April 2010 Sedimentary Ohioan Agates & CET Kentucky Specimens!

[Mr_Rosenheim]

That favorite abandoned Rail-yard of mine is booming! Shortly after returning from my 4 and a half day trip in CET Kentucky from some watershed dipping in Rockcastle County for some Borden Formation Float (Jeffrey Anderson explains Kentucky Agate to a tee: http://www.sailorenergy.net/Minerals/MLAgates/MineralAgatesKentucky01.html) and in an offshoot of the Green River in Liberty KY for an area that was like a manger for Geodes. I still have yet to take some stills of my finds (which weighed in at about 50lbs) but could easily fill a jerkin strength prospectors tote... with no problem. Of my weirdy specimens I came across I found a scraggy Swamp thing looking concretionary ball-form rock (in Geode form) underneath a bridge (at an unknown pull off) in Rockcastle County - a known area for being a catcher of some Kentucky Agate nodules.

The specimen I grappled out of a muddy sump is fister sized and looks very much similar to some of these known Kentucky Agate rinds (except it is extremely flaked up like sinter and lava bomb ugly):

I will be uploading my two bins full of Geodes very soon; as well as a (likely) piece of Kentucky Pet Wood, a snazzy little Amethyst geode, the possible Kentucky Agate I found (HSO since I need a good Pipe-cutter to splay it with) and for now some Ohioan finds from my favorite abandoned rail-yard.

Here they are:

This first one has Jasper shades, Peachy-White outlies and clear toothy fortification banding; I am pegging these as being Sedimentary due to them looking as it they accreted together in a granulitic form. (The first one even reminds me of the best Ohioan agate I've found: listed in my previous post called: A 2010 Agatized Crinoid Calyx & Stems & possible Bivalves. & More!)

The Second one has brilliant Opal White fortification banding, coupled with Grey-Black and Blue sprigs of random necktie shapes, strands and rune like pecks throughout.

I think these are pretty good reps to scratch up for Ohio - when Ohio's census says Agate isn't even here - what balderdash!

[Mr_Rosenheim]

As promised I am now tagging up some of my Kentucky (2010) Tributaries/Watershed finds. You're probably not going to be sensationalized by these specimens like Roger Rabbit viewing Jessica Rabbit's bust - all too eye poppingly; but they stand on their own.. just as well. I'll break down the specimen specs in as much of a cinch as I can:

The first on the roster is rather bantam, but it has good splashes of color. It almost has a pied look too it; both in it's shape and how the colors merge into each other. It's mostly made up of a Baby Blue Chacledony; with shades of Lavender and Greens. There are also indistinct wormy White, Mustard and Pinkish Reds, that jump out more - in person. It may be a small shard of Kentucky Agate.

Here it is:

Next up is an Amethystine Quartz Geode that has the look of an Oyster in how it was broken open. I've got about maybe 5-9 more Geodes with a similar rind on the outside; mostly in the near to 1lb range, some brick solid, while most are Rattlers.

Here it is:

Next is a stumpy Micro-Quartzified/Cryptocrystalline specimen that I think is a piece of Prehistoric woody goodness! I am pretty positive it is a genus of Pet Wood, as it looks similar to this Mindat specimen (http://www.mindat.org/photo-149571.html) as far as it's quartz overgrowth; which looks to have become the bark. Plus my specimen has more dead giveaways, which are: half clam conchoidal fractures,a lateral wood grain pattern, and a strong turtle waxed look to it. Like this: http://www.stanford.edu/~siegelr/florida/florida2009/IMG_9884%20petrified%20wood.jpg

Here it is:

Of all the finds I Cherry Picked in KY, among even the Pea Pod shaped Geode I found - this specimen outshines them all In a world of ways. I'm no Kentucky Agate George Hearst, but I do know the wrap on ID-ing Kentucky Agates thanks to: (Jeffrey Anderson) Dwarves' Earth Treasures.

And he says this in ID-ing Kentucky Agate:

(http://www.sailorenergy.net/Minerals/MLRoughID/RoughIDKentucky.html)

-Typical colors: Yellow, black, tan, white: Uncommon colors are gray, lavendar, orange, & purple.

-Typical sizes: Commonly larger than 6 centimeters (?)

-Typical shapes: Concretion-tyoe (rounded, bumpy. fossil-like)

-Most distinguishing characteristic: Holly-shaped agate in concretion matrix. Nodules were originally fossils (crinoid heads, brachipods, etc.) before being expanded by water action, but some nodules retain their original features.

The specimen I'm hyped over definitely seems to have a Concretionary, geode-form; among all the other geodes I came across, this is the only one that looks like Ground Water tumefied it's insides, so that they seem to be purging out from the nodule like a sort of putty. Roland McIntosh (Kentucky Agate Hunter) and Rachel Savene (Kentucky Agate Jeweler and Silversmith) both state that Kentucky Agate occurs in Geode-form, and as Jeffrey Anderson (of Dwarves Earth) says; "Kentucky is known for its agate & quartz concretions"; and this stone looks very concretionary. I really hope that this stone pans out, as it is very close to some of many of the 17+ Kentucky Agate rinds I've fished out on the internet.

(And make note, that much of the Agate in the Concretionary nodules does not fill the space of the stone 100%, most times even.. you won't hit solid spikes of Kentucky Agate (alot of the time) until you reach the core of the stone.) (Here's my truth to that: http://www.flickr.com/photos/gryphonky/sets/72157601903216309/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/gryphonky/sets/72157601895852052/)

Here's the possible KA:

More photos of these Ketuckian specimens can be viewed here: http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cf...202&page=24 and here http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cf...202&page=25

Enjoy, and feel free to fire off some questions.

[TonkaBass]

My favorite is the Amethystine Quartz Geode... looks like a little cave

[Mr_Rosenheim]

Here's a showy little shake sized nodule my brother ferreted out in CET Kentucky on my 2010 trip of old. We both were in Agate-zen-mode upon seeing the inside of this pastel gamboge nodule; not a floater - but darned cool nonetheless! It has a bizarre circus peanut look to it as well. This is the first specimen we cracked open that passed with flying colors.