rock or gem ??,,,, THE VERDICT !!

[dscott67]

good morning,new to t-net but not new to treasure hunting...i found this ? in a creek about a mile south of the mississippi petrified forest,not sure what to call it...any ideas or facts would be greatly appreciated... i hope i cropped the pics right !! Thanks..

 

[trixie charger]

Re: rock or gem ??

Ok, this is a hard one!!! But I think I got it Elestial Smokey Quartz or Crocodile quartz.

 

[trixie charger]

Re: rock or gem ??

 

[trixie charger]

Re: rock or gem ??

 

[Broken knee]

Re: rock or gem ??

ok,i'll show you some pics of some wood and the only type i've found there,and a petrified piece of bone part of the spine we think !! i do have some smaller stuff that i'll have to get my hands on !!i don't know what trees had sap during that time period,but anything is possible maybe even a conclusion,but i don't think it's glass due to the structure but there could be a possibility that it was some after effect of melted sap ?? during the heated period ?? idk !!

The bone you have I believe is a coffin bone from a horse or mule.

 

[dscott67]

Re: rock or gem ??

yep ! that's what that is ! that piece of bone came out of a load of gravel that was around 40-60 ft in the ground, i apprieciate the confirmation on the bone,it's like a rock and sounds like a rock when you tap it,not hollow sounding like any bone would be ,and heavy! thank you broken knee !!

 

[dscott67]

Re: rock or gem ??

this is a strong possibility,and would be a good find if it's a 100% that,thanks trixie !!!! and are the specimens in the photos yours ? if they are those are super nice !!

 

[trixie charger]

Re: rock or gem ??

No these aren't mine, I happen to remember I had seen one before and used Google!. I have so many Gem's and minerals I dint take many pics. I do have one specimen, just cant find it .

 

[Broken knee]

Re: rock or gem ??

yep ! that's what that is ! that piece of bone came out of a load of gravel that was around 40-60 ft in the ground, i apprieciate the confirmation on the bone,it's like a rock and sounds like a rock when you tap it,not hollow sounding like any bone would be ,and heavy! thank you broken knee !!

Welcome to TN glad I could help.
Broken Knee

 

[batcap]

Re: rock or gem ??

ok,i'll show you some pics of some wood and the only type i've found there,and a petrified piece of bone part of the spine we think !! i do have some smaller stuff that i'll have to get my hands on !!i don't know what trees had sap during that time period,but anything is possible maybe even a conclusion,but i don't think it's glass due to the structure but there could be a possibility that it was some after effect of melted sap ?? during the heated period ?? idk !!

The bone you have I believe is a coffin bone from a horse or mule.

Wow, I looked at the pic and saw some bilateral symetery-could have been anything to me. You find a diagram indicating it is the hoof of a foal. I'm seriously impressed!

 

[dscott67]

Re: rock or gem ??

had a vet look at it ,it's for certain a coffin bone, and is petrified but from what century is undetermined... and so is the animal that wore it,as it is of the warmblood uncloven hoof perky ear type with a mane and tail !!

 

[Broken knee]

Re: rock or gem ??

had a vet look at it ,it's for certain a coffin bone, and is petrified but from what century is undetermined... and so is the animal that wore it,as it is of the warmblood uncloven hoof perky ear type with a mane and tail !!

Maybe you could send it to your state university to have it radiocarbon dated. It would be interesting to know how old it is.
Broken Knee

 

[dscott67]

Re: rock or gem ??

i'm gonna check it out,i'm curious myself !! i think i need to remove the green check,i'm waiting on a reply from"the mineral and gemstone king" !!!

 

[dscott67]

Re: rock or gem ??

have you found more?? could just be melted glass from a long lost campfire with a conglomerate substance sticking to it,glass was heavy back in the days....or sap that will look like melted glass ,sort of something with a volcanic heat?? sounds like a mystery..

these are the other ones i picked up,actually two items,i seperated the one into three and if i'm not mistaken it fractured one sided even acording to what i've read over the last couple of days,remember even though i collect some i'm not gem/mineral savvy!! but i'm learning !

 

[chadrack]

Re: rock or gem ??

That stone appears to me to be dogtooth calcite. And a nice one too.

 

[dscott67]

Re: rock or gem ??

That stone appears to me to be dogtooth calcite. And a nice one too.

i'm going to check that out also,not getting anywhere with it anywhere else either,may have to take it to the university,thanks for checkin it out,i needed another lead !!

 

[g-olden years]

Re: rock or gem ??

I hope you have the horse coffin bone age-dated. If it is petrified, it's way old as the early horse died out in the Western Hemisphere during the Ice Age and its descendant the modern horse wasn't introduced to this hemisphere until the European invasions in the 1500's. I'm no expert in anything, but come to think of it, isn't any petrified object a silica (or similar) replacement of what was originally there? If so, not organic and maybe it can't be dated? Anyone know the answer to this? Andi

 

[trixie charger]

Re: rock or gem ??

unaltered preservation (like insects or plant parts trapped in amber, a hardened form of tree sap)
permineralization=petrification (in which rock-like minerals seep in slowly and replace the original organic tissues with silica, calcite or pyrite, forming a rock-like fossil - can preserve hard and soft parts - most bone and wood fossils are permineralized)
replacement (An organism's hard parts dissolve and are replaced by other minerals, like calcite, silica, pyrite, or iron)
carbonization=coalification (in which only the carbon remains in the specimen - other elements, like hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen are removed)
recrystalization (hard parts either revert to more stable minerals or small crystals turn into larger crystals)
authigenic preservation (molds and casts of organisms that have been destroyed or dissolved).

 

[dscott67]

Re: rock or gem ??

unaltered preservation (like insects or plant parts trapped in amber, a hardened form of tree sap)
permineralization=petrification (in which rock-like minerals seep in slowly and replace the original organic tissues with silica, calcite or pyrite, forming a rock-like fossil - can preserve hard and soft parts - most bone and wood fossils are permineralized)
replacement (An organism's hard parts dissolve and are replaced by other minerals, like calcite, silica, pyrite, or iron)
carbonization=coalification (in which only the carbon remains in the specimen - other elements, like hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen are removed)
recrystalization (hard parts either revert to more stable minerals or small crystals turn into larger crystals)
authigenic preservation (molds and casts of organisms that have been destroyed or dissolved).
thanks trixie,thats some great info.you undoubtedly do your home work !!

 

[Broken knee]

Re: rock or gem ??

yep ! that's what that is ! that piece of bone came out of a load of gravel that was around 40-60 ft in the ground, i apprieciate the confirmation on the bone,it's like a rock and sounds like a rock when you tap it,not hollow sounding like any bone would be ,and heavy! thank you broken knee !!

May I ask did you get a load of gravel and found it in it.? Or did you find it in an active gravel pit at that depth?
To me it looks as the calcium is still present not replaced. and it should sound solid, it's interior construction is sponge like rather than hollow as a leg or arm bone will be. JMO i don't think it is that old maybe a couple hundred years? I could be wrong.
Broken Knee

 

[dscott67]

Re: rock or gem ??

yep ! that's what that is ! that piece of bone came out of a load of gravel that was around 40-60 ft in the ground, i apprieciate the confirmation on the bone,it's like a rock and sounds like a rock when you tap it,not hollow sounding like any bone would be ,and heavy! thank you broken knee !!

May I ask did you get a load of gravel and found it in it.? Or did you find it in an active gravel pit at that depth?
To me it looks as the calcium is still present not replaced. and it should sound solid, it's interior construction is sponge like rather than hollow as a leg or arm bone will be. JMO i don't think it is that old maybe a couple hundred years? I could be wrong.
Broken Knee

it came in a load from a gravel pit that i am completely familiar with,this paticular pit is almost at its bottom for production which is 84 ft,now that being said,the load we got was in the 40ft-60ft range depending on what size we were looking for which was the big unwashed rock, which means it came directly out of a drag line type excavator,which means it did'nt ride the conveyor belt, now,that does'nt mean that it could'nt have sifted down from a shallow depth.you could be possibly right on the analysis,i've never found one before so i really would'nt know. i do know that when you take two pieces of flint and knock them together that the sound is distinct,and when i knocked this around it did not sound like a piece of hollow or semi hollow bone,it sounds even like tappin two pieces of glass together,i would just about bet that i would mail it to someone for a sure fire analysis !!! thanks for askin !!