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Author Topic:   Is This Rock a Dino Egg?
TheLiteralist
Inactive Member


Message 1 of 16 (185118)
02-14-2005 12:34 PM


At Roxrkool's request, I have posted a pic of my Dino Egg (or at least I suspect it of so being).
The red arrow points to where my dad polished a facet on one end (as he was told to carve something out of the rock...the peculiar look of the thing made my dad decide to stop carving however).
The pits and wrinkles visible in the highlight only hint at the texture. Also, it does not appear to be "pits" so much as a uniform texture (they look more like little wrinkles that flattened just a tad). Then there are the larger wrinkles (not too many of them) that criss cross the thing.
The rock actually belongs to an uncle of mine.
--TheLit
This message has been edited by TheLiteralist, 02-14-2005 12:45 AM

Replies to this message:
 Message 2 by jar, posted 02-14-2005 12:41 PM TheLiteralist has replied
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jar
Member (Idle past 384 days)
Posts: 34026
From: Texas!!
Joined: 04-20-2004


Message 2 of 16 (185125)
02-14-2005 12:41 PM
Reply to: Message 1 by TheLiteralist
02-14-2005 12:34 PM


Can you post a picture of the polished section?

Aslan is not a Tame Lion

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TheLiteralist
Inactive Member


Message 3 of 16 (185128)
02-14-2005 12:47 PM
Reply to: Message 2 by jar
02-14-2005 12:41 PM


I can try, but the camera is not too good...it'll take me about 15 minutes.

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TheLiteralist
Inactive Member


Message 4 of 16 (185132)
02-14-2005 12:54 PM
Reply to: Message 3 by TheLiteralist
02-14-2005 12:47 PM


What is kinda weird is the little wrinkles and pits seem to actually go inside the egg. My camera will not show this in the facet...I had a cheaper camera that could almost act like a microscope...I threw it out when I got my new computer, though.

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TheLiteralist
Inactive Member


Message 5 of 16 (185136)
02-14-2005 1:01 PM
Reply to: Message 2 by jar
02-14-2005 12:41 PM


The Facet--not too good

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jar
Member (Idle past 384 days)
Posts: 34026
From: Texas!!
Joined: 04-20-2004


Message 6 of 16 (185137)
02-14-2005 1:04 PM
Reply to: Message 5 by TheLiteralist
02-14-2005 1:01 PM


Re: The Facet--not too good
Very interesting. It does not polish up like one of the quartz. It definitely looks like some aggregate in the picture. Let one of the geologists chime in on this one.

Aslan is not a Tame Lion

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TheLiteralist
Inactive Member


Message 7 of 16 (185138)
02-14-2005 1:06 PM
Reply to: Message 5 by TheLiteralist
02-14-2005 1:01 PM


Re: The Facet--not too good
If it is important to anything, I might consider buying another one of those cheap videocams that sticks to your monitor (they are able to focus at extremely small distances, believe it or not...or the one I had could, anyway).
I think the facet simply didn't go as deep as some of the pits and wrinkles were in the area polished. (no longer "weird")

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NosyNed
Member
Posts: 8996
From: Canada
Joined: 04-04-2003


Message 8 of 16 (185147)
02-14-2005 1:34 PM
Reply to: Message 7 by TheLiteralist
02-14-2005 1:06 PM


A wild ass unqualified guess
Just for fun while we wait for a qualified geologist to peek I'm guess river smooothed obsidian.
You might want to see how hard it is. Try steel and glass on it.

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Quetzal
Member (Idle past 5862 days)
Posts: 3228
Joined: 01-09-2002


Message 9 of 16 (185350)
02-14-2005 10:11 PM
Reply to: Message 8 by NosyNed
02-14-2005 1:34 PM


Re: A wild ass unqualified guess
In another WAUG from "It looks like a rock" Quetzal the Non-Specialist: could it be some type of basalt? Both the egg shape and the polished facet look sort basalt-ish.

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roxrkool
Member (Idle past 979 days)
Posts: 1497
From: Nevada
Joined: 03-23-2003


Message 10 of 16 (185409)
02-15-2005 12:11 AM
Reply to: Message 1 by TheLiteralist
02-14-2005 12:34 PM


Hmmm... that's a very interesting rock, TL, thanks for posting it.
My first guess, without knowing anything about it and only seeing the picture, would be that it's a silicified and possible brecciated shale, later rounded through fluvial processes. Although texture-wise, it has the mottled appearance resembling quartzite. Never seen a black quartzite, though.
Other things that come to mind, though I've never actually seen them, are an obsidian cobble (though glass would tend to shatter rather than abrade or break off in small pieces), or a basaltic (as Quetzal suggested) or pahoehoe cobble (see other examples below the picture).
It doesn't really look like an egg to me. Shape is okay, but the color is not quite right.
Some questions:
1. Where was the rock collected?
2. Minute veins or veinlets present?
3. Pure black or other [faint] colors present?
4. Can you scratch it with your fingernail? With a knife? Or does the knife leave a metallic streak on it?
5. Can you see any sparkly or metallic minerals? Mineral facets?
This message has been edited by roxrkool, 02-15-2005 00:16 AM

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TheLiteralist
Inactive Member


Message 11 of 16 (185435)
02-15-2005 4:04 AM
Reply to: Message 10 by roxrkool
02-15-2005 12:11 AM


Hardness Test / Colors
Hardness Test: Stainless steel leaves marks on the facet that can be wiped off...no scratches. (It is likely quartz, I would assume then)
Colors: Mostly black, seems to have a slight (very faint) grey/brownish grey here and there.
There is also a rich brown on the surface (in 3 fairly well defined areas), but it can be scraped off (I suspect a rust stain). Some of the little pits have small white flecks, but I can scrape those off, too (cleanser residue?)
Collection Location: I believe that the rock was found in Northwest Florida, where my uncle lives (which, duh!, would have ruled out obsidian from the very beginning, Northwest Florida having so few volcanos). I want to say it was found near a creek or river, but am not certain about that. My uncle lives in some little town probably about 200 to 300 miles east of the western-most side of Florida--maybe 100 or so miles south of the Alabama/Florida line. He is not likely to have found it outside of a 200 mile radius of where he lives (doesn't travel much).
Veins or veinlets: If you mean of included minerals, not that I can see. Just the surface pits and wrinkles.
Sparkly or metalic minerals or facets: No.
If you would like to see a better view of the texture, I could get another one of those cheap webcam cameras (the last one I had could focus at distances less than an inch, which provided neat details if sufficient light was provided).
This message has been edited by TheLiteralist, 02-15-2005 04:36 AM

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Dr Jack
Member
Posts: 3514
From: Immigrant in the land of Deutsch
Joined: 07-14-2003
Member Rating: 8.2


Message 12 of 16 (185438)
02-15-2005 4:30 AM
Reply to: Message 1 by TheLiteralist
02-14-2005 12:34 PM


I don't know what it actually is, but it doesn't look like a dino egg to me. The dinosaur eggs I've seen have all been very flattened, and partially fragmented with obvious cracks and brakes in the surface, and the egg surface itself is always very thin (has to be, otherwise the embryo inside the egg would suffocate) so I wouldn't expect it to polish up in the way shown.

This message is a reply to:
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TheLiteralist
Inactive Member


Message 13 of 16 (185440)
02-15-2005 4:47 AM
Reply to: Message 10 by roxrkool
02-15-2005 12:11 AM


Cobble?
What is a cobble?

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TheLiteralist
Inactive Member


Message 14 of 16 (185441)
02-15-2005 4:52 AM
Reply to: Message 12 by Dr Jack
02-15-2005 4:30 AM


Probably not an egg.
Mr. Jack,
I fear I am also beginning to suspect it is not an egg. It was much funner to think it was, though. (Rats!)
I was thinking of something like a mold injection I guess (which is why I was thinking obsidian, too...but obsidian is out for several reasons, not the least of which is the lack of descent volcanos in Northwest Florida).
Oh well...
This message has been edited by TheLiteralist, 02-15-2005 04:52 AM

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JonF
Member (Idle past 158 days)
Posts: 6174
Joined: 06-23-2003


Message 15 of 16 (185489)
02-15-2005 9:44 AM
Reply to: Message 13 by TheLiteralist
02-15-2005 4:47 AM


Re: Cobble?
cobble1 (kŏb'əl)
n.
1. A cobblestone. (that is, a rounded small stone used for paving - JonF)
2. Geology. A rock fragment between 64 and 256 millimeters in diameter, especially one that has been naturally rounded.
3. Coal in rounded lumps of various sizes. Also called cobbles cob coal.

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