Can You Id This Rock

TheWoodsman · June 11, 2011

Hi, I was hoping you could help me ID this rock. First, let me say thank you for taking a look at my specimen and I hope you may be able to give some incite as to what kind of rock this is and exactly how old it may be.

Let me start by verifying that I found this rock in southern NJ. The rock is roughly about 3" x 2.5" x 2.5". To catch you up on what I’ve been doing at home to try and identify this rock are the following (keep in mind that I am not a professional)...

-It is NOT magnetic

-It does NOT fizz when contacted with 5% acid white vinegar

- When scratched with knife blade it flecks off tiny red-orange specs (same color as rock itself) but leaves no deep groove, if anything… a very little scratch

-When scratched against a glass jar it DID scratch the glass

-Under a UV light it DID show up a weird yellow- green color

-When I did a streak test on ceramic, the streak it made was a red/brown color (same color as the rock)

-One other test I did was trying to calculate the specific gravity of the rock. I weighed the rock in grams, got 223g. Then I added 1656.12 cubic centimeters of water in a pitcher. After removing the rock, I got 118g added to get back to the fill line. After I divided the mass (223g) by the water volume (118.29g) and got 1.85 so if I did it right the specific gravity of the rock is 1.85.

-Another trait to mention would be it appears to have crystallization inside or at least along the grooves which can be seen in some of the pictures. The crystals are an orange-ish color. Also I can’t help but not overlook the unique shape of the rock. It has been through a lot in its life with all of the grooves on it going in different directions and its red color is quite noticeable too.

THANKS. I hope this helps... If there is any other tests you’d like tried to help you out without seeing the rock in person please don't hesitate to ask. PS I did tests that would not harm the rock, because at the end of the day it is my favorite rock.

Finally if you can recommend a place where my rock can be seen in person (but not harmed) by a professional in the south jersey area please let me know, thanks.

I set up a Photobucket page of the rock, here...

http://s935.photobucket.com/albums/ad200/TheeWoodsman/

I've added a video (not best quality) Have a look anyway here. Tried to get 360 look and attempted at the end to show the UV yellow-green color.

http://s935.photobucket.com/albums/ad200/TheeWoodsman/?action=view&current=010.mp4

Here is a link to a forum website the rock is on… still no answers

http://forums.about.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?tsn=1&nav=messages&webtag=ab-geology&tid=1461

Turtle · June 11, 2011

Hi, I was hoping you could help me ID this rock. First, let me say thank you for taking a look at my specimen and I hope you may be able to give some incite as to what kind of rock this is and exactly how old it may be.
Finally if you can recommend a place where my rock can be seen in person (but not harmed) by a professional in the south jersey area please let me know, thanks.
I set up a Photobucket page of the rock, here...
http://s935.photobucket.com/albums/ad200/TheeWoodsman/
I've added a video (not best quality) Have a look anyway here. Tried to get 360 look and attempted at the end to show the UV yellow-green color.
http://s935.photobucket.com/albums/ad200/TheeWoodsman/?action=view&current=010.mp4
Here is a link to a forum website the rock is on… still no answers
http://forums.about.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?tsn=1&nav=messages&webtag=ab-geology&tid=1461

Hi. :wave2: we'll give it a whirl. the shape is interesting as i first thought that it resembles some meteorites, but it's not a meteorite, it's a meteor-wrong. :lol: then i thought fossil, but i can't convince myself of it. were it bone or wood or shell we would expect to see rings or a hollow on at least one surface. next then is a mineral growth, i.e. metamorphosed rock. i saw someone mentioned agate at the other page, and i was thinking jasper because of the red. those are some rather regular-shaped crystals and inter-grown, so it may have come from inside a geode. :reallyconfused: . if you can see a good cross-section of a crystal 'spike' this geometry can be an identifying feature. anyway, both agate and jasper are part of a wider group called 'chalcedony' if i recall.

:read: The Mineral Chalcedony

as to having it looked at, find a local community college or university with a geology department & drop by with it. you might phone ahead so the professor can let you know when she is free.

finally, i couldn't resist a little pareidolia-c poke at at the specimen. :jab: clearly as you can see by the attached clip from your vid (nicely done by-the-by :thumbs_up) it is a fossilized alien's skull or a fetish made on mars to match that face & brought here by martians. :omg: i outlined the features in the right image in case it's not clear. :painting: