I Found a Rock (UPDATE: 07/07/2011 I FOUND ANOTHER ROCK)

[romeo-1]

I put the detector away today and did some rock hounding. It's pale yellow and where it is broken is as clear as glass. I don't think that it is quartz because it's crystal clear all through. I think that if it was polished you could see clear through it. Any ideas?

 

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[IronSpike]

Re: I Found a Rock

Not to rule out crystal quartz as suggested by TheCannonballGuy:

As a loooong-time rockhound, I'm fairly certain it is a quartz "river pebble." Its exterior has been rounded-off and "clouded" by abrasion from grinding agaainst other rocks in the river, over a period of thousands of years.

Your rock's broken area shows what Geologists call "conchoidal" fracture. Very few minerals exhibit conchoidal fracture, and almost all are quartz-based (SiO2, a.k.a. Silicon Dioxide). In addition to quartz and human-made glass, some other examples of conchoidal-fracture minerals are Obsidian (volcanic glass), and Chert varieties such as flint and jasper.

That would make it one huge crystal quartz tip

 

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[romeo-1]

Re: I Found a Rock

The geology department was closed on Friday so I'll have to wait until next week for the answer. I can say that there was some excitement in the department when I brought the rock in...stay tuned!

 

[CRUSADER]

Re: I Found a Rock

The geology department was closed on Friday so I'll have to wait until next week for the answer. I can say that there was some excitement in the department when I brought the rock in...stay tuned!

I guess you get the answer soon. This was my family Geologist view based on the photo:

'Always difficult to tell from photos and with little sound description...e.g. hardness, specific gravity (weight), lustre, inclusions, etc...
BUT the almost transparency and the 'not quite quartz' make me suspect manmade GLASS. This fits the transparency, conchoidal fracture...and it's the same hardness (and composition) as quartz. Can't altogether rule out a clear, yellow-stained variety of quartz - some carnelian quartz are more yellowish than reddish and tranluscent.'

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Re: I Found a Rock

A thought came to me which I did not think of when writing my prior post (way up near the beginning of this discussion-thread). Most "slag" glass has at least a few small air-bubbles in it. So I enlarged your photos, and can see a couple of spots which might be bubbles. I say might because when seeing only photographs you cannot tell for sure whether the spots are on the object's exterior, or are internal. Romeo-1, you're handling the object in real-life, so please look closely and tell us if you see any tiny round bubbles within it.

Part of the reason for my thinking it is quartz is that glass doesn't usually develop a "clouded" surface without experiencing a lot of "grinding" abrasive erosional contact with quartz sand-grains, such as from being beaten around for years along a swift-flowing river, or in beach-surf. Thus, "erosional clouding" of the outer surface could have happened to a chunk of slag-glass. But the absence or presence of some tiny air-bubbles will probably tell the tale about it being quartz or glass. Quartz very-very rarely has air-bubbles trapped within it. Please do let us know if you see any there.

I'm very intersted to hea what the university's Geology department profs have to say about it.

 

[romeo-1]

Re: I Found a Rock

Thanks for the feedback all! I wish I could provide a better description but I am not a geologist or even a rockhound...I'm just a guy who found a rock. I can say that there are no air bubbles...what you are seeing in the pictures are on the surface. I'll have an answer on Tuesday and will be sure to post it immediately.

 

[randazzo1]

Re: I Found a Rock

It is definitely a brown diamond.

I vote Quartz pebble as well. As mentioned before, the clarity, conchoidal fractures and prismatic effect all say Quartz. What part of the country did you find it in? They are not uncommon here in the northeast but are even more common in other areas. That's a fairly large one though. I usually find nickle sized one's in the streams in our area - which take a very nice polish.

Statistics also favor quartz - in one form or another it makes up a huge percentage of the earth's crust.

 

[Southie E.J.]

Re: I Found a Rock

When I was a kid I use to break rocks open and Ive found some with sharp points inside being hollow(I think it was quarts), Ive found beautifull colors and some even looked like marble or glass with ring designs. I guess those types of rocks can be common, Later in life Ive seen the same rocks in thrift shops at museams. I dont think its that rare or valuable but Ive always been fasinated with how rocks can look cool inside like that.

 

[romeo-1]

Re: I Found a Rock

Sorry for the delay, i took the past two days off for detecting. I'll know today.

 

[Michaelangelo]

Re: I Found a Rock

Could it be amber?

 

[diggummup]

Re: I Found a Rock

Now that I know that i'm not looking at air bubbles, I think it's probably quartz, though i'm hoping for a large and worn citrine.

 

[timekiller]

Re: I Found a Rock

I'm gonna have to say Quartz. But can and have seen glass look alot like it.But with out going thru piles & piles of rocks & glass here are some off the top of the pile.Never seen topaz look like that most of the time it is smooth all over cause it's harder then most other things it comes in contact with being a hardness of 8 which is harder then quartz got some but I'd hadda go diggin again.
Pics. Below are Quartz & molten Glass.
Take Care,
Pete,

 

[romeo-1]

Re: I Found a Rock

Ok...are you ready for this...

The geologist is under the opinion that it is glass. I am not a geologist but I do not agree with that assessment. I am meeting with him tomorrow to discuss it a little further as he did tell me that it is an intriguing piece but did not go into detail about what makes it intriguing.

I do know this:

- there are no air bubbles within this piece and melted glass will usually have bubbles.
- with the exception of the surface the piece is crystal clear.
- the geologist did not do any tests and only made a determination based on visual observation only.
- the geologist thought at first that it may be a tectite but after consulting with an authority on tectites he ruled that out but then did no further tests.
- sometimes geologists are wrong.

I'll be doing some more digging a more research but I am not quite ready to hit this with a "Green Check". Maybe after speaking with the geologist tomorrow he will convince me but for now the research continues...

Let me conclude by stating I am not pig headed or deluded by what I may or may not have, I'm just not yet convinced.
-

 

[timekiller]

Re: I Found a Rock

Still quartz.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicon_dioxide
Take Care,
Pete,

 

[CRUSADER]

Re: I Found a Rock

Ok...are you ready for this...

The geologist is under the opinion that it is glass. I am not a geologist but I do not agree with that assessment. I am meeting with him tomorrow to discuss it a little further as he did tell me that it is an intriguing piece but did not go into detail about what makes it intriguing.

I do know this:

- there are no air bubbles within this piece and melted glass will usually have bubbles.
- with the exception of the surface the piece is crystal clear.
- the geologist did not do any tests and only made a determination based on visual observation only.
- the geologist thought at first that it may be a tectite but after consulting with an authority on tectites he ruled that out but then did no further tests.
- sometimes geologists are wrong.

I'll be doing some more digging a more research but I am not quite ready to hit this with a "Green Check". Maybe after speaking with the geologist tomorrow he will convince me but for now the research continues...

Let me conclude by stating I am not pig headed or deluded by what I may or may not have, I'm just not yet convinced.
-

You were right to say Geologists as it been more than 1. The people you showed it to & my Uncle who saw the picture So it looks more probable than not that its glass.

 

[romeo-1]

Re: I Found a Rock

Ok...I just met with the geologist and I am convinced now that it is glass. I'll hit this with a green checkmark but there is still a mystery. He says it's an intriguing piece due to the lack of carbon in the glass. Carbon would be distributed throughout the glass if it had been burned in a regular fire. He also said that melted glass usually just isn't that thick as it tends to pool upon melting. He believes that it has to be industrial but that just adds to the mystery. There are no industrial glass works in the area where it was found with the closest being over 250km away and on the opposite coast. He is also under the impression that it is quite old as evidenced by the abrading from the elements.

Case solved...but not really.

 

[IronSpike]

Re: I Found a Rock

Could it be naturally formed glass from a lightning strike or other major heat source?

 

[diggummup]

Re: I Found a Rock

Ok...I just met with the geologist and I am convinced now that it is glass. I'll hit this with a green checkmark but there is still a mystery. He says it's an intriguing piece due to the lack of carbon in the glass. Carbon would be distributed throughout the glass if it had been burned in a regular fire. He also said that melted glass usually just isn't that thick as it tends to pool upon melting. He believes that it has to be industrial but that just adds to the mystery. There are no industrial glass works in the area where it was found with the closest being over 250km away and on the opposite coast. He is also under the impression that it is quite old as evidenced by the abrading from the elements.

Case solved...but not really.

What kind of tests did he do?

 

[romeo-1]

Re: I Found a Rock

Ok...I just met with the geologist and I am convinced now that it is glass. I'll hit this with a green checkmark but there is still a mystery. He says it's an intriguing piece due to the lack of carbon in the glass. Carbon would be distributed throughout the glass if it had been burned in a regular fire. He also said that melted glass usually just isn't that thick as it tends to pool upon melting. He believes that it has to be industrial but that just adds to the mystery. There are no industrial glass works in the area where it was found with the closest being over 250km away and on the opposite coast. He is also under the impression that it is quite old as evidenced by the abrading from the elements.

Case solved...but not really.

What kind of tests did he do?

Tests were not intrusive...basically looked at it under magnification...

 

[Eu_citzen]

Re: I Found a Rock

Like some said, its hard to tell from a picture.

At first look I'd also think quartz.

Do you have a identified piece of quartz? Try scratching this unknown piece. Glass is softer then quartz.

 

[Rick (Nova Scotia)]

Re: I Found a Rock

I'd stick to your original opinion, that it is a rock. I'm not pig headed either, but have common sense, something they don't teach at university.

It's a shame that having such a resource at your disposal didn't help a bit, as you really got no definitive answer, just an opinion.

There are lots of different rocks on this planet, and when one doesn't quite fit the book description, or color hue, it's quite typical for transparent or translucent specimens to get dismissed as glass. I found a cool one myself, a quartz variation ?(jury still out), transparent green, still attached to host rock, and I was still told by many it is glass. I took it to a jewler, Reids Kentville a jewler there is also a rock hound, he didn't know exactly what it was but confirmed "rock".

Mine was not glass, and neither is yours, and I'm willing to bet.