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Post by nichwhitt on Jun 14, 2012 8:44:05 GMT -5
Rock is water washed, but it seems to have fortifications like green malachite. Cant seem to find any decent pictures of rough. Attachments:
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Post by arappaho on Jun 15, 2012 6:27:58 GMT -5
Catchy title, nichwhitt. Haven't heard that one before.  Looks like sandstone. |
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Post by nichwhitt on Jun 15, 2012 11:01:49 GMT -5
LOL...wasnt sure if such a thing existed. On a side note, I'm gonna start calling you "sandstone" cause thats how you ID my posts  |
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Post by arappaho on Jun 15, 2012 16:45:00 GMT -5
HA! Does seem that way don't it. Just like grains of sand frozen in the hourglass of time, such are The Rocks of Our Lives.  No, I don't think there is such a thing as Red Malachite, but there are a lot of red and black banded jaspers and......................... ............ .......... ........ .... .. sandstones. |
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Post by arappaho on Jun 15, 2012 18:53:17 GMT -5
Sorry nichwhitt, sometimes I just crack myself up.  Let me try posting a picture here. I haven't tried posting a pic on this board in forever. Hopefully this will be some pics of a piece of Malachite rough, and then a couple slabs. Attachments:
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Post by arappaho on Jun 15, 2012 18:56:22 GMT -5
Oh, I see, the trick is posting more than ONE pic per post. Somebody ought to fix that. Attachments:
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Post by arappaho on Jun 15, 2012 18:59:47 GMT -5
And you have to enter a message, so..... here's one more angle. Attachments:
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Post by arappaho on Jun 15, 2012 19:00:46 GMT -5
and the slabs........ Attachments:
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Post by arappaho on Jun 15, 2012 19:10:01 GMT -5
You know, sandstones are really set apart based on the SIZE of the grains in it, rather than the hardness of it. Argillite is the name for a "Clay stone", which is a stone with particles the size of those in clay, which are really too small to see individually. Then comes "Siltstone", and then probably a few others, and then the old Sandstone. For instance, here is a red and black banded Argillite from around here. This is an Argillite and not a Jasper because it's not hard enough to be a Jasper. It hasn't been replaced by silica, or quartz, and is still basically mud and manganese. Also a pretty good sign of a Sedimentary rock is the level, parallel layering. Attachments:
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Post by arappaho on Jun 15, 2012 19:22:41 GMT -5
And here's another from the same area as the other. I guess this would be more of a "Siltstone" as you can see some of the individual grains in it. Not that any of this helps with what you have found. Some sandstones will become "infused" or "cemented" with more silica over time and become harder, which is what MAY be going on with your piece. And like with the sandstone in another post, some will become "saturated" with iron, silica and whatever else precipitates into the layer from the surrounding environment. I think........ Attachments:
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Post by nichwhitt on Jun 17, 2012 11:37:38 GMT -5
Heh, that was a thorough reply;) Thanks for the great information.
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Post by arappaho on Jun 18, 2012 18:54:05 GMT -5
No problem,nichwhitt. Since I'm on a role, here's a couple more. One more Argillite. This is a classic example of argillite and was found about 5 miles from the other two. It is very soft, you can "almost" cut it with a knife, but you can definitely make some progress with a regular wood file, even tho diamond tools are alot quicker. Carving something out of this stuff is on my ever-growing "To-Do" list. Cake of Mud. Attachments:
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Post by arappaho on Jun 18, 2012 19:05:30 GMT -5
Here's a little closer look at the top. If there were more thin-bedded layers where it could separate it would be called a Shale, but since there aren't Mudstone or Argillite is a good call. Silt-size particles= microscopic. Clay size particles= sub-microscopic Indurated= Hardened Attachments:
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Post by arappaho on Jun 18, 2012 19:09:03 GMT -5
And lastly is a pic of the front where it has been sliced with the grain, kind of. I think you get more of a feel for the mud make-up of the rock in this pic. Attachments:
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Post by arappaho on Jun 18, 2012 19:18:27 GMT -5
I don't have a clue what all this Mudstone has to do with Sandstone? But anyway, here's another piece I recently slabbed that doesn't have anything to do with Sandstone, but a good example of breccia. This stuff is from California and they call it; Jade Brecciated Jasper, which means the lighter "squared" clasts are broken up pieces of Jade cemented by the darker Jasper matrix. (Atleast that's the way I've figgered it and I'm sticking to it.) Attachments:
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Post by nichwhitt on Jun 19, 2012 7:22:46 GMT -5
Very cool pics, is it copper that makes such a lush green color? There is ton of some kind of clay/mud stone here that has some great blue/tan/white marbled look to it...but when I break it open, its just on the surface and the inside is a dull tan cake. Maybe in 10 thousand years it will be something cool!
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Post by arappaho on Jun 20, 2012 8:35:21 GMT -5
It's possible that copper has something to do with it.
Especially up there where you are.
Could be a lot of things, tho, depending on the locality.
Ofcourse with the malachite copper has everything to do with it as
malachite is a copper accessory mineral. Very toxic to cut. Must wear
gloves, and a mask is not a bad idea.
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