Modern Vespa

And now its broken in 1/2.

Yeah, unavoidable. It was way up on the top of a deep shelf in the back corner when I tore the shelf down. Had no idea it was there.

I'm lucky it didn't land on my head.

In Tennessee, it's a sex stone. Here in NH, we call it a fuckin' rock.

[rimshot]

IME old fart rock hounds don't generally stash "just a rock".

I'm no expert, but...

Could it be volcanic? As in a piece of lava that landed while hot, smushed a bit and hardened? Might explain the trace bits of iron if it came from deep enough.

Yeah, I'm going with lava. Final answer. Probably a souvenir from a trip somewhere.

Sigh...

Hey Jess,

Sorry I didn't see this post sooner.

I am a geologist (petrophysicist) and have looked at your rock.

I believe you have a chunk of petrified tree branch or root. Quartz (SiO2), siderite (iron-rich carbonate), and feldspar appear to have permineralized the wood, keeping that "organic" look.

That rock would look very nice sliced and polished.

Here are a couple of cheesy Web pics of similar mineralogy:

Now that's interesting!

I just might grind and polish the end, then. Might be cool.

And I thought my recent thread in Morse code (diff forum) was over the top.

I thought that was braille. No wonder I couldn't read it.

I think it's shite. Send it to Bitsa for confirmation.

Maybe these guys can help you.
http://www.nhm.org/site/about-our-museums/contact-us (Gem and Mineral Council)

If it is Dino-excrement perhaps the magnetism just means that old dino had a high iron diet... I understand there was lots of spinach back in the day.


Then again, I've been told that I don't know shit.

I would lean towards Sharpy's assessment...

I was a geology major for awhile (a couple decades ago) and one of my instructors at the time (at UNLV) was a world renown expert on Coprolites, so we spent a fair bit of time looking at them. One definitely couldn't tell from the pics you put up (though they ARE good pics!)... I saw a lot of samples that didn't look like shit - but they were! (at least according to him)

The tricky part is that coprolites, fossils, petrified wood and other such things are formed of 'replacement' minerals - there is NONE of the original material left. One could have a coprolite of quartz, magnetite opal or solid gold (unlikely - but fun to think of!). Most would be formed of minerals that 'leech' into the ground where the coprolite was originally deposited as a turd. The original shape is more or less retained as the chemical makeup of surrounding soils acts as a kind of 'mold' as those minerals slowly accumulate in situ.

If you want to do a 'quickie' polish job on the rock - slice through it with a diamond blade on an angle grinder (or tile saw) and hit it with varying grits of stone polishing sand paper on a random-orbit sander and some stone polish to finish it off. It works wonders in a short bit of time if you have the stuff.

Have fun!

Desi B.

Just remember that geologists are the coolest sexiest men alive!

So it is not unobtainuim? Damn, was hoping to see what it looked like in an unrefined state.

Now THAT is the funniest thing I have read on MV in a good while... The timing, oh the timing, so exquisite.

Going to bed now, the laugh was out loud and definitely therapeutic.

Thank you Nightwing!