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Going through my bucket of unknowns and no better way to describe this. Found in creek with mix of Cretateous and alluvial deposits. Originally thought it was wood, not so sure now, I've never seen these spots before that look like they're floating. So tiny hard to get clear pics of the white spots that look like a flower opening and some of the spots appear to be holes at the surface. Must be biological in nature I'm thinking but what? It's pretty whatever it is.

I was taught that this is jasper. Ouachita river, central Arkansas. But could this also be like petrified wood jasper? Is there such a thing and am I far from identifying this correctly? Your knowledge is greatly appreciated.unlike other similar jasper I have found, this has a golden sheen. (?)

I’ve been interested in biogenic influences on minerals for a while. I have a large collection of stromatolites/oncolites/microbial mats etc. where algae influenced the minerals. I also have hot spring and cave minerals that were also influenced by biogenic processes. However, a new book, shown below has opened up a whole new class of Biominerals mostly influenced by nano bacteria. A lot of the theories in this book are at the forefront of science and are not yet mainstream or even accepted in some cases. However, I thought it was definitely worth a few posts here on TFF. Marco Campos-Venuti 2022 Biominerals microbial life in Agates and other Minerals (526 pages): I’ll start with some biogenic influence examples in agate. The below figure is from the book. Note although the figure talks about agate, a lot of the examples are really in jasper and not agate. Campos-Venuti goes into detail about the processes that lead to these geometries but I don’t want to get too wonky for this post. Below are a few specimens from my collection which demonstrate each of the five geometries of bacteria colonies from the figure. My friend who told me about this book warned me that if I bought the book, I would most likely be buying a lot more, different specimens. He was definitely right. 1. Laminated (truthfully I find this the hardest of the geometries to really distinguish in a piece) I have a number of pieces of Lavic Siding Jasper. Pictures of one are shown below (Note I still have to sand and polish this piece.) You can see a brecciated laminated structure. : Lavic Siding Jasper slab, Mojave Desert, California (186 grams 5.75x4x.25 inches) 2. Dendritic (Dendrites are really easy to see in minerals, although not all dendrites are from biogenic influences) I have lots of dendritic examples in minerals. A lot of dendrites are not biogenically influenced but the result of crystallization. So to be sure, I’m using a specific type of material that is from an area that Campos-Venuti specially uses as an example in his book. Sonora Dendritic Jasper slab, Mexico (136 grams 4.125x3x.31 inches). 3. Lumpy or reniform Campos-Venuti hasn’t really identified many examples of this geometry. I have two different pieces of King Cobra Jasper from India shown below. King Cobra Jasper Slab India (180 grams 7x3.25 inches 7mm thick): King Cobra Orbicular Jasper Slab, India (208 grams 4.5x4.75 inches x5.7mm): 4. Flame There are a lot of really nice examples of biogenic flame influences. Below are two difference pieces from Mexico. Flame Agate end cut, Mexico (335 grams 4X2X2 inches): Flame Agate Slab, Chihuahua, Mexico (668 grams 5.75x2.25x2.625 inches): 5. Plume There are a lot of really nice examples of biogenic plume influences. Below are two different small pieces from Oregon. NorthRidge Plume Agate Slab, Owyhee Mountains, near Homedale, Eastern Oregon (27 grams 2.25x1.5x.125 inches): NorthRidge Plume Agate Slab, Owyhee Mountains, near Homedale, Eastern Oregon (22 grams 2.25x1.45x.125 inches) I hope this post may have increased both an understanding of biominerals, biogenically influenced minerals, and an interest in them. Marco Sr.

Crinoid calyx or echinoid? Found in gravel with Ordovician-Devonian fossils. About 2cm across at the widest point. Druzy coating over the fossil which seems to be an external mould. In orange jasper. Thanks so much!

I found this piece while walking along a building in Northern Germany...first I thought, "Huh?...this looks out of place"...I thought it was just a weather-worn veiny stone...Then I picked it up, saw the fractures and thought, "Wow!, what a nice piece of Chert or Chalcadony (va. Jasper) what are you doing here?"...The fractures are heavily weather-worn, conchoidial, opaque and with a dull luster... After a while I began thinking that the shape, weathering and banding/striping was a bit unusual (mostly opinion at the time)...I wondered if it might be a fossil...a big Brach maybe? Photos courtesy of the Google ...unlikely After seeing close-ups while cropping the pics to post here, I thought, "Hmmm...I got wood?"... It kinda looks like petrified bark to me now, but its "grainy or veiny" on both sides, which seems strange, to me, for a piece of bark... Probably purely geologic combined with wishful thinking...it happens...although, if it is geology, it would be cool to come across a Genisis Jasper where it should not be Photos courtesy of the Google ...ooops...doin' it again...sry Anyway, either way its a beautiful specimen with an interesting story... Any ideas or opinions?...thoughts will be greatly appreciated...thanks in advance... Have a nice day

Hello everyone! I've been looking at this forum for awhile now. I just joined but have read many topics on here to gain insight into some of my finds. I love agate, Jasper and looking for fossils. I always loved rocks but never knew that the ones I found my eye on and kept would be some beautifully unique gems. Thanks in advance for your help and in retro for the knowledge I've gained from a few of you so far!

Found in Michigan LP. Devonian age probably? Loads of corals and other agatized fossils wash up on that beach. This is the only one I’ve found like this.

Hello! I went to my local beach this evening — Brant Rock in Massachusetts — and did a little rock hounding. I’m very new to the hobby so I was hoping someone could either confirm or deny if the rocks I have here are granite or something else. I did a little bit of reading on the color/mineral variations of granite but I’d like to ask real people. So, if anyone reading this is very savvy with mineralogy is it possible to know which minerals in particular give these rocks their colour? I’d love to have that knowledge for the next time I go to the beach. Also, I’ve read that it’s somewhat common to find red jasper here and another nearby beach, and after two hours combing the beach I think I might’ve found one. Thank you all so much!! p.s. Sorry for the low light. It’s sunset here now and the lights inside the house don’t show the colour very well. If you need brighter pictures I can retake them tomorrow. Thanks again!

Found this in the ‘Golden Gravel’ in our garden. Source unknown as it was here when we moved in and rock ID’d (using an app) as Yellow Jasper. The closest thing I’ve been able to find for the fossil is Hamulina or Toxoceras (last image), but not been able to find any mention of this being found in Jasper. Any ideas?

I've noticed that despite finding loads of petrified wood deep in East Texas (around Jasper, just east of Lake Sam Rayburn), I've never heard of any vertebrate material being uncovered in the area. I specifically spend a lot of time hunting petrified wood on the catahoula formation ( which is Oligocene) when I'm there, and there's definitely no shortage of said petrified wood. If so many trees are fossilized, shouldn't there be fossils of the animals that lived along side them too?

Hello TFF, I purchased this relatively inexpensive specimen at Mineralfest this past fall, and I was wondering if anyone could tell me more about it. The seller informed me it could possibly be from Madagascar, but was transparent in admitting that she couldn't confirm for sure. It was with other pieces of petrified wood that were brown, but I was drawn to this one due to the red hues. I think it's agatized, and it looks "glassy," although there are too many impurities to shine a cell phone light through it. One side is polished, and I put water on the rougher backside to show more of the details in the coloration. When I went to research the process of identifying tree species from petrified wood, I came across high powered microscopes that could identify structures on a cellular level. I don't have access to that sort of technology, but I was wondering if anyone has any guesses as to what the species could be, how old it might be, what it might be made of, or any other information that could be gathered from looking at the specimen. I'm always curious about what the prehistoric "story" could be behind a fossil, or anything related to the unique biology of ancient life. Thank you for your time, and your knowledge is greatly appreciated!

I was bored, went flipping though sites & came across this rock. They think it's Jasper with some Quartz other than that they have no idea what it is. No information as to where it's from, other than a estate sale. The rock is big, What is this rock ?

I keep running across this rock or mineral not sure what it is. Number one has a miniature cavity/geode.

Hello everyone, I found this in Washington State, Pleistocene, near Mason County. Suggestive piece of jasper or fossil bone? And I apologize for not using metric. I couldn't find my other measurer... Your thoughts would be appreciated. Chris

Hi. I am trying to identify the types of rocks that these Spheres are made of. It looks like Jasper, but not sure about the rest. I haven't been able to do a mohs scale because they are polished orbs. Any help would be great. I have more pics to load. Thank you

I have a rock that I cut in half and need info on please. I have asked once before when it was completely raw, without any work done to it. It is Jasper with purple Agate? The pattern on it is puzzling. Thank you for any help

Here are some more photos submitted for your viewing pleasure. The specimens aren't all rocks and minerals, per se, since three of the five are petrified wood. I haven't researched the PW specimens in an attempt to determine the type of original wood. All were found by myself or a running buddy within the past couple of weeks. The area found was in San Juan County in northwestern New Mexico, Upper Cretaceous, Kirtland Formation on B.L.M. land. The second and forth specimens is a type of brecciated agate / jasper mix I call New Mexico Brawn. They were found in the same area but were colored so very differently from each other. The first, third, and fifth specimens are fossilized wood. An interesting thing about the first specimen is that it is uncut and just as I found it, with agate almost as clear as glass. Hope you enjoy looking at these.

Here are several more rocks I cut open today and was pleased at the results. The first three were collected at various locations between Utah and Arizona. 1. The first photo I would call a landscape agate with (use your imagination here) a scene on an alien planet during a crazy lightning storm. On the right side there was an indention in the surface, however, it was filled with perfectly clear agate like a window. 2. The second photo is known as St. John's (Arizona) Flower Agate. 3. The third photo shows some lovely botryoidal and plume agate. 4. The final submission is a Mexican Coconut Thunderegg that really surprised me when I opened it up. There appears to be (use your imagination here, again) the head of a dinosaur coming out of the mist to nibble on a tree. Do you see it?

Here are several stones I cut up this past week to see what was inside. They all came from the Four Corners area of the U. S. I would describe them as follows: 1. about 6 inches wide; an agate and jasper mix. 2. a dark but translucent chalcedony partially filled with horizontal crack and some yellowish/brownish plume agate is visible there; there are small, mostly horizontal oriented flecks visible throughout the stone that appear to be pyrite. 3. a thunder-egg with lots of bluish agate. 4. I call this New Mexico Brawn since it reminds me of a slice of head cheese. brecciated stone with really blue agate and yellowish jasper. 5. looks like a yellow jasper stone with a distant nebula peeking through the cracks. 6. a lovely agate-after-barite stone.

Are these pieces Jasper? If so what kind? The one piece has bandings. It is at least a 6.5 on the mohs scale. A steel tool wont cut into it, but quartz will. I dont know their origin. The first 2 pics are the same piece and the last 3 is one piece. Any help qould be appreciated. Thank you

Amethyst Agate I believe. Not sure if thereis other purple agates.

I am not sure what it is. Maybe Stromatolite? Dense piece. The coloration looks like it with the red.

Hey there peeps. I'm from a continent so active, fragmented and deformed that it makes the most insane politician seem stable. Our terrestrial fossils are few and far between, but we have plenty of marine fossils, including some of the world's largest ammonids. I haven't collected much recently aside from a small monotis sp. from my favorite river, and joined the page so I could "sea" what everyone else has collected, and help where I can. The main body of my collection consists of ancient sea bed and mantle rocks, mashed together to form actinolite-tremolite series minerals. Can't wait to chat to you all and meet some fellow rock hounds. Jasper.