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Month: March 2022

Five Random Carver Agates

Five Random Carver Agates

By /March 28, 2022 /1 comment /Cut Rocks

Here are five random Carver agates I cut this week! One is the first one I’ve seen! These are five of the six agates I cut this week. The sixth stone will be the subject of my next blog. It is so cool and unusual. Detail of Rock #4681 – Click to enlarge Rock #4679 – Click to enlarge Rock #4685 – Click to enlarge Rock #4683 – Click to enlarge Rock #4687 – Click to enlarge Being lucky enough to cut five totally different agate types in a single week is a ‘rock hound’ fantasy! And why I never get bored as I continue to explore the amazing diversity of the Carver Agate Field agates. The highly variable colors, patterns, banding, and sagenitic inclusions make these just pure fun. Rock #4685 is another ‘first’ for me: white matrix with multiple colored sagenitic inclusions. I wish I had 50 pounds […]

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Maine Coast Plasma Jasper: New Video

Maine Coast Plasma Jasper: New Video

By /March 14, 2022 /0 comments /Geology

Maine coast plasma jasper is not a native stone. It was carried here by the continental glaciers that covered Maine with 10,000 feet of ice a mere 14,000 years ago. When the ice melted, it left behind on parts of the Maine coast this greenish plasma jasper. The stone is many shades of green to grey, with white flecks and an ‘other worldly’ plasma pattern, similar to a space nebula as seen through a powerful telescope. The jasper is hard and fracture resistant. It polishes, but not easily. It has a waxy texture which is key to identification. It shows a conchoidal fracture. I don’t know the bedrock source of this material except that it is north of here in Maine or Canada. Rock #4337 : Click to enlarge Rock #4338 : Click to enlarge Rock #4367 : Click to enlarge

My Birthday Agates!

My Birthday Agates!

By /March 11, 2022 /3 comments /Cut Rocks

These stones are maybe the prettiest agates I have cut. Or, they just seem like the prettiest because I just cut them! Both show clear evidence of red and yellow jasper that was fractured into shards and then cemented back together by silica which entered into the cracks. When the silica enters the cracks, it creates tiny fortification agates and other banded agates, e.g., a jasp-agate. I think the patterns created are simply beautiful. The free form shapes of these stones are the result of trying to capture all of the detail and coloration that is present. If I had cut the stones in the more conventional round or oval cabochon shape, much of the stones’ patterns and coloration would have been lost. Rock #4643 Rock #4645

The Lava Lamp in The Ghost

The Lava Lamp in The Ghost

By /March 8, 2022 /0 comments /Cut Rocks

This stone simply contains lots of cool stuff, particularly when enlarged or magnified. The unenlarged photograph shows a pale whitish ghost-like structure up through which a lava lamp-shaped log arises. Rock #4186 : Click to enlarge If you don’t think that is cool enough, take a look at the enlarged photos of the bottom center and bottom right of the stone. The bottom right of the stone as shown enlarged is a botryoidal structure, which is defined as having the appearance of a bunch of grapes. Bottom Right of Rock #4186 : Click to enlarge The other enlarged photo shows the botryoidal structure being cut open and appearing to have a somewhat hollow center. Bottom Center of Rock #4186 : Click to enlarge Later, I will be doing a more detailed examination of botryoidal agates, with more photos and discussion as to how I believe they are formed. Rock #4569 […]

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Carver Agate Field Cabachons: New Video

Carver Agate Field Cabachons: New Video

By /March 6, 2022 /2 comments /Cabochons

I have been cutting more agates from The Carver. A few are cool enough to make me “make them shiny”! I have made a short video of some of the new cabs and hope you like it. Examples Be sure to click on each one to see the larger version! Rock #4629 Rock #4618 Rock #4616 Rock #4626

Zipper Geode (I found it, I named it!)

Zipper Geode (I found it, I named it!)

By /March 1, 2022 /1 comment /Cut Rocks

This is one half of a fractured geode which shows a much earlier fracture that was healed by quartz crystals filling the earlier fracture. While it is very common to find geodes with fractures that are filled (or healed) by secondary deposition of silica in the crack (fracture), it is quite unusual to find that the secondary deposition results in macro crystalline (visible to the eye) quartz crystals extruded from the crack. To me it looks like a crystal quartz zipper! Rock #3998