(Texas) Green rock with tiny blue agate fortifications

[velodromed]

My friends daughter found this, but he can’t quite remember where. Here in south-central Texas is the best we can do. The light brown markings appear to go deeper into the rock and not just sit on the surface. The tiny light blue agate pools are very familiar. I’ve seen them in numerous red and yellow Texas moss agates, but I have never seen such a rich color green rock with them. Using my hardness kit, it tested around a seven. Anybody have any ideas? I am thinking it’s a green moss agate of some kind. I put it in the rebel 17 for a few weeks and am pretty excited to see what comes out.

[tribeunited]

bumping this one - still needs help.

I don't know what it is but it sure is pretty!!!

[realrockhound]

Jasper

[amygdule]

Looks like a river tumbled plume pebble to me.

Sweet

[jasoninsd]

Sept 1, 2024 15:19:14 GMT -5 realrockhound said:

Jasper

I agree...it looks more jasper than agate to me...

[velodromed]

I was thinking possibly Jasper also, but the tiny blue agate pools throw me off a bit. I’m looking forward to seeing what comes out of the tumbler in 3-4 weeks.

[realrockhound]

Jaspagate

[velodromed]

Sept 2, 2024 18:49:27 GMT -5 realrockhound said:

Jaspagate

So…I’ve always thought ‘Jaspagate’ was a loose term for a Jasper/chalcedony combo rock like below.


I have never found an actual Jasper with agate fortifications. They end up moss or plume agates. So my question is are there actually jasper rocks with agate fortifications, complete with agate banding?

[realrockhound]

Sept 5, 2024 10:54:14 GMT -5 velodromed said:

Sept 2, 2024 18:49:27 GMT -5 realrockhound said:

Jaspagate

So…I’ve always thought ‘Jaspagate’ was a loose term for a Jasper/chalcedony combo rock like below.


I have never found an actual Jasper with agate fortifications. They end up moss or plume agates. So my question is are there actually jasper rocks with agate fortifications, complete with agate banding?

you can get all kinds of mishmash rocks that include a host of different materials. In short.

[Sabre52]

Definitely a Rio Grande jasper-agate cobble. The actual name of the Beds is the Uvalde Gravels, I guess because that's where they were first cataloged. The beds extend from south of Uvalde Texas all along the Rio Grande Valley and in ancient times huge rivers drained an enormous area. My theory is a lot of that green jasper agate originated may have come from out towards Needle Peak in way west Texas.

[velodromed]

Sept 9, 2024 10:40:49 GMT -5 Sabre52 said:

Definitely a Rio Grande jasper-agate cobble. The actual name of the Beds is the Uvalde Gravels, I guess because that's where they were first cataloged. The beds extend from south of Uvalde Texas all along the Rio Grande Valley and in ancient times huge rivers drained an enormous area. My theory is a lot of that green jasper agate originated may have come from out towards Needle Peak in way west Texas.

Man that is very cool, thank you! By cobble, do you mean the shape?

[velodromed]

Well, so much for that. Now I have 3 green rocks.

[Mark K]

Better it breaks now than later when it is almost done.

[velodromed]

Sept 23, 2024 15:02:22 GMT -5 Mark K said:

Better it breaks now than later when it is almost done.

Yup. Looking at the heavy oxidation on all the break lines tells me it had those internal cracks for awhile. 

[Sabre52]

Yeah, cobble is just a common term for a rounded river transported stone Lots of those green and yellow jaspers and jasp/agates in the Rio Grande material. I probably have a few in my discard piles The yellow often undercuts if there is not enough silica so they are often not good enough to spend saw time on. Check out Darwin Dillon's flickr website if you want to see some spectacular examples.

[velodromed]

Sept 24, 2024 15:41:50 GMT -5 Sabre52 said:

Yeah, cobble is just a common term for a rounded river transported stone Lots of those green and yellow jaspers and jasp/agates in the Rio Grande material. I probably have a few in my discard piles The yellow often undercuts if there is not enough silica so they are often not good enough to spend saw time on. Check out Darwin Dillon's flickr website if you want to see some spectacular examples.

Thank you! I appreciate the explanation and will check that site out. 

[velodromed]

Now I have like 8 green rocks. Hopefully this is the last breakage and I’ll end up with a bunch of pretty smooth green Texas jaspers