What is this?

[SkySgt]

Found these in the Big Bend area of West Texas. Not metallic. Hard like baked clay. What are these things?

 

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[kcm]

Petrified wood.

 

[SkySgt]

What kind of petrified wood?

 

[SkySgt]

I have tons of petrified wood, but none of it looks like this! I was thinking petrified coral or sponge. One opinion I've received claims it's clay. Another opinion says it's Aragonite.

 

[Tuberale]

I was going to say coral too. But I have never found any, so my opinion only.

 

[EricTheCat]

How large are they? Could it be some kind of petrified plant? The texture looks a lot like plant or wood material to me but you're right the bottom one and the one on the top right don't look like any petrified wood I have found. I can't rule out coral. Interesting finds.

 

[austin]

Aragonite is like calcite and is crrystalline throughout, Travel down 1604 and around, Blanco to Huebner, there is aragonite in the road cuts. I think it's petrified wood, maybe palm, that has been mineralized on top by later deposition. By the way, stopping on 1604 is legal, but dangerous.

 

[Brian T. Booth]

Caliche.