Somebody intelligent please help identify!!

[digordie]

Found two of these while digging for artifacts. It is not glass. Will not even melt at 1000°c. It will scratch glass but doesnt test as a diamond. Under a scope you can see vien type lines covering the surface. Cupping pits on surface where pieces have chipped out but no fracture line bubbles or inclusions. Has a pinkish color but crystal clear after firing at hot temperatures. Its is farely light weight. Totally looks like glass but is not. Any ideas out there would be much appreciated. Thanks

 

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[austin]

Looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, walks like a duck? Congratulations, you found a crystal duck. Oh, that's right. you wanted someone "intelligent" to ID your pathetic little quartz crystals...

 

[digordie]

Looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, walks like a duck? Congratulations, you found a crystal duck. Oh, that's right. you wanted someone "intelligent" to ID your pathetic little quartz crystals...

You dont have to be a @$!#==. I really dont know jack about rocks. Im learning. People like you really make this sight suck.

 

[Rockhunter1620]

First off digordie, yer gonna really need to provide a good bit more info. And if you don't know jack about rocks, why on earth would you put uncontrolled fire to a mineral
that you ain't idendtified precisely? How'd you come up with 1000 C.? Where did you find it, what region of the US. I don't want exact cords but did you cut it from 300 million yr. old
bedrock? or is it from a gravel bench composed of glacial alluvium? Did you bother to, at least, try to check it's specific gravity? Do a streak test and hardness? I got roofing nails
in my tool pouch that will scratch glass. Do you even know what temp. quartz melts at?(aprox.4200f./2300c.)for yer information! So you went and wrecked a lovely little specimen
of rose quartz by heatin it up b'fore identifyin it first, now it's justa a piece of crap, might as well throw it out. You don't know jack about rocks, hmm? How would you feel ifn, one day
you found a nice little bit of pharmacosiderite (specimens of this mineral are found in Utah, New Jersey, and AZ), it's a potassium iron arsenate hydrate, in other words, it's full of
arsenic, so I'll just put a little fire to it, heat it up, try an melt it without identifying it first, boy them fumes are strong, next thing you know, yer layin there DEAD! HeHe, better you
than me, no thanx bro, I'll positively I D. my rock specimens first! B'fore anything gets done to em, which usually is nothing more than cut, polished, and displayed, just my Geeez!

RH

 

[digordie]

First off digordie, yer gonna really need to provide a good bit more info. And if you don't know jack about rocks, why on earth would you put uncontrolled fire to a mineral
that you ain't idendtified precisely? How'd you come up with 1000 C.? Where did you find it, what region of the US. I don't want exact cords but did you cut it from 300 million yr. old
bedrock? or is it from a gravel bench composed of glacial alluvium? Did you bother to, at least, try to check it's specific gravity? Do a streak test and hardness? I got roofing nails
in my tool pouch that will scratch glass. Do you even know what temp. quartz melts at?(aprox.4200f./2300c.)for yer information! So you went and wrecked a lovely little specimen
of rose quartz by heatin it up b'fore identifyin it first, now it's justa a piece of crap, might as well throw it out. You don't know jack about rocks, hmm? How would you feel ifn, one day
you found a nice little bit of pharmacosiderite (specimens of this mineral are found in Utah, New Jersey, and AZ), it's a potassium iron arsenate hydrate, in other words, it's full of
arsenic, so I'll just put a little fire to it, heat it up, try an melt it without identifying it first, boy them fumes are strong, next thing you know, yer layin there DEAD! HeHe, better you
than me, no thanx bro, I'll positively I D. my rock specimens first! B'fore anything gets done to em, which usually is nothing more than cut, polished, and displayed, just my Geeez!

RH

Well like I said I dont know much abt rocks but I do know abt glass/porcelain. I make false teeth for a living. I have a furnace that you can adjust temperature on. That's where I got 1000°c. Glass balls up at that temp but this specimen didnt. I tested a small piece that broke off of the main piece. Dont know how to do any of those tests you mentioned which is why I ask for inteligent advice so I can learn what to do. Thanks for telling me the melting point of quartz. That helps alot. I found it in illinois about two feet down in virgin ground without any rocks to speak of. Mostly clay dirt layers. I truely thought it was glass until I did that heat test. There is virtually no quartz in this area that I know of unless geodes crystals are quartz. There are butt loads of geodes hear but ive never seen any geode crytals like this. There is no dimensional crystal form to these rocks ive found at all. So I thought id post them to see if there was an easy answer out there.

 

[ivan salis]

a form of quartz crystal --yes there are quartz geodes

 

[Rockhunter1620]

Sorry digordie fer bein so stern or sirly, but toooo many time folks just post a photo of a rock and say "what is it?", and then
you went on about heatin it up and didn't specify how you did that, anyways. Ok, Illinois., that helps, the last time I looked at a
USGS quaternary map of Ill., and it's been a while, but I believe yer ground in many and most places consists 1000+ ft. glacial
alluvium, like Mi., only small areas have exposed pre-Cambrian bedrock at or near the surface. The clay layers yer digging in
is what they call unstratified fine glacial till as opposed to med. or course unstratified glacial till. Quartz has a specific gravity
of 2.7, and then there's 20+ sub-varieties of quartz besides crystal clear prismatic rock crystal, plus agates and geodes,
all havin a specific gravity of 2.7 makin them very lite and commonly bein found in fine silty glacial till at the surface, and
down 30-50 ft. is considered "at the surface". The vein type lines you described indicates that you may a variety called
rutilated quartz which gets it's name from needles of rutile embedded in it which is basically a secondary mineral impurity.
Can't say fer sure without seein it in person, but from what you described, Ok? Cool, go find some more, clean it up, and
display it, just don't be tryin to melt it.

RH

 

[Sacajewea]

Moldavite

Found two of these while digging for artifacts. It is not glass. Will not even melt at 1000°c. It will scratch glass but doesnt test as a diamond. Under a scope you can see vien type lines covering the surface. Cupping pits on surface where pieces have chipped out but no fracture line bubbles or inclusions. Has a pinkish color but crystal clear after firing at hot temperatures. Its is farely light weight. Totally looks like glass but is not. Any ideas out there would be much appreciated. Thanks

T have a bit larger peice like you and I thought it was Moldavite although Moldavite is Green it is simiilar to it. I was told by a Geologist it wasn't but he never really specified what it is either. I have enclosed a picture of mine and also what I think are carved beads as well as a stone pot handle.

 

[StoneWhisper]

Looking your sample over.. I feel that the edges are to crisp for it to be a "Quartz crystal" but more over it's looks like a regular non discript crystal shard.
Note: See how the edges are broken.. very simular to the edges on Obsidian.. In other words.. Glass Crystal..

 

[digordie]

Sorry digordie fer bein so stern or sirly, but toooo many time folks just post a photo of a rock and say "what is it?", and then
you went on about heatin it up and didn't specify how you did that, anyways. Ok, Illinois., that helps, the last time I looked at a
USGS quaternary map of Ill., and it's been a while, but I believe yer ground in many and most places consists 1000+ ft. glacial
alluvium, like Mi., only small areas have exposed pre-Cambrian bedrock at or near the surface. The clay layers yer digging in
is what they call unstratified fine glacial till as opposed to med. or course unstratified glacial till. Quartz has a specific gravity
of 2.7, and then there's 20+ sub-varieties of quartz besides crystal clear prismatic rock crystal, plus agates and geodes,
all havin a specific gravity of 2.7 makin them very lite and commonly bein found in fine silty glacial till at the surface, and
down 30-50 ft. is considered "at the surface". The vein type lines you described indicates that you may a variety called
rutilated quartz which gets it's name from needles of rutile embedded in it which is basically a secondary mineral impurity.
Can't say fer sure without seein it in person, but from what you described, Ok? Cool, go find some more, clean it up, and
display it, just don't be tryin to melt it.

RH

Thank you for all of your help here is a pic of the other piece I found. Notice the dimppled out portions that popped off of it. The piece that came out of that large dimple is what I fired in the furnace.

 

[digordie]

T have a bit larger peice like you and I thought it was Moldavite although Moldavite is Green it is simiilar to it. I was told by a Geologist it wasn't but he never really specified what it is either. I have enclosed a picture of mine and also what I think are carved beads as well as a stone pot handle.

Yes thanks for your pic. They do look simular.

 

[digordie]

Looking your sample over.. I feel that the edges are to crisp for it to be a "Quartz crystal" but more over it's looks like a regular non discript crystal shard.
Note: See how the edges are broken.. very simular to the edges on Obsidian.. In other words.. Glass Crystal..

Yes you make a great point. Do you know the melting point of glass crystal or obsidian? Is it higher that standard glass?

 

[gordonquixote]

I wanted to reply but I may not be intelligent enough....do we need to provide IQ test results or MENSA membership prior to identifying your material?

 

[ivan salis]

there is smart and then there is "smart azz" -- I do believe it is some type of clear quartz -- I have a 153 IQ so yes I guess I "qualify" as intelligent

he is saying he needs a "more educated / intelligent " person on the subject matter---to assist him in ID ing the item he found , as he lacks the "knowledge"needed to do so himself (he's admitting his "limited knowledge" which many will not do * )-- its not a "insult"to others -- its praise to those who know more than him for assisting him

 

[digordie]

there is smart and then there is "smart azz" -- I do believe it is some type of clear quartz -- I have a 153 IQ so yes I guess I "qualify" as intelligent

he is saying he needs a "more educated / intelligent " person on the subject matter---to assist him in ID ing the item he found , as he lacks the "knowledge"needed to do so himself (he's admitting his "limited knowledge" which many will not do * )-- its not a "insult"to others -- its praise to those who know more than him for assisting him

Amen..kind sir. Thank you for your response.

 

[ivan salis]

your welcome. --hope I helped you out some.

 

[digordie]

your welcome. --hope I helped you out some.

Yes you helped out alot. Quartz seems to be the consensus. Does quartz have silca type flaking properties or pop flaking (for lack of a better term) type properties. Its wierd. It flakes right off a flat surface leaving a rounded deep shiny impression in the surface.

 

[Bajahunter]

digordie
Lets talk about those stirations you see.
Are they parallel or do they criss cross?
Does it scratch a known quartz crystal?
Is it heavier or lighter than a similar sized piece of quartz?
This could be a topaz.

 

[digordie]

digordie
Lets talk about those stirations you see.
Are they parallel or do they criss cross?
Does it scratch a known quartz crystal?
Is it heavier or lighter than a similar sized piece of quartz?
This could be a topaz.

The lines are only indented on the surface crisscrossing like spagetti. Or massive Chinese writing all over. Only visible under a scope. It does scratch quartz lightly, but I dont have a piece of quartz the same size to compare the weight difference. I think the piece of pure quartz crystal I have is harder than this specimen because the quartz will scratch this specimen deeper and easier.

 

[mamabear]

I also think it is quartz crystal. It can grow in odd shapes & this one doeslook broken. Will try tofind some odd shaped ones I have & post them

(sorry 'bout the booboos, I just got home from cataract surgery& am a little loopy, & can't see to well yet.