|
Post by rockpickerforever on Mar 19, 2012 18:55:17 GMT -5
Is anyone familiar with the green petrified wood from Arizona? Does this look like it? We purchased several hundred pounds of rocks at an estate sale a couple years ago. The person had collected rocks from all over the southwest (and then some!) for more than 50 years. This green rock, which looked like petrified wood, caught my husband's eye. Dimensions are 11 X 9 X 3 inches, and I think he said it weighs 22 pounds. Once we got it home, we cleaned all the dirt and paint spatter off it, and saw that it definitely is petrified wood. I'm no expert, but at Quartzsite last January, I saw what looked like a small (2 X 2 x 3/4 inch) piece of it for sale. The guy was asking $40! He told us that this wood came from northern Arizona, near Winslow. It was a one-time find, years ago on an Indian reservation, and you just can't get it anymore. He said to get ours properly ID'd to take it to the Arizona Mining and Mineral Museum. I've done some research online, and found that the wood has been colored green by chromium, and it's not found in many places. Some of the ones I've seen online for sale are pretty gemmy, but also pretty small. This one is not real gemmy, but still has a nice greenish color, and you can see the wood clearly. But I still think it is something special. It will stay a large specimen. Any thoughts on how valuable this might be? Thanks for your input!
|
|
sticksinstones
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since February 2012
Posts: 117
|
Post by sticksinstones on Mar 19, 2012 21:25:50 GMT -5
Yes, but that is not chromium influenced green you find in the Arizona limbs. It's also typically small limbs found in that deposit while the piece you have is from a large trunk.
This wood is almost certainly from Hampton Butte, Oregon. It's a fairly productive site that produces a lot of large logs which are most often excavated in chunks. Your stone's color, preservation, size and accenting colors are all very typical of this site. Chunks are typically sold anywhere from 50 cents to $2 per lb. though stuff on the upper end of that range needs to be pretty well agatized.
Hope that helps.
|
|
|
Post by gr on Mar 19, 2012 23:09:39 GMT -5
Would be interesting to see and end cut on that. I live 30 min from the petrified forrest park and I've hunted and collected ALL over this area and I've not seen any thing that looks like that. The chromium pieces that sticksinstones is talking about is probably close to gold prices and what you've got is not it. Would be interesting to know what that green color came from. If you pursue it futher. let us know
gr
|
|
amyk
fully equipped rock polisher
I'm a slabber, I'm a cabber, I'm a midnight wrapper.
Member since January 2010
Posts: 1,331
|
Post by amyk on Mar 19, 2012 23:55:25 GMT -5
I am in Sedona, and have seen pet wood around east grand canyon area and never seen any green in it. In fact I think green is the only color I have not seen in it.
|
|
|
Post by rockpickerforever on Mar 20, 2012 9:20:10 GMT -5
Thank you for your replies. It may very well be from Hampton Butte. I only thought it might be the AZ wood, based on the similar piece for sale in Quartzsite, and what the seller told me. Maybe next trip to AZ, we'll hit the mining museum. Think I'll hold off cutting until after that. Thank you for taking the time to answer!
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 20, 2012 10:15:07 GMT -5
Hi Rockpicker, You might as well cut it open, our wonderful governor Jan Brewer shut the mining museum down last year. www.minmumad.blogspot.com/Tim
|
|
|
Post by rockpickerforever on Mar 20, 2012 10:23:25 GMT -5
Well that's just wonderful! A virtual museum??? No hands on, just look at pics?
Thanks for the info, Tim. Save me from having to drag the dang thing to AZ anyway. Guess I'll just have to make an end cut, as soon as I have access to a saw bigger than 10". Our club lost their shop a couple years ago, and are finally trying to get something started up again.
|
|
Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,685
|
Post by Fossilman on Mar 20, 2012 11:03:03 GMT -5
Yes,you have a heck of a find-that is Hampton Butte petwood.Only three places in the world that it is found,being Oregon as one........Congrads,its a huge piece too...$$ Always see slices of it or small pieces,this is a awesome hunk!
|
|
sticksinstones
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since February 2012
Posts: 117
|
Post by sticksinstones on Mar 20, 2012 11:41:47 GMT -5
The seller you saw at the rock show may well have been trying to pass of Hampton Butte wood as Arizona chromium green wood - the prices usually involve at least one extra zero in them. The green from Hampton can hit almost any shade, but the majority of it is colored like the piece you have. The chromium stuff from Arizona has almost green turquoise hue to it - it actually looks toxic and small pieces sell for a lot, mostly because there isn't a lot of it around. You can actually get the same colors out of better silicified wood out of both Madagascar and Zimbabwe but those sites, like Hampton, typically have other shades of green involved as well. The Arizona stuff is closer to monochromatic.
|
|
|
Post by rockpickerforever on Mar 20, 2012 11:54:03 GMT -5
What the seller had looked exactly like mine, only much smaller. You are most likely right, he was misrepresenting it, either by accident or intentionally (probably the latter...). I have to admit, that in the back of my mind, I didn't think it was the chromium. First, because of online descriptions calling it "lime green." So when you say it looks "toxic" I can believe that. Second, because I am not that lucky!
|
|
sticksinstones
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since February 2012
Posts: 117
|
Post by sticksinstones on Mar 20, 2012 13:07:51 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by rockpickerforever on Mar 20, 2012 13:18:07 GMT -5
Thanks so much for the info and pics! I really like the outer "rays" on the third one. And I see what you mean about the green in the chromium wood being pretty much solid green. Now I'm starting to itch to cut mine open, or slice an end at the least!
|
|
sticksinstones
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since February 2012
Posts: 117
|
Post by sticksinstones on Mar 20, 2012 13:25:20 GMT -5
That third one is new this year, and I'm still not sure what it is. It could be an exotic. I thought it looked like calamites but the age is wrong (I think). Perhaps a very oddly preserved araucaria, but I kind of don't think so (maybe being guilty of the same behavior I noted of the other dealer )
|
|
|
Post by rockpickerforever on Mar 20, 2012 19:16:37 GMT -5
So what made the petrified wood at Hampton Butte green? Copper minerals? Malachite?
|
|
|
Post by cpdad on Mar 20, 2012 19:24:06 GMT -5
learning a lot from this thread....fixing to post a piece of green wood in the I.D. section for yaw to look at....rockpicforever when ya decide to cut...or sell a few pieces i will be sure nuff be interested....i like green stuff ;D.
sticksinstones....you got some killer stuff...kev.
|
|
sticksinstones
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since February 2012
Posts: 117
|
Post by sticksinstones on Mar 20, 2012 19:47:04 GMT -5
So what made the petrified wood at Hampton Butte green? Copper minerals? Malachite? This website offers some explanations. I don't know how expert these guys are, but it sounds good. They claim it's a variation of iron (not an oxide). I don't know if it's the only thing that produces green in petrified wood, but I had heard previously that iron could produce green as well. www.scienceviews.com/parks/woodcolors.html
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 23, 2012 17:16:30 GMT -5
|
|
sticksinstones
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since February 2012
Posts: 117
|
Post by sticksinstones on Mar 23, 2012 23:38:32 GMT -5
Hmmm...
Think about those characteristics. Large wood grain with crystaline pockets... caveat emptor.
|
|