What Is This?

[MicknLisa]

Good morning all,

we have recently found this in a local river and are very curious as to what it could be.. we initially thought that it was petrifies wood or a cross section of a pine cone.. but we are newbies and don't really have a clue.. we have had a really good look online and still have no clue. if anyone has any suggestions we would love to know your thoughts.. its approximately 2 inchs x 1 inch.. I have taken a pic from both sides. so you can see the resin/sap/amber running all the way through.. any knews is good knews.. please help..

[MicknLisa]

This is the 2nd image..

[Auspex]

To me, it looks a bit more like a concretion than petrified wood. Quite a pretty piece, in any case

[Harry Pristis]

Any turpentining in your area in the past? I have read that one of the traces of such activity may be resin balls or resin bubbles. There was quite a lot of turpentining in my area of North Florida, and here's one of the traces:

[Guest GemstoneAndFossil]

harry what is turpentining ? This piece instantly reminds me of jurrasic park , amber and mosquitos . perhaps at one time this branch was fully living and creating delicious sap from the natural sugars in its sweet huge succulent trunk to its probably exotic or very primitive leaves or cones or who knows I would say from my amateur eye This is definitely a small piece of branch with amber resin fossilised within it , I don't know what petrified means , does that just means it turned to stone ? I guess if the stone replaced the wood and amber would also be preserved or replaced with perhaps a silica I have nooooooooooooo idea but I just like to think about it nice find! maybe theres more around there

[Harry Pristis]

Terpentining: Making turpentine by distilling pine tree sap for its volatiles.

[MicknLisa]

I don't think there was any turpenting in this area..i don't see the resembelance between the pictures that I posted and the resin ball/bubble that u posted.. im new to this, so I will take any suggestions.. thanx heaps

[ynot]

I agree with Auspex, it looks like a concretion. The area that You are calling "Amber" is probably a calcite or agate that filled in a cracked area caused from shrinking of the concretion. True amber is not actually a fossil but a very old and solidified tree sap.

Tony

Edited September 26, 2015 by ynot

[abyssunder]

For me looks like a septarian geode. https://www.google.com/search?q=geode&biw=1360&bih=612&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAmoVChMI6dul2LGTyAIVyb8UCh1Ffged&gws_rd=cr&ei=0HMGVpO6J4q0UcaCiNgM#tbm=isch&q=septarian+geode&imgrc=_

[Guest GemstoneAndFossil]

Looks like the branch cracked from some weight disturbance , the bottom right and left you can see the cracks and where the resin escaped , you can also see a ring going around the inner of the outer layer before rock and 3 more till the resin stuff. https://www.google.ca/search?q=inside+of+a+tree&biw=1778&bih=838&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAWoVChMIjq6Er72VyAIVDguSCh02EAhR&dpr=0.9#tbm=isch&q=inside+of+a+tree+diagram&imgrc=g2iQeoU2Dd6a-M%3A
for reference. where did you find it ? was it part of a age where maybe a dino could've broken it off into some mud deposit , im surprised that amber wouldn't get replaced with another mineral but im new ! lol

[Auspex]

Be cautious about just going on "looks like", as the familiar can cloud the analysis. Test the hypothesis by asking how it could have gotten to this exact state through known natural processes.

[ynot]

, im surprised that amber wouldn't get replaced with another mineral but im new ! lol

If amber were replaced with another mineral then it would not be amber anymore!

I have never heard of this type of replacement, but it may be because nobody can identify it once the change has occurred.

Tony

[Guest GemstoneAndFossil]

Well that makes two more people in the field of amber replacement, look for old fossil trees and instead of amber there should be maybe silica , quartz , who knows ? would it turn to crystals over time ? I don't know either , im sorry for taking everyone off topic , I like this piece and I have really no scientific knowledge on this field , Im just learning as I go and I hope nobody takes what I say to personally because I couldn't even tell you what this was if I tried , I just like throwing ideas out there.

[abyssunder]

I also like this beatiful piece of nature!

Based only on the physical (visual) evidence presented in the pictures above, I think, the characteristic features of a septarian are present, supplying other details from who's I think have much knowledge than me, is useful (I'm not intrigued in metaphysical healing of septarians,although I think is possible. I'd never checked). http://www.madagascarminerals.com/metaphysic_of_septarian_physi.cfm
"Septarian concretions or septarian nodules, are concretions containing angular cavities or cracks, which are called "septaria". The word comes from the Latin word septum; "partition", and refers to the cracks/separations in this kind of rock. There is an incorrect explanation that it comes from the Latin word for "seven", septem, referring to the number of cracks that commonly occur. Cracks are highly variable in shape and volume, as well as the degree of shrinkage they indicate. Although it has commonly been assumed that concretions grew incrementally from the inside outwards, the fact that radially oriented cracks taper towards the margins of septarian concretions is taken as evidence that in these cases the periphery was stiffer while the inside was softer, presumably due to a gradient in the amount of cement precipitated.
The process that created the septaria, which characterize septarian concretions, remains a mystery. A number of mechanisms, i.e. the dehydration of clay-rich, gel-rich, or organic-rich cores; shrinkage of the concretion's center; expansion of gases produced by the decay of organic matter; brittle fracturing or shrinkage of the concretion interior by either earthquakes or compaction; and others, have been proposed for the formation of septaria (Pratt 2001). At this time, it is uncertain, which, if any, of these and other proposed mechanisms is responsible for the formation of septaria in septarian concretions (McBride et al. 2003). Septaria usually contain crystals precipitated from circulating solutions, usually of calcite. Siderite or pyrite coatings are also occasionally observed on the wall of the cavities present in the septaria, giving rise respectively to a panoply of bright reddish and golden colors. Some septaria may also contain small calcite stalagtites and well-shaped millimetric pyrite single crystals.
Spectacular examples of septarian concretions, which are as much as 3 meters (9 ft) in diameter, are the Moeraki Boulders. These concretions are found eroding out of Paleocene mudstone of the Moeraki Formation exposed along the coast near Moeraki, South Island, New Zealand. They are composed of calcite-cemented mud with septarian veins of calcite and rare late-stage quartz and ferrous dolomite (Boles et al. 1985, Thyne and Boles 1989). Very similar concretions, which are as much as 3 meter (9 ft) in diameter and called "Koutu Boulders", litter the beach between Koutu and Kauwhare points along the south shore of the Hokianga Harbour of Hokianga, North Island, New Zealand. The much smaller septarian concretions found in the Kimmeridge Clay exposed in cliffs along the Wessex Coast of England are more typical examples of septarian concretions (Scotchman 1991).

Over the eons, calcite leeched down into the cracks and formed calcite crystals which grew to fill the cracks, the interface between the calcite and the bentonite clay transformed into aragonite which is the dark brown crystal layer. The bentonite mud was eventually replaced with limestone which completed the transformation of the entire nodule to stone. This is truly a magificent piece of artwork from Mother Nature.

There is an important distinction to draw between concretions and nodules. Concretions are formed from mineral precipitation around some kind of nucleus while a nodule is a replacement body.


Physical properties of Septarian:

Septarian is a geode that is a combination of yellow calcite, brown aragonite, grey limestone and white/clear barite, thus it has properties of each of its component minerals.
Color: Yellow, brown, white, clear "

Edited September 26, 2015 by abyssunder

[Guest GemstoneAndFossil]

Too back you up , amber fossils will usually have air bubbles somewhere along them , I do not see any in your picture. you can also heat a pin with a lighter and poke it and if it melts you have amber if it doesn't you have mineral/crystals

[ynot]

. you can also heat a pin with a lighter and poke it and if it melts you have amber if it doesn't you have mineral/crystals

This statement is not correct!!!!!

If You get melting through this method You have tree sap (fake amber) or plastic.

Tony

[Plax]

as auspex points out looks can be deceiving. To me for instance, from my experience, it looks like weathered amber. Amber will of course be much lighter than any of the other speculations. If it feels much lighter than a rock from the same area of comparable size it may be amber. If more modern resin you can rub it on your jeans until hot to the touch and give it a sniff. If it smells of pine it's more recent resin. All this being said I have to agree with abyssunder given the evidence we have.

[Ptychodus04]

I'm in the septarian camp. It looks like some kind of concretion that has been infilled with calcite.

This statement is not correct!!!!!

If You get melting through this method You have tree sap (fake amber) or plastic.

Tony

Tony is correct. Amber is completely polymerized tree resin. Copal on the other hand will burn, melt, etc. as it is not completely polymerized.