Rock Finds

Another Oddball Retrieved from The Carver

Another Oddball Retrieved from The Carver

While there are similarities to the two previous oddballs shown in an earlier posting, this little beauty has red, orange and gold needles radiating from the rind toward the tiny geode center. These needle-like structures are often referred to as ‘rutilated quartz’.   What is cool about these ‘needles’ are the color and the symmetrical  nature  of the ‘needles’ surrounding the tiny geode. This is why rock hunting on The Carver is a constant thrill–always something new and interesting geologically!     previous oddballs

Balmorhea Blue from The Carver

Balmorhea Blue from The Carver

This ‘deep pit’ blue agate from The Carver is reminiscent of the famous ‘Balmorhea Blue’ agate named for Balmorhea, Texas. Balmorhea is a west Texas town located approximately 60 miles north of Alpine, Texas, where The Carver is located.  Interestingly, Balmorhea, in addition to being famous for its blue agate, is also known as the ‘Venice of Texas’. Located in a near desert environment, a huge spring pours out of the ground and feeds a large swimming pool (which is a part of a state park), Balmorhea Lake, and provides water for canals (which run through the center of town). Balmorhea Blue agate is extremely rare as supplies of it have long ago been almost exhausted.  The ‘Carver blue’ agate appears in many of the ‘deep pit’ nodules/agates, some of which have weighed more than 15 pounds.  This is yet another odd but diverse part of The Carver agate field. […]

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Oops! More Beautiful Rock Specimens!

Oops! More Beautiful Rock Specimens!

Fifteen more beautiful rock specimen pics have been added to the Banded Blue and Gray Agate Nodules and Geodes Gallery and the Deep Pit Smoky Quartz Geodes Gallery. The photos shown here are the newest find–just this week. Shown is a beautiful deep blue banded agate geode with multi-colored sagenitic inclusions. The sagenitic inclusions are minerals which crystallized in the pocket (created by a gas bubble in lava) while silica was simultaneously forming the blue bands. This was a relatively large geode, more complex and beautiful than many of the ‘deep pit’ geodes shown in the Deep Pit Galleries. The pit is now mostly explored except for what rain and wind will uncover for me to discover in future explorations. Cattle are also a major factor in making new finds! Go cows!!!  

Odd-ball Geodes from the Carver Agate Field

Odd-ball Geodes from the Carver Agate Field

This green geode is notable because green is a fairly rare color for nodules and geodes found in West Texas. The salmon/orange-colored geode below has an unusual rind surrounding the crystal-filled hollow center of the stone. While these finds are not ‘spectacular,’ they are geologically interesting to serious rock collectors and discovering them would make any collector’s day!

West Texas Baconite from the Carver Agate Field

West Texas Baconite from the Carver Agate Field

This pink and white banded agate looks like a bacon slice and so that is the name I gave it. The upper edge of the ‘baconite’ contains petite quartz crystals–technically euhedral quartz crystals–that formed in the center of a geode of which this is a part. The outer rind of the geode is seen at the bottom edge of the ‘baconite’ specimen.  

Brecciated Jasp/Agate from The Carver Agate Field

Brecciated Jasp/Agate from The Carver Agate Field

The Carver has produced red and yellow jaspers, sometimes mixed with green.   Yellow and red are seen in this photo.  After the jasper had initially formed, volcanic forces cracked/fractured the jasper into angular shards. Eventually a silica solution in either a liquid or semi-liquid state filled the fractured shards and then hardened, cementing the jasper back together.  These shards that are cemented back together are called brecciated.  Since some of the silica filling in the areas between the shards took on a banding (see particularly the upper left corner of the stone), we see a fortification agate which has formed within the brecciated jasper. For this reason, this specimen can be described as jasp/agate (part jasper, part agate) which is brecciated.

Designer Free Form Gem Stones from 'The Carver' Agate Field now for sale at Texas Amethyst Agate Shop

Designer Free Form Gem Stones from ‘The Carver’ Agate Field now for sale at Texas Amethyst Agate Shop

This is the Carver agate field jasper “Grotto.” This jasper has beautiful coloration and pattern and more. It has a totally unique and unexpected crystal-filled grotto which is shown enlarged in the photo above. Be sure to visit the Shop to see the designer gem stones now available for sale!

5 NEW Diversity Galleries for 2019

5 NEW Diversity Galleries for 2019

Wow! Three months collecting rocks on ‘The Carver’ in the fall of 2018 and January 2019 has yielded amazingly varied and beautiful geodes, agates, and jaspers. I have selected 108 specimens that I believe show the extraordinary variability of color, banding, and sagenitic inclusions (those neat weird shape things you can see hidden in each rock specimen). There are 5 galleries in this set 2019 Diversity Gallery #1 2019 Diversity Gallery #2 2019 Diversity Gallery #3 2019 Diversity Gallery #4 2019 Diversity Gallery #5 If you have questions or comments about any specimen, I would like to hear from you. ‘The Carver’ agate field is all about geological diversity.  I hope you enjoy viewing these new galleries.  

A Deep Pocket

A Deep Pocket

A deep excavation on The Carver has produced a small pocket/area filled with amethyst and smoky quartz crystal-filled geodes and blue agate nodules. Some unique mineral specimens were also uncovered. This deep pocket was approximately 10 to 15 feet down in the excavation and involved a productive area approximately 30 by 50 feet in size. This pocket, thus far, is a unique and never before seen geological formation on The Carver agate field. Fall 2018 produced an unexpected treasure trove of rock specimens. The photos speak for themselves, so click here to see examples in the Gallery.  

Small Pocket Yields Amethyst and Smoky Quartz Geodes and More

Small Pocket Yields Amethyst and Smoky Quartz Geodes and More

A small but rich pocket, recently uncovered on ‘the Carver’, is yielding an amazing number of geodes and nodules. The nodules contain banded blue and gray agates and many contain amethyst and smoky quartz crystals found within geodes (hollows) within the nodules. One large geode has a spectacular void with a sparkly druzey cavity. This pocket, which is still being explored, has yielded hundreds of nodules and geodes, some as small as a finger nail, some exceeding 17 pounds in weight. On one particular hunting foray, the pocket yielded blue, gray, and white banded agate nodules of the following weights: 17.6 pounds, two at 13 pounds each, 8.2 pounds, two at 3.4 pounds each, and 2.7 pounds. On another rocking foray, an astounding quantity of medium-sized nodules was recovered. I am in the process of cutting and polishing many of these nodules, although with the number involved the task will […]

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