Buddy Posted June 22, 2009 Share Posted June 22, 2009 Just found this hiking in a creek, sounds like glass when I tap on it with a rock, anyone know what it is? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tracer Posted June 22, 2009 Share Posted June 22, 2009 hmm, thought you would have had a bite on this by now. we were just debating what some fragments of similar looking stuff was over in another topic, what's this stuff? you didn't say what county, state it was in, which possibly could help. what i normally do when i'm not sure about something, other than posting pictures of it here, is to try to look up online geological maps for the area to figure out what formation it came out of. then i do all different kinds of google searches, trying to find hits on what others have found or what can be found in that strata. i may throw into the searches the names of things i think it might be to see if there are any hits. so say, for instance, i figured out that was found in jones county, texas, in the "smith formation", and i thought it might be tabulate coral. i'd be googling things like "jones county, texas" + "smith formation", or "smith formation" + tabulate, or "smith formation" +fossils, or "jones county, texas" +fossils, etc. and if i get a fair number of really fossil-related hits on any of the searches, i search just in the images search. like in google images, search fossil +bryozoa, or "tabulate coral" + fossil, to look for pictures matching what i've found. of course, finding local collectors who've collected your area for years is one of the best sources of info. the stuff looks kind of finely preserved, and a bit glossy. you said it was "clinky"? interesting specimen. i like it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seldom Posted June 22, 2009 Share Posted June 22, 2009 Hi Buddy and Welcome to the forum. It would help if we know where you found this and what time of day. OK OK no coffee but the local area would be of help Galveston Island 32 miles long 2 miles wide 134 bars 23 liquor stores any questions? Evolution is Chimp Change. Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass; it's about learning to dance in the rain! "I like to listen. I have learned a great deal from listening carefully. Most people never listen." Ernest Hemingway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverphoenix Posted June 22, 2009 Share Posted June 22, 2009 some wierd type of scoria? (volcanic) Where did it come from? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buddy Posted June 22, 2009 Author Share Posted June 22, 2009 some wierd type of scoria? (volcanic) Where did it come from? Central Coast, California about 5 or 6 miles inland in a creek, laying in all the creek rock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buddy Posted June 22, 2009 Author Share Posted June 22, 2009 Found in California, Central Coast, about 5-6 miles inland in a creek, laying in all the creek rock. Sorry I posted in a different thread, just being impatient Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shamalama Posted June 22, 2009 Share Posted June 22, 2009 Slag maybe or some kind of volcanic material? It doesn't look like a fossil to me but then I am not holding it in my hand. How's the weight to size ratio? -Dave __________________________________________________ Geologists on the whole are inconsistent drivers. When a roadcut presents itself, they tend to lurch and weave. To them, the roadcut is a portal, a fragment of a regional story, a proscenium arch that leads their imaginations into the earth and through the surrounding terrain. - John McPheeIf I'm going to drive safely, I can't do geology. - John McPheeCheck out my Blog for more fossils I've found: http://viewsofthemahantango.blogspot.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buddy Posted June 22, 2009 Author Share Posted June 22, 2009 Weight to size ratio, I'd say slightly lighter than a rock of same size. You think it's volcanic? It reminds me of coral or something. My friend says it looks like bone marrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted June 22, 2009 Share Posted June 22, 2009 I 'shopped it a little to see what I could see of the structure, and so far I don't see anything that suggests an organic origin. It is interesting for sure! "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommabetts Posted June 22, 2009 Share Posted June 22, 2009 I am thinking something volcanic also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shamalama Posted June 22, 2009 Share Posted June 22, 2009 I 'shopped it a little to see what I could see of the structure, and so far I don't see anything that suggests an organic origin. It is interesting for sure! Gee, that close up makes it look even more odd. I am at a loss to say what it is, but I'd say Volcanic or possibly the residue of some man made process like slag or some chemical process. -Dave __________________________________________________ Geologists on the whole are inconsistent drivers. When a roadcut presents itself, they tend to lurch and weave. To them, the roadcut is a portal, a fragment of a regional story, a proscenium arch that leads their imaginations into the earth and through the surrounding terrain. - John McPheeIf I'm going to drive safely, I can't do geology. - John McPheeCheck out my Blog for more fossils I've found: http://viewsofthemahantango.blogspot.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tracer Posted June 22, 2009 Share Posted June 22, 2009 i still think it's organic. i can't figure a way that structure would be made otherwise. it looks like it has the little rings or bead shapes like the chain corals can have. guess it's time to start googling... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Menser Posted June 22, 2009 Share Posted June 22, 2009 If me old eyes ain't decievin me... I have to go with volcanic. The latice work looks to be composed of millions of micro-crystals. A volcanic foam just a step heavier than Pumic would be my guess. Be true to the reality you create. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buddy Posted June 23, 2009 Author Share Posted June 23, 2009 Wow, I don't know much about fossils, just a little from the Boy Scouts, but it seems I got you experts stumped. It's pretty cool looking! Makes me want to go exploring more! This kind of stuff ever worth anything to a university or some organization? First thing my wife said when I found it was, "maybe it's something really rare and you'll make a million". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 ...This kind of stuff ever worth anything to a university or some organization?... I don't think this one's gonna' be about the money... "Sounds like glass" = ?vitrified? Vitrified + location = volcanic. Maybe. "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shamalama Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 If me old eyes ain't decievin me...I have to go with volcanic. The latice work looks to be composed of millions of micro-crystals. A volcanic foam just a step heavier than Pumic would be my guess. Pumice would account for the lighter weight, just what I was thinking! Auspex: (from Wikipedia... stop laughing!) "Vitrification is a process of converting a material into a glass-like amorphous solid that is free from any crystalline structure" In that sense... this could meet those requirements. Buddy: Have you tried breaking a piece off to look at the interior? -Dave __________________________________________________ Geologists on the whole are inconsistent drivers. When a roadcut presents itself, they tend to lurch and weave. To them, the roadcut is a portal, a fragment of a regional story, a proscenium arch that leads their imaginations into the earth and through the surrounding terrain. - John McPheeIf I'm going to drive safely, I can't do geology. - John McPheeCheck out my Blog for more fossils I've found: http://viewsofthemahantango.blogspot.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boesse Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 It doesn't really look volcanic to me. Perhaps there may be some similarity to some plutonic rocks, but not to any volcanic rock I can think of. This is too white or 'felsic' to be a volcanic rock from CA; as far as I know, the most felsic volcanics in CA are andesites associated with the southern Cascades. If I had to bet money on it, I'd say it's some kind of carbonate rock (e.g. a limestone, with some sort of body or trace-fossil framework). I'll bet that those are some kind of trace fossil in a carbonate rock, and a slight lithologic contrast is causing some sort of differential erosion/weathering of the surface. Where exactly in central CA? That would help a lot with determining the provenance of this specimen. Bobby Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buddy Posted June 23, 2009 Author Share Posted June 23, 2009 Cambria, San Simeon area by Hearst Castle. Haven't broke it yet, but that would be interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buddy Posted June 23, 2009 Author Share Posted June 23, 2009 Just broke it open, pretty similar inside. I'll try and get some pics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LanceH Posted June 24, 2009 Share Posted June 24, 2009 Geologic sheet for the area I think: http://ngmdb.usgs.gov/ngm-bin/ILView.pl?si...&sfact=1.25 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Inyo Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 Geologic sheet for the area I think:http://ngmdb.usgs.gov/ngm-bin/ILView.pl?si...&sfact=1.25 First off, forget about the mystery rock. It's mostly likely honeycomb-weathered calcium carbonate--AKA, limestone--from outcrops of the widespread Cretaceous-Jurassic Franciscan Formation, atop which Hearst Castle rests; the original poster should place a drop of two of acid on the rock--if it bubbles, it's indeed calcium carbonate. See that yellow cross-hatched area on the map labeled Qm? That's all Pleistocene marine terrace material--could be full of excellently preserved fossil mollusks (gastropods, pelecypods, scaphopods). Such marine terrace deposits of identical age along the coast of California often yield abundant well preserved invertebrate remains. The world-famous Pleistocene terrace sediments around Palos Verdes-San Pedro (Los Angeles district), for example, used to provide an almost unlimited source of perfectly preserved marine shells from such formations as the Palos Verdes Sand, San Pedro Sand, Timms Point Silt and Lomita Marl--until, that is, virtually all of the prime paleotology-yielding outcrops were bulldozed in order to construct homes, streets and freeways. If I'm not mistaken, there is still one lone remaining fabulously fossiliferous outcrop of the Late Pleistocene terrace sequence in a residential district of San Pedro. Now, on to the rest of the geologic map. The greenish KJf is the Cretaceous-Jurassic Francisco Formation (or series, or assemblage; take your pick). It's a big old thick Mesozoic deposit consisting of many varieties of rocks--mafic volcanic rocks (greenstones), deep-sea radiolarian cherts, greywacke sandstones, limestones, serpentinites, shales, and high-pressure metamorphic rocks--all thoroughly mashed, twisted, contorted and otherwise tortured by faulting. The brighter greenish Ku and Kl areas represent undifferentiated upper and lower Cretaceous marine sediments, respectively. Those bluish-purplish places denote outcrops of Jurassic-age ultra basic volcanic rocks, while the pinkish cross-hatched coloring at the extreme upper right map out the extent of probably Cenozoic intrusive volcanics (rhyolites, andesites, basalts). And, finally, the brownish Mm at the lower right marks areas of middle Miocene Cenozoic sedimentary rocks--perhaps the incredibely widespread Monterey Formation, which is exposed all along California's Central Coast, all the way south to southern Californial; as a matter of fact, I used to reside directly atop a weathered outcrop of Monterey Formation in Southern California many years ago--just down the road from our home, as I vividly recollect, occurred a nice exposure of typical white diatomaceous shales bearing profuse reddish fish scales and an occasional complete fish skeleton. http://inyo.110mb.com/dv/poletaarch.htm Two branching archeocyathids (an extinct calcareous spong; they never survived beyond the early Cambrian) from the Lower Cambrian Poleta Formation, California. Archeocyathids are among my very favorite fossil type. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Inyo Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 Now, on to the rest of the geologic map. The greenish KJf is the Cretaceous-Jurassic Francisco Formation (or series, or assemblage; take your pick). http://inyo.110mb.com/dv/poletaarch.htm Two branching archeocyathids (an extinct calcareous spong; they never survived beyond the early Cambrian) from the Lower Cambrian Poleta Formation, California. Archeocyathids are among my very favorite fossil type. Make that the Franciscan Formation--not "Francisco." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverphoenix Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 I guess it could be something like oolitic sandstone--get some HCl and you will know for sure. Volcanic=no fizzing, limestone=fizzing Really easy test that will solve the mystery. Then we can go on organic/not organic and ID it. As for value, it really has none--possible educational value to a University, but I can't see any to a collector--who knows, it's always worth a try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MRS MICROPTERUS101 Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 some wierd type of scoria? (volcanic) Where did it come from? could it be a form of coral? or sea sponge i came saw drooled and collected Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crinoid Queen Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 that was my firsts thought but really dont find early fossils like that in CA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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