jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Oct 27, 2016 9:52:29 GMT -5
orrum-I popped these in short order from a 12 pound cobble with gentle blows with 4 ounce hammer. They are all thin and long. Just as fast as I could swing the little hammer. Best way is to rent a U Haul and fill it to capacity. 8 tons = $15-25,000 on knapping market. Make more money than black market gem biz. Can you ID Sabre52 ??
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Fossilman
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Post by Fossilman on Oct 27, 2016 10:00:40 GMT -5
Awesome story to a great looking hounding trip James... Thanks for the visual journey...
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Oct 27, 2016 10:06:11 GMT -5
Awesome story to a great looking hounding trip James... Thanks for the visual journey... Getting ready to head out to a 5 acre cobble strewn monster field I found last night. Looks like the cattle farmer recently pushed over the mature mesquite exposing rocks impossible to get to due to the mesquite making access impossible. Jazzed about this spot as long as those Brahma bulls leave me alone. One stuck his head in the window of my car last night lol. Hundreds of mesquite pushed over for grazing grass to grow:
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Oct 27, 2016 10:09:44 GMT -5
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Post by Garage Rocker on Oct 27, 2016 10:14:01 GMT -5
Awesome story to a great looking hounding trip James... Thanks for the visual journey... Getting ready to head out to a 5 acre cobble strewn monster field I found last night. Looks like the cattle farmer recently pushed over the mature mesquite exposing rocks impossible to get to due to the mesquite making access impossible. Jazzed about this spot as long as those Brahma bulls leave me alone. One stuck his head in the window of my car last night lol. I'd be careful if I were you, the cows look possessed down there.
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Sabre52
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Post by Sabre52 on Oct 27, 2016 13:35:23 GMT -5
orrum: Texas chert is best worked after heat treatment as it is so tough it eats your copper boppers right up quick. I even find Amerind sites where the chert chips are much more colorful indicating the Amerinds probably heat treated I some instances too too Only seem to use the unheated material for percussion flaking the crude trade bifaces we find all over the ranch.
James: I showed Bob some of the strange chert nodules we find here in the Edwards formation. All the chert nodules form in voids in limestone, not gas pockets in basalt like the true agate biscuits. Most tend to be flattened ovoids but they can come in pretty strange shapes too when they form after dissolved corals, shells, invertebrate burrows or just erosion channels worn in the limestone. I have boulders in my yard with nice biscuit shaped chert nodules included and down in the creek it's not uncommon to see some close to a hundred pounds. The nodules are named for the formation they are found in and the chert does form in thick veins too. Probably, if the stuff you are finding sometime appears more angular, those are rounded off vein sections. he veins we find here are black-blue-gray called Edwards Blue Flint ( actually chert) and Pedernales Chert that looks much like earth toned petrified wood sometimes. The vein stuff comes in huge blocks some so big we ride horses over them to bridge the creek!
I don't now if the chert in the Rio Grande gravel has a specific name as it is derived from long eroded formations. Whole gravel formation is called the Uvalde Gravels in some publications. The Rio Grande chert is actually pretty nice. If you look closely you can find types that are dead ringers for pastelite or Youngite, Stone Canyon like breccias multicolored banded ones and almost any other color including nice purples and reds. Lots contain good fossil shells too and cut nice slabs..Mel
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Oct 27, 2016 20:45:53 GMT -5
Laser beam eyes Randy.
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Oct 27, 2016 20:52:32 GMT -5
That answers the chert formation method Mel. Figured it may be formed in limestone. Yes, lots of flattened ovals and lots of blocky shapes from veins. Seems like chert is very hard. Coastal chert too. The limestone process must be efficient.
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Oct 27, 2016 21:46:49 GMT -5
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Post by MrMike on Oct 27, 2016 22:14:58 GMT -5
I am sure of one thing 1dave , the yellow mosses have a strong flavor if they are poorly silicified. Stopped licking them !! Certain that there is some serious chemistry going on in these rocks. If I remember correctly that area is known for yellow arsenic agates, or was it cyanide cherts...
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 27, 2016 22:18:15 GMT -5
Tuesday night dinner with GF Tacos De lengua.... Mmmm....
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 27, 2016 22:20:35 GMT -5
Quit breaking all them awesome rocks!! I have a moss/plume like that last from Area 69. Once I finish vegasjames sphere I started a hundred years ago, I will cube it up.
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meviva
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Post by meviva on Oct 27, 2016 22:49:49 GMT -5
Wow!! That one sure is a beauty!!
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Post by Pat on Oct 27, 2016 22:49:59 GMT -5
jamesp. What a load of beauty you are finding! You mentioned some of your finds rang like a bell. I wonder if sound can be used to identify some rocks. Interesting. Thanks for taking us along on your trip.
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Sabre52
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Post by Sabre52 on Oct 27, 2016 22:56:33 GMT -5
First off that first agate is a real eye popper. Freaking awesome find!!!!!
Second, Man I gotta hit my favorite Mexican food place next week. Y'all done made me hongrrrry!!!!....Mel
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Post by captbob on Oct 28, 2016 1:18:20 GMT -5
Quick to James - HOME! One shot. LOOONG shot. 1,300ish miles.
Left there 5 am arrived here 1:45 am
Will figure out how many hours that was with the time change when I have more than one functioning brain cell.
Thinking' that after 8 hours sleep I could be back there by Saturday afternoon!
more later
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Sabre52
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Member since August 2005
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Post by Sabre52 on Oct 28, 2016 6:29:14 GMT -5
Dang Bob, you really are a marathon driver! That would be a three day drive for me *L*. Glad you made it home safe and sound....Mel
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Post by 1dave on Oct 28, 2016 6:38:51 GMT -5
Dump loot, Return to scene of crime . . .
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Oct 28, 2016 7:45:29 GMT -5
First off that first agate is a real eye popper. Freaking awesome find!!!!! Second, Man I gotta hit my favorite Mexican food place next week. Y'all done made me hongrrrry!!!!....Mel Mel, collected moist lake shore agates, those broken out of caliche, and those that are field bleached. It makes a difference on outward appearance. Yesterday at 2 miles away on a high dry knob a lot of yellows and oranges. They bleach different from the often yellow skin chert. Making discrimination easy. Purple is the most common jasper color by far go figure. Tons of purple, most of it solid purple in every shade. Others with bands and conglomerate patterns, Lots of purple moss too. the biscuit shape is a big hint. Many of them. You can walk about 300 feet in good rock and collect 15 pounds of 1.5 to 2.5 inch ers, say 6-10 ounces. A good many biscuits are concave one side, convex the other. Or have a divot in center on one side. And the some are grossly rounded by wear. I targeted 1 - 2 pounders, they are about the prettiest. Targeted by finding areas where that size rock accumulated. You are best to window them, other wise they may be junk. Especially the bigger ones. Again, 90% of the prime lake shore agates have like an alkaline scale on them that totally protects them from collectors. a rainy day would be deadly. When wet you can see their color.
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Oct 28, 2016 7:54:59 GMT -5
Quick to James - HOME! One shot. LOOONG shot. 1,300ish miles. Left there 5 am arrived here 1:45 am Will figure out how many hours that was with the time change when I have more than one functioning brain cell. Thinking' that after 8 hours sleep I could be back there by Saturday afternoon! more later It was a blast and thanks for meeting out there. Not surprised you did the trip back in one run watching your energy level. thanks for self starting and figuring it all out. The area at the camp you found opened things up a lot. The agates you found there were some of the finest. It will take years of erosion to regenerate the areas we collected at. Best to find virgin locations of which there are many on that lake. Probably going to have to FRB some of this back home to avoid crushing my little Honda. Rest well my friend.
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