Post by rockpickerforever on Mar 22, 2012 11:35:42 GMT -5
Some agates. Top right is what we call a "Bubble Gum" agate, for obvious reasons. This is the biggest one we've found, about 2 1/2" across. Directly below it is one that I attempted to shape and polish. The one to the left of the big one is the only blue one we've found. We have a bunch of bubble gums, most are an inch or less. The rest are just agates, don't know what else you'd call them.
Not agates, unsure what they are. The two top ones have been polished. I think the left one is stone (flint of some kind?) while the right one looks more like shell/calcium layers. While not as hard as the stone, they are still hard enough to take a good polish.
Some nice colorful pieces of petrified wood. Most of the wood found in the area is the blah-brown type, as seen in the next photo. However, our theory is that the small colorful pieces were transported here from Arizona and points north by the Colorado River a long time ago, and deposited in ancient Lake Cahuilla. This area has freshwater (lake and river) deposits, and it was also an ancient seabed at one time as well.
Although the blah-brown is not real colorful, you can find wood in many interesting shapes. The top right piece is well defined, looks like the top 4 1/2 inches of a fencepost, complete with knots. You would almost expect to see a bent over, rusty nail sticking out of it! To the left of it, is a piece that looks like it was driftwood before becoming petrified. This is the only piece I've found like this.
A piece of highly agatized (maybe opalized?) petrified palm. This chunk just stood out because of its boxy shape. It's about 2 1/2 X 1 1/2 X 1 1/2 inches.
A few more pieces... Some of these are pieces that had started to decompose before they were fully petrified. One even has a brecciated appearance. Or it may be differential weathering, due to different hardnesses within the rock?
Thanks again fer lookin'! I will take photos of individual rocks and post them, if anyone wants to get a better look at something.
Not agates, unsure what they are. The two top ones have been polished. I think the left one is stone (flint of some kind?) while the right one looks more like shell/calcium layers. While not as hard as the stone, they are still hard enough to take a good polish.
Some nice colorful pieces of petrified wood. Most of the wood found in the area is the blah-brown type, as seen in the next photo. However, our theory is that the small colorful pieces were transported here from Arizona and points north by the Colorado River a long time ago, and deposited in ancient Lake Cahuilla. This area has freshwater (lake and river) deposits, and it was also an ancient seabed at one time as well.
Although the blah-brown is not real colorful, you can find wood in many interesting shapes. The top right piece is well defined, looks like the top 4 1/2 inches of a fencepost, complete with knots. You would almost expect to see a bent over, rusty nail sticking out of it! To the left of it, is a piece that looks like it was driftwood before becoming petrified. This is the only piece I've found like this.
A piece of highly agatized (maybe opalized?) petrified palm. This chunk just stood out because of its boxy shape. It's about 2 1/2 X 1 1/2 X 1 1/2 inches.
A few more pieces... Some of these are pieces that had started to decompose before they were fully petrified. One even has a brecciated appearance. Or it may be differential weathering, due to different hardnesses within the rock?
Thanks again fer lookin'! I will take photos of individual rocks and post them, if anyone wants to get a better look at something.