Heres the stones i found on my second diggin trip, these came from el paso county. im pretty sure that a couple are jasper or petrified wood but as im still ignorant to most of this stuff i figured id ask some more seasoned people.
thanks for lookin!


Below is one i believed to be jasper

heres what i believed to be petrified wood

at first i thought quarts but the texture is smooth almost like a hardened resin

pretty sure this is just a peachy colored quartz but it sure is pretty in the light!

more suspected jasper? no real idea though haha

more of the quartz looking stone with a texture of hardened resin. this one was one of my favorite finds of the day. its such a vibrant yellow/gold in the light

another possible jasper shard?

not sure at all on this one, the texture is very rough yet smooth at the same time, kinda like gypsum almost but it feels very solid. striped, grain lookin pattern that runs lengthwise down the whole stone

more of the resin like rock

one of the cooler pieces of that resin like rock found that day

feels like some type of sandstone (this is also last picture)

So... this, I think, becomes less about giving you fish, and instead giving you the pole and some bait. ;)

First, specific gravity will help a lot here, especially on the more gem-like stuff that is free of matrix. I highly encourage you to look at this link... it teaches a basic, fast method: http://www.johnbetts-fineminerals.com/jhbn...fic_gravity.htm

http://www.gemselect.com/gem-info/specific-gravity.php has a great list of the specific gravity of many gem stones, as well as clues to the composition and expected structure for each gem.

Note, you wont find petrified wood on there, as how the wood gets crystallized tends to throw S.G. off as a good tool mark. A good way to tell petrified wood from other things is to use a decent lens with 10X or better magnification, and look to see if you can identify structure that is fibrous and vesseled, as you would normally expect from wood. In fact, doing so, with a practiced eye, can even help you narrow down the kind of tree it originally was from. Earth Journal has a pretty slick link for helping with this: http://www.evolvingearth.org/learnearthsci...trifiedwood.htm

Finally, you know the scratch test. That in combination with specific gravity should help you out a long ways without having to break out torches and black lights ... with a few exceptions. Everything you need to know about Mohs Hardness: http://geology.com/minerals/mohs-hardness-scale.shtml

Can't do more than this... online ID's are for the experts, of which I am not by a long shot. The rest of us just resort to science until we get smart.

Jason, you sound like a Nutter.


LoL, waiting for you to post...

That guy.

But no, his info and test(s) is spot on, he might not be a "nutter," but that's the best he's gunna be called by me.

Cept his last line... I'd resort to a pair (reading, you know who you is) of club members, rather than "just resort to science until we get smart."

thanks for the links! sorry for posting so many stones. im someone that sucks at learning unless its showed in person so no matter how much i read the stickies it was greek to me. ill have to pay attention when my friend tests some of his stones this weekend

guess ill have to invest in some good magnifying tools!

Wow. I really wish this had "like," like FB. "thanks for the links! sorry for posting so many stones. im someone that sucks at learning unless its showed in person so no matter how much i read the stickies it was greek to me. ill have to pay attention when my friend tests some of his stones this weekend "

So true to me, it's scary. Even more scary I see myself typing all this like I did last year... wow, how a year/great, fantastical club, can change all that.

Don't mean to boast... or do I...

Colin

Aka, That guy over there

Aka, TGOT (lifes to short for long names, shorten that sh!t)

Or Aka, "New" Rock Hounder... If I wasn't so damn lazy I'd change it.

Hello Earthling!

Here is my guesses for your rocks:
Jasper=Yes
Petrified Wood=Yes
Hard resin= Chalcedony/Agate (Quartz)
Peach Quartz= Yes
Suspect Jasper=Feldspar(Microcline)
Yellow Quartz= Chalcedony/Agate
Jasper shard=yes
Gypsum=Quartz?
= Jasper
More resin 1&2= Chalcedony/Agate
Last rock= Bornite? (copper ore)

Hope that helps. The other tests mentioned and a good mineral ID book can help a bunch identifying minerals at home or in the field.

If it helps any, the brothers (MikeS. And DaveS) are my go-to guys for mineral id's. The specific gravity test will help narrow things down greatly!

You guys are great. Im so excited that i stumbled upon such a great community.
Gonna try SG testing for the first time tomorrow ill report if i botch it or not ;)

Well I did say online ID's were for the experts. Mike S and Dave S easily take the prize there! Their guesses are gonna trump anything I'd come up with.

I really hope you do post results, it would be fun to see if Mike nailed them all.

NEVER be sorry about posting pic's! Glad you did.

Didn't wanna start a new post, this post will work fine.

Mike or Dave S. - I know it's kinda hard to tell from the pic, but it's soooo jet black, (least on top, bottom is clear) is it part of a smokey or my first tourmaline?

Click to view attachment

Obsidian?

Doubtful. Found in Devils Head area.

From the pic I have to go with a dark smokey. Black tourmaline is opaque usually. Your find looks to have some translucency.

NewRockHounder : I agree with Mike that it is a smokey quartz base fragment.

Welcome Earthling!:

I agree with my brother on most of your pics. The suspected Gypsum looks like to me is "massive" quartz. Possibly sand that became rock by "metamorphism".

One quick test is a scratch test. A stainless steel knife should leave a scratch/gash on Gypsum(hardness 2) or Marble(calcite-hardness 3).

But Quartz will grind up the blade, or sharpen it.(blade hardness approx. 5)(quartz hardness 7)

Black Tourmaline in Quartz from Larimer County.
Click to view attachment