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Petrified wood burl??


Drawson

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I found it in on a beach in Kenai, Alaska. It weighs 24 lbs and up-close you can see the grain of the wood.

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Many rocks can appear to have a "grain" similar to wood, and not be fossil wood.  Do you have other close up photos?

 

@ynot

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The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true.  -  JJ

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thank you for your response! I do not know much about geology, but i'm trying to figure out what this is, and any help is much appreciated! The best I could come up with is petrified wood. 

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Agreed.

It is close to what a burl would look like. I would expect to be able to identify a bit more connectivity in the grain though. Burl is living wood that still needs to function as such.

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5 hours ago, JohnJ said:

It looks like a metamorphic or igneous rock.  

 

4 hours ago, Rockwood said:

Agreed.

 

51 minutes ago, Pemphix said:

I'm with JohnJ...

All this glossy black stuff isn´t very typical for metamorphic or igneous rocks. However, it reminds me somewhat of obsidian or pitchstone.

 

@Drawson, have you polished this specimen?

You can also make a test: Pry of a small splinter of the glossy, black stuff and hold it into a flame (lighter, candle, gas cocker). What happens? But be careful, please wear goggles.

 

Franz Bernhard

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1 hour ago, FranzBernhard said:

All this glossy black stuff isn´t very typical for metamorphic or igneous rocks. However, it reminds me somewhat of obsidian or pitchstone.

 

Franz Bernhard

Interesting - and wrong -  statement. Especially if it reminds you of obsidian (which is an igneous rock) or pitchstone which is discussed to be devitrificated obsidian....

See here for example:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Igneous_rock

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2 hours ago, Pemphix said:
3 hours ago, FranzBernhard said:

All this glossy black stuff isn´t very typical for metamorphic or igneous rocks. However, it reminds me somewhat of obsidian or pitchstone.

 

Franz Bernhard

Interesting - and wrong -  statement. Especially if it reminds you of obsidian (which is an igneous rock) or pitchstone which is discussed to be devitrificated obsidian....

See here for example:

I don´t understand, sorry! Obsidian is an igneous rock, of course. I think, my statement was confusing and not clear, and sorry for my poor English.

Or did I miss something else? Please explain it to me! Many thanks!
Franz Bernhard

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3 hours ago, FranzBernhard said:

 

I don´t understand, sorry! Obsidian is an igneous rock, of course. I think, my statement was confusing and not clear, and sorry for my poor English.

Or did I miss something else? Please explain it to me! Many thanks!
Franz Bernhard

Your statement " All this glossy black stuff isn´t very typical for metamorphic or igneous rocks" with a link to the statement of JohnJ, Rockwood and me in which we stated that it is likely igneous rock has been understood in the way that you do not think it is igneous rock and even it is not typical for it. 

But in contrary volcanic glasses are common igneous rocks and not unusual.

So yes, maybe just a confusing statement....

Never mind....

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6 minutes ago, Pemphix said:

So yes, maybe just a confusing statement....

Yes, indeed a confusing statement from me! I am so sorry, @Pemphix, @Rockwood, @JohnJ!

So, what do you all think with the new pic from @Drawson? I don´t know what to think now...

Franz Bernhard

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The close up view could pass for wood.

I still think the overall configuration of the layers is too concentric in nature to be wood though. I think the growth layers need to be functional like a normal tree trunk would be, albeit distorted.

In hand it may be easier to make out a workable pattern I suppose.

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17 hours ago, JohnJ said:

It looks like a metamorphic or igneous rock.  

I'm leaning towards igneous. Metamorphic would have broader, smoother striations.

 

 

Mark.

 

Fossil hunting is easy -- they don't run away when you shoot at them!

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17 hours ago, JohnJ said:

 

1 hour ago, Drawson said:

@supertramp you're right, it looks very similar to migmatitic rock!

 

 

@Drawson scroll down into the regional geology of the link I posted above to read about similar examples.  ;)

The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true.  -  JJ

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