What can it be??

[fredda]

Son brought me this geode? from southern Indiana--Brown County. Weight about 23-30 lbs. Says they mine limestone around there.
fredda

[buckeye]

Hey Fredda,
That is definitely an Indiana geode. They form in limestone, but they look like this when you pull them out of a river. The water wears away the limestone leaving just they crystal formation. You can find them in a roadcut near harrodsburg in limestone but it's much easier to just go creekstomping. I have found them as just quartz crystals and also as calcedony. The calcedony ones come in an amazing array of colors (gray-blue, red, brown, white, orange). You can't always tell by looking at them but I would look for a seam and see if you can see any calcedony.
Bryce C

[fredda]

Hi Bryce, I was looking at it with my brite lite and mag glass. It seems to have many little holes of sorts going into it. It still has crud and what looks like cat, or something, hairs on it. Son had me drooling telling me about this "antique mall" which seemed to be a huge ,old house that had been added on and on and on to. Little bit of anything. Soooo, if I can't readily see anything in this geode from the outside---wonder--could I try to get a chisel into an opening and pop it open? Or can't ya do that here?
Thanks for your reply,
fredda

[buckeye]

I have done that with several of them but they don't usually break clean. When I was in indiana collecting them I was actually underneath a road bridge just chucking them at the concrete until I got a couple to pop open just right. If you can find a saw to cut it and you are pretty sure it is hollow it may be worth it to have it cut. Another technique is to go outside someplace safe and soak a small cotton string in something flammable (rubbing alcohol, lighter fluid, gas). Wrap the string around the geode where you want it to break (or expect it to) and light the string on fire. Let it burn out and strike it with a hammer on the line where the string was. The fire is supposed to crack the rock enough so it will give around the string before it breaks anywhere else. I will try and get a picture up for you to show you one I did this to.
Bryce C

[buckeye]

Here's some pictures of Geodes that I recovered. I have some better pictures but I think I lost them in my migration to linux. And yes... that is six bushels of geodes you are looking at

[fredda]

Mornin' Bryce, I'm reading your reply and , you know, the funniest thing is---this geode came with a brown string tied around it --like a stack of newspaper would be tied. Son said he had no idea why it was there as you could not possibly lift it with it. Oh geeez. I untied it before I took those pics. Huh! Maybe I'll put it back and fire it up-- How can ya tell if it might be hollow, as you mention? Also--what did you do with 6 bushels? What a load that was.
fredda

[buckeye]

Hey Fredda,
We pretty much had to guess at the weight and figure out if it is lighter than what it is supposed to be. We did have a little help though because we had some already cracked open that were solid through. So we just had to see which rock was heavier. Sometimes we were right and sometimes they were still solid. if there are holes in it you might be able to try what Pat suggested and get a bucket of water. If there is any exposed cavities in the rock should bubble. If you wanted to get real fancy you could put a container above the geode that is full of water to catch the bubbles and you could roughly estimate the size of the cavity on the inside.
My in-laws use those geodes to border the gardens at their house. The only problem is that the occasional passer-by will take them. They have even caught a couple of the neighbors taking them! They live in northern central Ohio so rocks like that are something odd to line your garden with. To get them, we pretty much just go into the area where we know they are and start asking people if we can go look for them in their creek. Most people don't mind. They are just ugly rocks to them, if you find a fisherman they are even happier to be rid of them because they snag up on these rocks all the time.
Bryce C

[fredda]

Hey now, Bryce. Think I will try the bucket of water test and hope for bubbles.(Thanks, Pat). I need a little clarification on the string method. After ya light the string and it burns 'till out--Then exactly what? Might try that too.
Thanks, fredda ;D

[geodepat]

If you found that geode in a creek or river and it had a string tied to it, I would think that someone was using it for a canoe anchor or they used it to keep a fish line in place. Alot of the rivers down here the fishermen will set out lines with lots of hooks and tie them to rocks or trees and leave them out all night then go back in the morning and retrieve the fish.

[buckeye]

Hey Fredda,
After you let the fire burn out, strike the geode around where the string was... being careful not to burn yourself. I used a 3 pound crack hammer and started tapping on it lightly at first, then increasing the force of the strikes until it broke. You may also be able to try tossing it in cold water right after burning it. That may further crack the geode around the break line. It didn't always break right around the string, but it does give you a little more control.
Good luck,
Bryce C

[jpolk123]

This is the inside of a geode that I have .It looks exactly like yours on the outside.It is also about the same size.