Tampa Bay Agatized Chert, Not Coral

[minnbuckeye]

Last year, I stumbled upon this specimen which I think qualifies as agatized Tampa Bay coral found in the vicinity of Clearwater while wading in the water. If I remember, this is the Hawthorn Formation. I just recieved it back from polishing the end. I see nothing that would say coral. I am assuming the coral dissolved away and is now replaced by silica. Is this correct? If those with knowledge could also explain the whitish rind to this specimen. Also, would it be better to slice this in half longitudinally to display more.

 

 

 

 

[Balance]

@Sacha looks like he found a piece of your caramel! Maybe root beer is a better color way for this. 

 

With the pieces I’ve played with solid blocks seem to be completely filled in versions of the ones that are still a bit hollow. If you do the proper slow roller polish you get incredible results. I wasted a bunch of polishing belts and rouges to do these because I couldn’t wait. Next time I’ll do the Sacha’s way. Hopefully he post the results when fully completed 
 

Jp

 

 

 

[Sacha]

@minnbuckeye Mike, with any of my coral pieces, whether solid or hollow, the outer surface always looks like coral. Generally the agate interior doesn't clearly reflect the corals structure, although you may see a faint shadow on some pieces. I can't explain the white exterior, although almost all the chert I find has a similar coating, which I expect is just a weathered surface.

 

I think your piece may just be a version of the various cherts we find in the piece without the river staining. It also looks allot like Savannah  River agate. If you're going to cut it, I generally slice them to see the largest surface that can be polished.

[minnbuckeye]

1 hour ago, Sacha said:

It also looks allot like Savannah  River agate

 

@Sacha, Thank you!  So are you saying that this is likely just chert and not coral?

[Sacha]

40 minutes ago, minnbuckeye said:

 

@Sacha, Thank you!  So are you saying that this is likely just chert and not coral?

 

That is my guess, but some of our cherts are very nice and worthy of more attention.

[Balance]

@Sacha thanks!  
 

So these solid, white layer pieces are chert. I think you told me that last year but I forgot. 
 

I’ve learned to look for the inner chert peeking out. Left specimen has a little blue coming through. That lets me know inside is gonna have a chance at being cool. 

 

Thanks! 
 

Jp
 

 

 

[Sacha]

2 minutes ago, Balance said:

’ve learned to look for the inner chert peeking out.

 

The surface layer can be pretty thick so it's best to chip off a corner to open a "window" into the interior or you could wind up with a long tumble session and a diminishing piece of limestone. Weight is a good determiner as well. Cherts are pretty dense and heavy.