Pretty sure its Obsidian but...what is the other "thing" in it?

[DocBeav]

Was shown this today by a local. It was found in the Middle East in the southern Arabian peninsula. Looks like Obsidian to me but there is a small, round "nodule" in the center of one end. You can see depressions where others were and it looks like it has rust on it so I was guessing iron/manganese but wan't sure as I don't really know that much about rocks. Didn't have a magnet with me to see if it was ferrous. Any thoughts?


Pictures didn't really show the "shine" of it but it is shiny and glass-like.

 

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[mamabear]

hmm that is an interesting piece. I've found lots of obsidian, but never with an intrusion. I hope someone can give you an answer.

 

[DocBeav]

me too! If it's worth anything maybe I'll give him a few bucks for it! I just think it looks cool....

 

[Indian Steve]

Looks like slag glass to me.

 

[DocBeav]

What do you thing the little "ball"/"Nodule" thing is?

 

[LinkHylian]

Possibly an embedded stone that was "tumbled" by water over time to make it smooth/round?

 

[Gold Maven]

Looks like the slag glass I have picked up around the huge historical furnaces in Pa.

 

[DocBeav]

This was supposedly found inside of a rock. The owner said he had to break it all off to get to the piece you see here. It really looks like volcanic glass, and the area/country it was found in does have known areas where it is quite common. Just hadn't seen it with the balls in it before. The one side that is not broken you can see where it may have twisted and been pressed against the side of the rock that it was inside. The area it was found in is in the middle of nowhere.

 

[rock]

Sorry it is Slag. The round thing might be a bubble that has dried. You can tell a piece of slag by the tiny holes all along the surface. Most slag is black but it can come in many different colors.

 

[Rattlehead]

I would agree with slag...

 

[Jon Stewart]

The round ball looks like a concreation.

 

[nomad1]

The round ball is probably and iron inclusion. I have seen this in slag from the steel mills that were in my home town of Youngstown, Ohio.