mystery rock

[jatslo]

Sharpness is relevant to this discussion, because there is a chip, and that particular edge should have a rather sharp edge, if in fact, that is glass. It could be rounded off, but if it is fresh, it should be very sharp indeed, if glass.

 

[kellygirl29]

I have always loved looking for arrowheads and mushrooms. When I first started looking for mushrooms, I knew nothing about them. I had a huge magnolia tree and had alot of different kinds of mushrooms growing wild all over my yard. One day while sufing the internet, I typed in the search bar "magnolia tree and mushrooms". Suprisingly, all kinds of pages came up. I figured out the tree in my back yard was a Super Grande Magnolia. The biggest and oldest of the magnolias. I learned it was a he/she tree, and went through 4 stages every year. One of the stages was a fungi that the tree produced to protect itself. I learned how to do spore prints. I read about which ones were poisonius and which ones were not, but never ate any of them because I was too scared. I didnt have the balls to eat them because I was such a newbie to the whole thing and was afraid I would make a mistake and eat a bad one. Point being, Im a newbie when it come to minerals and rocks. I kinda stumbled into it when I found this weird mystery rock. Now Ive been reading about minerals and rocks and fluid inclusions and hardness test. But still didnt really grasp the whole concept of the hardness test and exactly what to use to scratch it or what to scratch it with or what any of it meant to my rock. I do know that I can say this. A penny will not scratch it. A sharp pocket knife blade will not scratch it. I do know that it will scratch glass and the scratch stays and wont rub out. I do have one piece of very hard quartz that is solid white with gold veins running through it. It has much sharper edges than my rock.When I scratch glass with it, it seems to dig in deeper than my rock does. When I scratch the quartz with my rock its hard to see what it does, but my rock gets white powder on it. I have no idea what any of this means or if it helps anyone out. I can say that my rocks edges are very dull and has a plasticy feel. I myself honestly do not believe its glass. Im about 80 percent confident that i

 

[silylene old]

<font color="yellow">When i sit the rock on top of led haligen flashlight it is the coolest thing I have ever seen. The liquid inside looks so bright purple that it looks magical. When I look at the rock outside and hold it up in direct sunlight and look through it, the liquid has more of a clear yellowish color instead of purple. <br /></font><br /><br />It sounds like it may be fluorescing....Which is very interesting. Halogen lights can emit a lot of UV light (especially if you remove the soda glass cover plate).<br /><br />Kelly, do you have a black light which you could shine on the rock?<br />Or, do you have a prism, and could shine sunlight through it and then select out the violet light through a slit and shine it on the rock?<br />When you do this, what colors are the rock, and the liquid?<br /><br />Please try to vary the light color (wavelength) using filters (or better, a prism with a slit to select a pure color), and observe at a 90 degree angle from the illumination, and please report what colors you see. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature" align="center"><em><font color="#0000ff">- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -</font></em> </div><div class="Discussion_UserSignature" align="center"><font color="#0000ff"><em>I really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function.</em></font> </div> </div>

 

[dgm1]

It almost sounds like a piece of amber. I have never seen or heard of clear amber though. I'm not sure it even exists. I will do some reading up on it though. When I was a kid we had an ancient cherry tree in the yard and under it I would occasionall find lumps of rock hard sap. It had bubbles entrapped within but the sap rockswere a deep orange color. It had a similar look to yours but overall it does not match.<br /> I would completely rule out the quartz idea based on the teardrop shape of the bubble. The plastic feel makes it tough to id because you have stated that a torch did not affect it and it was able to scratch glass. I work for a plastic's manufacturer and know of very very few plastic compounds that hard. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[CalliArcale]

I've never seen amber with a piece cleaved from it, though. Does anybody happen to know how amber cleaves? That could be very useful information.<br /><br />I, too, have never heard of clear amber, so I'm rather doubtful that's it. I think the color in amber comes from tannins from the tree, and you're not going to be able to avoid those. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>

 

[dgm1]

Well I did some quick searching and found some images of colorless clear amber but more to the point i found this info which answers your fracture question calli.<br /> Note the highlighted:<br /> <font color="yellow">PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS:<br />Color is amber yellow to orange. <br />Luster is resinous. <br />Transparency: Transparent to translucent. <br />Crystal System does not apply because amber is amorphous (meaning it does not have an ordered structure). <br />Habits include nodules embedded in shales or sandstones and those that are washed up on beaches. <br /><font color="white"><b>Fracture is conchoidal. </b></font><br />Hardness is 2+. <br />Specific Gravity is approximately 1.1 (extremely light and can float in salty water). <br />Streak is white. <br />Other Characteristics: Can be burned, fluorescent under UV light and is much tougher (will not crumble as easily) than modern tree resins. <br />Notable Occurrences include all Baltic countries; Venezuela; Russia; Romania; Burma; in coal seams in Wyoming, USA and the Dominican Republic. <br />Best Field Indicators are color, density, toughness, softness and trapped insects. </font><br /><br /> Also there is a pic at this link with a clear piece. It contains a lot of small bubble and some organic material. Note that some of the bubbles, while small, are tear drop shaped. That is similar to the piece that kellygirl has shown.<br /><br /> I also found this ....<br /><br /> <b><font color="yellow">A good test for separating amber and imitations is that amber will float or be buoyant in sea water or salt saturated water (about 2.5 tablespoons per 1 cup</font></b> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[bonzelite]

i've been following this thread and it is truly engaging. this rock seems more mysterious than a kuiper belt object. whatever it is, it is certainly very rare and probably an anomalous example of the rarest examples of the rare. <br /><br />the liquid inclusion is extremely bizarre and beautiful. were it me, i'd keep the rock unmolested even if it meant never knowing what it really was, as life is this way anyway: we think we may be among our usual surroundings and really we are strangers in our own backyard --mystery is more valuable, at times, than knowing.

 

[dgm1]

I pretty much agree but if the object itself is identified, which should not be very difficult, the fluid inclusion can be identified using that info most likely.<br /> Any mineral that would form a tear drop shape inside it would not have contained a fluid at the time of the creation of the bubble. The temps would have been too high for it to not turn the fluid to vapor with enough pressure to burst the rock. It (fluid) most likely seeped in at some point and the point of entry was sealed through accretion, contraction or some other depositing mechanics. <br /> Glass would have had a similar fate if the fluid was entrapped while the glass was molten. It would have flashed to vapor and destroyed the glass. It would have had to have been an air pocket that filled through seepage.<br /> Amber can trap water. Again I am not saying it is amber, but it does have a lot of the characteristics of amber and amber formation does not involve high heat or pressure which would allow the bubble to form at that size.<br /> Dang I really want to know what this thing is. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[kellygirl29]

When I first found the rock I looked at it under a Walmart microscope and saw extreme pitting everywhere which makes me believe the pitting is from extreme heat. I think the tear shaped chamber inside was somehow formed by the pressure of the once very hot liquid causing it to inlate out like a balloon would. But, What do I know?

 

[dgm1]

If it is rock the temps required to make the rock malleable enough to form a tear drop bubble would turn any liquid to vapor which would then expand enough to escape rather violently. A gas buble could form such a shape though. I think the fluid is clearly an addition to the piece that appeared a good deal after formation.<br /><br /> Dids you by chance read any of the testing methods I listed in my post? A few of them should be able to at least eliminate the amber or resin idea. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[kellygirl29]

How do you think the fluid was after formation when part of the formation was formed from the hot fluid?

 

[JonClarke]

If the fluid was trapped when the rock was malleable then it would not be likely to escape.<br /><br />The pitting could be weathering, either etching of the glass (or whatever it is) or of other inclusions, or both.<br /><br />Jon <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em>Whether we become a multi-planet species with unlimited horizons, or are forever confined to Earth will be decided in the twenty-first century amid the vast plains, rugged canyons and lofty mountains of Mars</em>  Arthur Clarke</p> </div>

 

[kellygirl29]

okay, Let me ask this. Could kimberlite be involved with the rock? When I type kimberlite in google image search, I see some rocks that kinda resemble mine.

 

[kellygirl29]

heres a picture of one of many of the images I saw of rocks that look similar to mine

 

[kellygirl29]

another image

 

[kellygirl29]

one more image of a picture from google kimberlite images. This one looks like the same kind of stone except its orange

 

[jatslo]

kimberlite is associated with diamonds; do you think you have a diamond?

 

[jatslo]

kellygirl29 said, "<font color="yellow">I have always loved looking for arrowheads and mushrooms. When I first started looking for mushrooms, I knew nothing about them. I had a huge magnolia tree and had alot of different kinds of mushrooms growing wild all over my yard. One day while sufing the internet, I typed in the search bar "magnolia tree and mushrooms". Suprisingly, all kinds of pages came up. I figured out the tree in my back yard was a Super Grande Magnolia. The biggest and oldest of the magnolias. I learned it was a he/she tree, and went through 4 stages every year. One of the stages was a fungi that the tree produced to protect itself. I learned how to do spore prints. I read about which ones were poisonius and which ones were not, but never ate any of them because I was too scared. I didnt have the balls to eat them because I was such a newbie to the whole thing and was afraid I would make a mistake and eat a bad one.</font><br /><br />I live in Northwestern Oregon, which is basically a rain forest, whereas the trees are prime shelters for all kinds of funguses. I became interested in the subject a few years ago because I was interested in monetary rewards associated with truffles, (yummy). Search eBay and you will see that truffles are worth their weight in gold. Lots of magi mushrooms here too, but that is another story for another day. <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> <br /><br />"<font color="yellow">Point being, Im a newbie when it come to minerals and rocks. I kinda stumbled into it when I found this weird mystery rock. Now Ive been reading about minerals and rocks and fluid inclusions and hardness test. But still didnt really grasp the whole concept of the hardness test and exactly what to use to scratch it or what to scratch it with or what any of it meant to my rock.</font><br /><br />Go buy a test kit; you sound as if you have the rock hounding fever, and a test kit is a great tool of the trade. They are cheap, and even ch

 

[jatslo]

Diamond in kimberlite. <img src="/images/icons/cool.gif" /> LOL

 

[jatslo]

Diamond in kimberlite again. <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> nice point!

 

[jatslo]

Okay, this isn't kimberlite, and I don't know what it is. Oh, the green background is kimberlite, so the brown stone is likely a brown diamond.

 

[dgm1]

I think that if the rock was ever hot enough to be soft enough to form a tear drop shape it would be too hot for any fluid to remain a fluid. It would turn to vapor and expand and likely escape. <br /> Think about the conditions neccesary at rock formation and try to imagine a liquid, any liquid, that could survive the process intact. It is not possible.<br /> That is why I say, if it is rock, the water came after it was formed. <br /> Now please tell me how you think water (or whatever) would be present at the time the rock was molten. I am curious to see what you think. Seriously. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[dgm1]

jon, <font color="yellow">If the fluid was trapped when the rock was malleable then it would not be likely to escape.</font><br /><br /> Please explain how a fluid could be present at a time when the rock is malleable. Do you know what sort of temperature would be involved for the rock to be "fluid" enough to form a teardrop shape internally. It would be between 1200 and 3000 F for a lot of materials. I don't think fluid would survive as a fluid in those conditions. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[kellygirl29]

Steve, I did do the scratch test and reported the results. You are just close minded. I am 95 percent sure it is not glass. It doesnt have the feel, sharpness, or coldness that glass has. There are no glass manufacturers or glass blowers where I live. No fire or asphalt truck could of been hot enough to form what I have. And I didnt find it in a stream bed. I found it 50 ft away from a creek in plowed up grass. Please dont give me anymore of your opinions Steve. You made me not like you along time ago. I am not allowed to do any name calling on here, but let me tell you, I am doing plent of it in my mind.

 

[chew_on_this]

<font color="yellow">I am not allowed to do any name calling on here, but let me tell you, I am doing plent of it in my mind. </font><br /><br />Allow me. Steve, you're opinions on this matter are as welcome as a fat kid on a dodgeball team.