Large rock found in woods, meteorite? Coral?

Bev

Sr. Member
Mar 2, 2012
299
174
New England
Detector(s) used
Garrett At Pro
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Large rock found in woods, meteorite? Coral? SOLVED

Here is a large rock I found in the woods in Rhode Island. It weighes 15 pounds exactly and feels like a coral consistancy. I have a few pics to show actual size. I also scratched it with a white porcelain tile that someone gave me to test for meteorites and it did not leave a mark on the tile.
I hope that is enough information for you all.
Thank you

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Just to show what phosphate nodules look like around here.......again yours is basalt but they do look alike in some ways.Main difference is phosphate is darker & normally not very heavy for it's size.Here is a little piece i've got here in the house I found (pic.with my hand) the others come from the mine.
 

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Well, if you let yourself, you'll learn something new every day! I'll print up some stuff from your links and donate it to my son's school - Thank you so much guys!
 

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Try dumping some of that Coke on the rock and see what happens.

If it fizzes, it's CaCO2, and then it's a limestone.
 

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Actually, it looks kind of 'limey' to me also. I've seen limestone that has been heavily eroded through ground seepage that looks like that. Have seen many pieces around the Texas hill country, in streams and rivers much like it. If you can find some muriatic acid you can test it with that. If it bubbles, it has a high lime content. You can get muriatic from plumbing supply stores and pool supply outlets.

capt-zero
 

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- tested and no more fizz than you'd normally expect!

Lime would make sense around here though. Dont think I'd fool with acid!
 

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Actually, it looks kind of 'limey' to me also. I've seen limestone that has been heavily eroded through ground seepage that looks like that. Have seen many pieces around the Texas hill country, in streams and rivers much like it. If you can find some muriatic acid you can test it with that. If it bubbles, it has a high lime content. You can get muriatic from plumbing supply stores and pool supply outlets.

capt-zero
I use acid alot & can't see how that would make a difference.:icon_scratch:I mean it will fizz on most rocks & minerial metals as well.And seems how I hunt rivers all the time (salt water) one of the main things I use it for is to clean shells off mainly bottles.Shells being made of calcium & calcium is found in & on rocks as well.It will bubble pretty good as it eat it away.I mean acid is going to react to most stuff.It's use in gem stones to eat away the matrix from the stone(gem) itself.Which is another item I use acid for to clean most gem stones.As it will not affect most of them.
 

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- tested and no more fizz than you'd normally expect!

Lime would make sense around here though. Dont think I'd fool with acid!

Apple cider vinegar (acetic acid) is acidic, pH 4.25 to 5.00. Distilled vinegar 5% to 8% is about 2.4.
 

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Muriatic acid (a dilute form of HCl) is used by geologists to test for lime content in stone.
 

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Did your detector find it? If so what did it read?

Now I know a little more about acid- not so scary anymore.

I did not find it with the detector it was near a foundation of an old barn that fell in on itself. Someone had gone there with their detector a while back throughout the property and I know you guys hate when you say a place was picked clean, but this place from the early 1800's did not produce anything after hours of hunting except for one very modern quarter so you know that guy did really well. There were more "surface finds" near the old barn foundation than anywhere else but even then, nothing to write about.
 

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I see a lot of that at my favourite sea fishing spot, and have a couple of pieces at home. Was told it is silt-stone that has gone hard while colonised by sea worms and other similar critters. Looks like your piece also has some remains of past tenants in it. Left in the garden it soon becomes a home for all kinds of small spiders and insects. Looks cool though. Nuggy
 

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Hello Bev. I don't think it is coral which should look like this:

B 112011 Coral Pc 1.jpg

Found it in a 1880's farm field in central FL. I think the old timers crushed coral up to make to make concrete for the casing of their hand dug well.

Thanks for posting and hope you can find some un-dug digs.

C9
 

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That's prettier than mine! No, I dont think coral either. Most likely limestone because of the area I'm in.
 

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Take a magnet, it it sticks, it is possibly a meteorite, If it does not its not. Looks like coral to me having grown up in florida. I now find lots of it that looks like what you have here in tennessee in a creek that has washed down to where the old sea bed was during the dinosaur days.
 

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