Post by jamesp on Sept 11, 2013 16:19:44 GMT -5
Scott. The purple chunk i cooked that was volley ball sized. It had a very similar undeveloped area like the sphere coral had. The whole center was crumbly/cherty. It had about a 3 inch layer of great material. But the 4 inch ball in the center silicified poorly. It happens commonly. But solid silicification almost always go ting when tapped lightly. and it can be reduced into little flakes w/a tiny hammer quickly. I will certainly target the purple. I would like for you to make a sphere out of it for Scott. The stuff that turns purple is slap ugly before cooking.
If they do not go 'ting' they are cherty in the center and very tough making them dangerous to break due to shrapnel. I use an 8 pound sledge with a full swing and all buttocks behind it to break a cherty one.
I carry about 50 pillow cases w/me from Goodwill to cover and then contain the shrapnel.
I will tell you where the purple comes from. I think sitting in the river bottom. Loose for many years(1000's). The old guys that pave the river bottom from when the channel was dissolving out.
If not, then high iron or high something brown clay. Because the skin is very yellow brown. Typically the coating is representative of the clay. And one other characteristic that i need to prove
before sharing. The coral is called shelf coral because it sits on the limestone shelf. The 'shelf is the old ocean bottom. But the water has dissolved thru limestone leaving a vertical wall up to 40 feet
high above the water. The Withlacoochee shelf is only 1 to 5 feet above low water level allowing you to shop coral right out of the top on the 1-5 foot shelf from your boat. And the coral layer is very full of coral heads up to 4 feet thick. That river alone is full of variety in the 1/2 mile i spend 90 percent of my time at collecting. I found another boat ramp 5 miles upstream. But you have to drive down 6000 miles of washboard road to get to it(slight exaggeration). Can not wait to slide boat in there. The boat ramp i always put in has a small water fall due to the coral keeping outboards from going upstream. Now i have an access in an area i kayaked upstream to but under a lot of duress due to current and time.
If they do not go 'ting' they are cherty in the center and very tough making them dangerous to break due to shrapnel. I use an 8 pound sledge with a full swing and all buttocks behind it to break a cherty one.
I carry about 50 pillow cases w/me from Goodwill to cover and then contain the shrapnel.
I will tell you where the purple comes from. I think sitting in the river bottom. Loose for many years(1000's). The old guys that pave the river bottom from when the channel was dissolving out.
If not, then high iron or high something brown clay. Because the skin is very yellow brown. Typically the coating is representative of the clay. And one other characteristic that i need to prove
before sharing. The coral is called shelf coral because it sits on the limestone shelf. The 'shelf is the old ocean bottom. But the water has dissolved thru limestone leaving a vertical wall up to 40 feet
high above the water. The Withlacoochee shelf is only 1 to 5 feet above low water level allowing you to shop coral right out of the top on the 1-5 foot shelf from your boat. And the coral layer is very full of coral heads up to 4 feet thick. That river alone is full of variety in the 1/2 mile i spend 90 percent of my time at collecting. I found another boat ramp 5 miles upstream. But you have to drive down 6000 miles of washboard road to get to it(slight exaggeration). Can not wait to slide boat in there. The boat ramp i always put in has a small water fall due to the coral keeping outboards from going upstream. Now i have an access in an area i kayaked upstream to but under a lot of duress due to current and time.