Home / Geology

Geology

NEW: “Deep Pit” Amethyst Smoky Quartz Galleries

NEW: “Deep Pit” Amethyst Smoky Quartz Galleries

By /November 4, 2019 /4 comments /Geology

A 2018 discovery on ‘The Carver agate field’ has now been mostly explored. A year of cutting and polishing the agates, amethyst, and smoky quartz geodes from the ‘deep pit’ find is now displayed in these new photo galleries dedicated to this remarkable geological deposit from The Carver. The ‘deep pit’ was a small area approximately 15 x 30 feet within a larger pit that was approximately 500 x 700 feet.  From this larger pit, only the small pit yielded the geodes, agates and mineral specimens shown here. This is a geological oddity about which I have almost completed a more detailed geological report.  This report should be interesting because two highly respected Texas geologists have provided two differing geological opinions as to the  origins of this extremely peculiar geological find. Click on the links below to enjoy these new galleries and ‘stay tuned’ for more geological information about the […]

Read More

Rare Large Jasper Nodule from the Carver Agate Field

Rare Large Jasper Nodule from the Carver Agate Field

By /October 30, 2019 /1 comment /Geology

This posting is more about geology than a pretty specimen. Bear with me as I ‘get into the weeds’ to explain why this is rare and is the subject of this posting. How nodules form Gas bubbles in molten lava sometimes, after hardening, leave a bubble or void in the hardened lava which may fill with a silica solution. The silica often creates banded agates or crystal lined voids in the center of the nodule which are called geodes. What is rare and unusual in this large specimen, is that the nodule formed in the gas bubble is essentially jasper, not agate, quartz, or other crystals.  While The Carver agate field has lots of jaspers, they are almost always formed separate from, and outside of, gas bubbles that have formed in the lava. The process by which jasper would completely fill a large gas bubble is apparently uncommon. I have […]

Read More

Geologically Significant: New Amethyst Agate Geode Find

Geologically Significant: New Amethyst Agate Geode Find

By /October 14, 2018 /1 comment /Geology

A 16+ pound amethyst agate geode found on ‘the Carver’ has recently been cut into 3 pieces, and polished. The geode rind is purple amethyst and approximately 1 1/2″ thick in most places. This thick amethyst rind encircles an approximately 5 1/2″ x 2″ crystal-filled hollow center. The amethyst crystals in the geode center are covered with a secondary surface mineral crystallization of a yellow/beige color. Even more interesting, the yellow/beige mineralization layer coating the amethyst is, in places, coated with a gray/black crystallization layer apparently involving a third type of mineral (I am seeking expert assistance to identify the mineralization involved). The gray/black mineralization layer appears to have intruded into the geode through the rind of the geode, into its center. This intrusion is visible on the photos shown.   Amethyst Agate Geode Slice A Amethyst Agate Geode Slice B   This specimen is geologically significant because it was […]

Read More

CITRINE SCEPTER AND YELLOW AGATES from ‘The Carver’ featured in Rock & Gem, August 2018

CITRINE SCEPTER AND YELLOW AGATES from ‘The Carver’ featured in Rock & Gem, August 2018

By /July 29, 2018 /0 comments /Geology

The August 2018 edition of Rock & Gem Magazine will feature an article and photos by me entitled “The Unicorn Scepter and Yellow Agates.” In September I will publish this article here at the website. The photos referred to and utilized in the article can be seen and enlarged here in this posting. These photos show the citrine scepter and the incredible diversity of the yellow agates which are featured in the Rock & Gem article. Some featured images: Slideshow of images included in the Rock & Gem article

Stalk Aggregate from ‘The Carver’

Stalk Aggregate from ‘The Carver’

By /July 29, 2018 /1 comment /Geology

Ugly name that almost no one has heard of! Enjoy the photos and read Report: Stalk Aggregate Agates if your day is so dull that a stalk aggregate agate might add some spice to it. These two different specimens were found on ‘The Carver’ in early 2018.  No other specimens of the stalk aggregate agate have been found to date on the ‘The Carver’.

Interesting Stuff from “The Carver” Texas Agate Field

Interesting Stuff from “The Carver” Texas Agate Field

By /June 23, 2018 /0 comments /Geology

I am finding lots of sagenitic agates and sagenitic material in the nodules, geodes, and vein agates from ‘The Carver’ agate field.  When cut, the sagenitic material appears as radiating needle-like inclusions often resembling a star burst or sun flower.   So what is sagenite?  Technically, it is not a type of rock but an inclusion appearing in a rock specimen.  Sagenitic agate is a radiating needle-like structure encased in a quartz or chalcedony nodule, geode, or vein agate. Please see the sagenite article and more photos in the complete report.