as is Modoc County, California. The whole area is a vast geothermal wonderland.

Obsidian in every possible form has impacted the landscape for a hundred some mile radius. There's needles in the ground at several locations not too far down the road. Black, red, gold, rainbow, snowflake, green, and grey can all be found in the area.

Here's a few small points from East of there.

Ever visit Captain Jack's Stronghold by Tule Lake?

 

[BosnMate]

Hello BosnMate,

Glass Buttes were domes. Mount Mazama, the present day Crater Lake, was the volcano. Mt. Shasta, and Mt. Lassen, too. Lake and Klamath Counties are awash in Obsidian, as is Modoc County, California. The whole area is a vast geothermal wonderland.

Obsidian in every possible form has impacted the landscape for a hundred some mile radius. There's needles in the ground at several locations not too far down the road. Black, red, gold, rainbow, snowflake, green, and grey can all be found in the area.

I haven't been out in that country as much as I'd like to, and I'm in no way a geologist, so I have a question. How did those large obsidian boulders get in among the lava rocks on Wagontire Mountain, and how did the fist sized cobbles get scattered out all over the flat if they weren't blown out? Not being smart, asking an honest question. Yes I've been to the lava beds and Captain Jack's stronghold. The picture you posted is a Warm Springs scout shooting a Spencer rifle or carbine. Except the photo is posed, the gun isn't cocked, and he has a wiping stick, which he probably used to steady the gun, because the Spencer is a cartridge gun, and the long, shiny pouch above the knife on the fellow's side holds tubes of bullets to use when he reloads through the butt of the gun.

 

[surf]

...How did those large obsidian boulders get in among the lava rocks on Wagontire Mountain, and how did the fist sized cobbles get scattered out all over the flat if they weren't blown out?

Hey BosnMate,

The eruption of Mount Mazama was cataclysmic. The top of the mountain literally exploded. Molten material and rock were blown out and up in inconceivable amounts. I hasten to add, that I'm no geologist, either.

Obsidian, from boulder size to tiny tinkling needles, shot out, landing all over the place. I'm not familiar with the particular boulders you refer to at Wagontire Mountain, but I've seen large Obsidian boulders elsewhere.

That part of Oregon and Northern California have overlapping volcanic history, and are the beginning of a volcanic "trail" heading North.

The Warm Springs scout photo was made during the heavily covered newspaper campaign in the wake of the so called Modoc War. Kintpuash was ill served by his lieutenants, in my opinion.

NATIVE WAYS: Kintpuash, Modoc

 

[BosnMate]

I talked to the geologist tonight at the local gold prospectors club meeting. He said that obsidian came out of the volcanos in a flow called tuf or tuff. Over eons of time the tuff erodes away leaving the obsidian exposed. Other obsidian is ejected, and it is also surrounded by the tuff, and geologists actually call them "obsidian bombs," and some of the bombs can be boulder size. He says he's found obsidian bombs 200 miles from the closest known volcano. He also said some of the bombs landed in the ancient lake, while others were formed from flows that were under the waters of the lake. I asked him if obsidian came from Mt. Mazama, and he didn't know. So that leaves me with another question, "How come the obsidian bombs are all east of the Cascades?" In a straight line I'm barely 50 or 60 miles from Mazama, there should be obsidian bombs in my yard, and there aren't. In fact all the volcanic activity on this side is a totally different type of rock, and 60 road miles up into the hills you run into pumice from Mazama, some of it 100's of feet thick. I have petrified charcoal exposed by a road cut that was at least 30 deep down in the pumice. Other charcoal from the same depth and area isn't petrified -- go figure? Once over the summit the lava rock is the porous kind, either that or heavy basalt flows, then much further over you come to obsidian flows, so I don't think that Mazama ejected any obsidian, I think it must have happened further east. Anyhow, take it for what ever it's worth.

 

[rock]

Bosn sounds like you live in a very interesting place. I dont always leave a message but I do read your post. If I dont know about these type of threads I dont pretend to. Thanks for an interesting post, rock

 

[surf]

...I don't think that Mazama ejected any obsidian, I think it must have happened further east...

Howdy BosnMate,

I grew up about a hundred and seventy miles east of Crater Lake. We were surrounded by Obsidian. I never heard the term "Obsidian bomb," in me youth. We knew the Obsidian came from either Shasta, Mazama, or Fort Rock. How did we know this, you ask. The guy that owned the Rock Shop, who had explored and collected the area, and beyond, for 50 some years told us.

"Llao Rock is obsidian of dacite composition. It erupted from Mount Mazama about 7,015 years ago. This close up shows the glassy nature of the dacite and flow banding. Photograph by Steve Mattox, August 1987." Crater Lake | Volcano World

I don't know if you like mythology, but there is great legend surrounding Mazama and Shasta:

"The spirits of the Earth and sky often came and talked with the people. Llao was the spirit of the Below-World who lived beneath Lao-Yaina (today known as Mount Mazama). Skell was the spirit of the Above-World. Llao often came up and stood on top of Lao-Yaina, and his head would touch the stars near the home of Skell. There was no lake then, just a hole through which Llao passed to see the outside world. One day, Llao saw Loha, daughter of the Klamath Indian chief, and fell in love with her beauty. She rejected him because he was ugly and was from the Below-World. He got angry and swore that he would take revenge on her people. He tried to destroy the people with the curse of fire. The Klamath Indian chief sought help from Skell.

Skell descended from the sky to the top of Mount Shasta. Skell and Llao were thundering and trembling the Earth, hurling red hot rocks back and forth to each other (from Mount Shasta to Mount Mazama), causing great landslides. A terrible darkness spread over the area for days. All spirits of Earth and sky took part in this battle, creating intense fear among the people. Attempting to calm the ferocious volcano gods and to make up for the sins of the tribe, two medicine men offered to sacrifice themselves and jumped into the pit of Below-World. Impressed by their heroic sacrifice, Skell fought even harder. He finally defeated Llao, driving Llao deep down into the Below-World. He collapsed the top of Mount Mazama to imprison Llao forever beneath the world. Skell wanted peace and tranquility to cover up this dark pit, so he filled it with the beautiful blue water." History of Crater Lake

I cannot address the situation in your yard. Perhaps the Obsidian is still buried below a layer of tuff.

The Klamath Indian Myth of the Creation of Crater Lake

 

[BosnMate]

That's an interesting map showing the volcanoes in Oregon. I live about 3/8's to 1/2 an inch to the left of the Crater Lake triangle. There is no obsidian anywhere around here. Glass Butte is under the capital S in Three Sisters, Wagontire Mountain is between the i and the small s, and the obsidian bomb photo in this post came from under the rr's in Newberry. Except for Newberry Crater, which is east of the Cascade crest, the other volcanoes shown on that Oregon map show the line of the crest of the Cascade Mountain Range. As far as I know, there are no obsidian flows or bombs to the west of those volcanoes, it's all out there to the east, but the area along here is very volcanic. There is one rock that I recognize, and that's serpentine or "soap stone," and that is local and in abundance, up on top of local ridges and mountains more than in the valleys, and that rock supposedly is formed on the ocean floor. Locally gold is found in volcanic vents located between the serpentine, which seems simple until you find out the seems between the serpentine can be 50 miles plus wide. Our under laying country rock seems to be a dense basalt, with layers of soft reddish type of shale located on top of it in many places, which again I suppose was sea floor. View attachment 726037 The first picture is of a truck making a long dust crossing a flat out there in the eastern Oregon desert, perhaps a 1/4th inch to the right of the "n" in McLoughlin. The next picture is me out there antelope hunting, hung up on a rock, and the rock was in the road, I'm not cutting cross country, the road is coming off the ridge into the Catlow Valley.