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Posted: 3/12/2009 11:18:55 PM EDT
I found this thing 4 or 5 years ago, been luggin it around cause I thought it might be a meteor. I put a magnet to it and it didn't stick so I thought, dud. Then I did some more research and found that stony meteorites sometimes aren't very magnetic. It measures approx 6 inches high by approx 6 inches wide in a pyrimid shape so I calculated the mass at approx 108 inches 3.

It weighs 31.8 pounds which is 3 or so times heavier than granite, it has the same weight as iron I think but wouldn't a magnet stick to it if it were iron?

You can see in the "file window" it looks metalic. The Streak/Scratch test for those of you that know what that is comes up gray/dark gray which indicates Magnetite yet, again, a magnet won't stick.

ETA: More accuarate measurements show a volume of 132 cubic inches  at 31.8 lbs.giving a specific gravity of approx 6.63




Link Posted: 3/12/2009 11:23:53 PM EDT
[#1]
Take it to a local college/university to have a sample tested.

ETA: It kind of resembles iron ore. What kind of magnet did you use for your test?
Link Posted: 3/12/2009 11:25:37 PM EDT
[#2]
what made you pick up this rock? I mean, to me thats just another rock I see all the time, and I dont exactly carry a magnet around testing rocks all the time


are you somewhat of a rock collector? that would be pretty damn awesome to have  a meteorite !!!
Link Posted: 3/12/2009 11:26:09 PM EDT
[#3]
Link Posted: 3/12/2009 11:28:15 PM EDT
[#4]
Quoted:
Take it to a local college/university to have a sample tested.

ETA: It kind of resembles iron ore. What kind of magnet did you use for your test?




BINGO!
Link Posted: 3/13/2009 8:32:34 AM EDT
[#5]
Bump for day crew.
Link Posted: 3/13/2009 8:35:49 AM EDT
[#6]
Rosie O'Donnell's kidney stone

Link Posted: 3/13/2009 8:44:01 AM EDT
[#7]
can you scratch it with a penny? Fingernail? Does it scratch glass?
Link Posted: 3/13/2009 8:45:07 AM EDT
[#8]
Hmm....















You has a rock!
Link Posted: 3/13/2009 8:46:53 AM EDT
[#9]
Cummingtonite

no really...it's real
Link Posted: 3/13/2009 8:47:45 AM EDT
[#10]
does this remind anyone of the "boeing bomb" scene from Joe Dirt?  

scence in question
Link Posted: 3/13/2009 8:50:51 AM EDT
[#11]
I suppose if you REALLY had to know what it is you can send me a private message and we can talk.

In the lab where I work we have X-ray diffraction. I could tell you what it is in about 15 min. We run powder diffraction so you wont get whatever sample you send back. I would need about 10 grams of sample.
Link Posted: 3/13/2009 8:57:19 AM EDT
[#12]
Looks like peacock ore to me.

ETA link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bornite
Link Posted: 3/13/2009 8:57:53 AM EDT
[#13]
Here's something I found more than ten years ago.  I've seen scrap iron from a smelter, usually mixed with slag, but I've never seen any that looks like this.  Also, slag iron is usually strongly magnetic, but this stuff is only very weakly attracted to a strong neodumium magnet.









Link Posted: 3/13/2009 8:58:17 AM EDT
[#14]
Fuck you!

A Rock!
Link Posted: 3/13/2009 9:04:34 AM EDT
[#15]
Looks like a chunk of skarn, massive sufide or ?.
It might not have any magnetite in it, depends upon the amount of oxygen in the fluid when it was altered. The gray streak indicates it's probably a suflide of some sort.
My guess is it's chunk of ore that has a lot of lead in it, based upon your stated density. I can't tell from the pick if those reddish-rootbeer colored crystals are garnets or sphalerite. You'll often find a lot of zinc when you find a lot of lead in a sample like this. Might be some silver in it as well.
If you have several million tons of it, you might have yourself a mine!
Link Posted: 3/13/2009 9:12:09 AM EDT
[#16]
Quoted:
does this remind anyone of the "boeing bomb" scene from Joe Dirt?  

scence in question



Exactly what I was thinking...

Link Posted: 3/13/2009 9:42:31 AM EDT
[#17]
Quoted:
Quoted:
does this remind anyone of the "boeing bomb" scene from Joe Dirt?  

scence in question



Exactly what I was thinking...

http://images.allmoviephoto.com/2001_Joe_Dirt/david_spade_joe_dirt_004.jpg


Naw...Doesn't taste anything like that...

Link Posted: 3/13/2009 9:54:52 AM EDT
[#18]
Quoted:
Fuck you!

A Rock!


LOL
Link Posted: 3/13/2009 10:33:03 AM EDT
[#19]
After a grueling investigation of the pictures I must conclude that you are in the possession of a ROCK. A large one at that. and it's classified as a destructive device.
Link Posted: 3/13/2009 10:36:29 AM EDT
[#20]
Quoted:
After a grueling investigation of the pictures I must conclude that you are in the possession of a ROCK. A large one at that. and it's classified as a destructive device.


Not just a rock, but an impressive sample of Leeverite.  Personally I would Leeverite where you found it.

That or it is a coprolite.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coprolite

Link Posted: 3/13/2009 11:16:50 AM EDT
[#21]
Quoted:
Quoted:
After a grueling investigation of the pictures I must conclude that you are in the possession of a ROCK. A large one at that. and it's classified as a destructive device.


Not just a rock, but an impressive sample of Leeverite.  Personally I would Leeverite where you found it.

That or it is a coprolite.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coprolite



This is more than twice the specific gravity of the heavier rocks such as granite. If you don't understand what that means, move along to a thread about WalMart with MS paint and blading at 45 or something.

Link Posted: 3/13/2009 11:24:45 AM EDT
[#22]
To me, it appears to be Volcanic in origin but I may be wrong.

Basalt?
Link Posted: 3/13/2009 11:35:48 AM EDT
[#23]
Quoted:
To me, it appears to be Volcanic in origin but I may be wrong.

Basalt?


Yep, I gonna rest my case on the following:

Basalt

Basalt is an extrusive igneous rock. Extrusive (volcanic) igneous rocks form when molten rock, which has erupted from the Earth's interior through a volcano or crack in the Earth, cools rapidly at the surface. The rapid cooling does not typically allow mineral crystals to grow large enough to be seen by the unaided eye, so texture is typically fine grained.

Basalt is dark-gray to almost black. It is very hard and fine grained. The common minerals in basalt are plagioclase (feldspar), pyroxene, and olivine. Some of these minerals may occur as phenocrysts (large grains).

Much of basalt in Texas is exposed in eroded volcanoes. A string of basaltic volcanoes were active in the Late Cretaceous in Central and South Texas, around 80 to 100 million years ago, and much younger basalts occur at several locations in the Trans-Pecos. Basalt is used as roadbed material for railroad tracks in many places in Texas and is commonly called trap rock.

The basalt sample in the Texas Rock Kit was collected in Uvalde County and is Cretaceous in age. In Texas, no volcanoes are considered to be currently active.

Link Posted: 3/13/2009 11:46:35 AM EDT
[#24]
Quoted:
Quoted:
To me, it appears to be Volcanic in origin but I may be wrong.

Basalt?


Yep, I gonna rest my case on the following:

Basalt

Basalt is an extrusive igneous rock. Extrusive (volcanic) igneous rocks form when molten rock, which has erupted from the Earth's interior through a volcano or crack in the Earth, cools rapidly at the surface. The rapid cooling does not typically allow mineral crystals to grow large enough to be seen by the unaided eye, so texture is typically fine grained.

Basalt is dark-gray to almost black. It is very hard and fine grained. The common minerals in basalt are plagioclase (feldspar), pyroxene, and olivine. Some of these minerals may occur as phenocrysts (large grains).

Much of basalt in Texas is exposed in eroded volcanoes. A string of basaltic volcanoes were active in the Late Cretaceous in Central and South Texas, around 80 to 100 million years ago, and much younger basalts occur at several locations in the Trans-Pecos. Basalt is used as roadbed material for railroad tracks in many places in Texas and is commonly called trap rock.

The basalt sample in the Texas Rock Kit was collected in Uvalde County and is Cretaceous in age. In Texas, no volcanoes are considered to be currently active.



Basalt is usually very solid and black black black.
Link Posted: 3/13/2009 11:47:36 AM EDT
[#25]
Quoted:
Quoted:
To me, it appears to be Volcanic in origin but I may be wrong.

Basalt?


Yep, I gonna rest my case on the following:

Basalt

Basalt is an extrusive igneous rock. Extrusive (volcanic) igneous rocks form when molten rock, which has erupted from the Earth's interior through a volcano or crack in the Earth, cools rapidly at the surface. The rapid cooling does not typically allow mineral crystals to grow large enough to be seen by the unaided eye, so texture is typically fine grained.

Basalt is dark-gray to almost black. It is very hard and fine grained. The common minerals in basalt are plagioclase (feldspar), pyroxene, and olivine. Some of these minerals may occur as phenocrysts (large grains).

Much of basalt in Texas is exposed in eroded volcanoes. A string of basaltic volcanoes were active in the Late Cretaceous in Central and South Texas, around 80 to 100 million years ago, and much younger basalts occur at several locations in the Trans-Pecos. Basalt is used as roadbed material for railroad tracks in many places in Texas and is commonly called trap rock.

The basalt sample in the Texas Rock Kit was collected in Uvalde County and is Cretaceous in age. In Texas, no volcanoes are considered to be currently active.



Your case fails, solid Basalt has a specific gravity of 3.01 –– My sample has a SG of approx 6.63

SG chart

Link Posted: 3/13/2009 11:51:08 AM EDT
[#26]
OP - did you ever watch "From the Earth to the Moon" about the Apollo mission? A rock's story really depends on where the heck you found it.

I wouldn't think it is a meteor. I am not sure what it is. Good luck with it. Id take it to the local university.
Link Posted: 3/13/2009 11:56:30 AM EDT
[#27]
I knew a piece of my home planet made it in the explosion
Ill be coming for that one buddy
Link Posted: 3/13/2009 12:04:03 PM EDT
[#28]
wrong shape to be a meteor
Link Posted: 3/13/2009 12:13:52 PM EDT
[#29]
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
To me, it appears to be Volcanic in origin but I may be wrong.

Basalt?


Yep, I gonna rest my case on the following:

Basalt

Basalt is an extrusive igneous rock. Extrusive (volcanic) igneous rocks form when molten rock, which has erupted from the Earth's interior through a volcano or crack in the Earth, cools rapidly at the surface. The rapid cooling does not typically allow mineral crystals to grow large enough to be seen by the unaided eye, so texture is typically fine grained.

Basalt is dark-gray to almost black. It is very hard and fine grained. The common minerals in basalt are plagioclase (feldspar), pyroxene, and olivine. Some of these minerals may occur as phenocrysts (large grains).

Much of basalt in Texas is exposed in eroded volcanoes. A string of basaltic volcanoes were active in the Late Cretaceous in Central and South Texas, around 80 to 100 million years ago, and much younger basalts occur at several locations in the Trans-Pecos. Basalt is used as roadbed material for railroad tracks in many places in Texas and is commonly called trap rock.

The basalt sample in the Texas Rock Kit was collected in Uvalde County and is Cretaceous in age. In Texas, no volcanoes are considered to be currently active.



Your case fails, solid Basalt has a specific gravity of 3.01 –– My sample has a SG of approx 6.63

SG chart



Chromite

How you like me now?!!
Link Posted: 3/13/2009 12:18:21 PM EDT
[#30]
Quoted:
wrong shape to be a meteor


Are these the wrong shape?





Link Posted: 3/13/2009 12:18:40 PM EDT
[#31]
Could be nickeline as well, it's a little harder & denser than borite aka peacock ore. I've got a similar chunk of the stuff. If you chip off a chunk , you should see it get a rainbow sheen after a few days or so oxidizing.
Link Posted: 3/13/2009 1:13:32 PM EDT
[#32]
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
To me, it appears to be Volcanic in origin but I may be wrong.

Basalt?


Yep, I gonna rest my case on the following:

Basalt

Basalt is an extrusive igneous rock. Extrusive (volcanic) igneous rocks form when molten rock, which has erupted from the Earth's interior through a volcano or crack in the Earth, cools rapidly at the surface. The rapid cooling does not typically allow mineral crystals to grow large enough to be seen by the unaided eye, so texture is typically fine grained.

Basalt is dark-gray to almost black. It is very hard and fine grained. The common minerals in basalt are plagioclase (feldspar), pyroxene, and olivine. Some of these minerals may occur as phenocrysts (large grains).

Much of basalt in Texas is exposed in eroded volcanoes. A string of basaltic volcanoes were active in the Late Cretaceous in Central and South Texas, around 80 to 100 million years ago, and much younger basalts occur at several locations in the Trans-Pecos. Basalt is used as roadbed material for railroad tracks in many places in Texas and is commonly called trap rock.

The basalt sample in the Texas Rock Kit was collected in Uvalde County and is Cretaceous in age. In Texas, no volcanoes are considered to be currently active.



Your case fails, solid Basalt has a specific gravity of 3.01 –– My sample has a SG of approx 6.63

SG chart



Chromite

How you like me now?!!


Chromite (4.5-4.8 SpG Streak/Scratch test =dark brown) = Chromium (40+%)is slightly magnetic and Iron (25%)is very magnetic. My sample is 6.63 SpG not magnetic at all and Streak is gray/dark gray.

Next
Link Posted: 3/13/2009 1:29:11 PM EDT
[#33]
Well, that is interesting.  I saw some lab samples from a test run on a crusher here in Oklahoma on some material out of Canada once that looks marginally similar.  The lab sample I saw had more of a metallic sheen to it though.  The material was ruining the grinding teeth of the mining equipment.  I didn't recall the specific gravity of that material either.

Since I designed asphlat pavement mix designs at the time, I dealt mostly with limestone (SG 2.65), granite(SG 2.67), rhyolite (SG 2.67)and occasionally basalt and mine chat.  Around here all sand sources are SG 2.63.  Somebody in Canada wanted to build a road out of that material and sent it all the way down here to see if the quarry crushers could handle it.
Link Posted: 3/13/2009 1:50:46 PM EDT
[#34]
From the way you described it and the way it looks, it might be Chlorargyrite, a mineral of chlorine and silver.  I have found a bunch of the stuff on my dad's land in Coke County, Texas.  It is very heavy, dark grayish colored with some brown and purple in it, and has a distinct metallic ring when two pieces are banged together.  It is typically found in the vicinity of low temperature hydrothermic veins.





Crush up a small piece into a powder and dissolve in aqueous ammonia, then attach two wires to a 9 volt battery and dip into the solution.  One wire should bubble, after a little while pull the wires out and if there is a blue sludge on the wire that didn't bubble, gently wipe some off and if there is a silver sheen on the copper wire you know it is Chlorargyrite.



Edit: I just looked up the specific gravity for Chlorargyrite, 5.55.



 
Link Posted: 3/13/2009 1:52:07 PM EDT
[#35]
yep, it's a rock
Link Posted: 3/13/2009 1:56:38 PM EDT
[#36]
Link Posted: 3/13/2009 1:58:41 PM EDT
[#37]
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
After a grueling investigation of the pictures I must conclude that you are in the possession of a ROCK. A large one at that. and it's classified as a destructive device.


Not just a rock, but an impressive sample of Leeverite.  Personally I would Leeverite where you found it.

That or it is a coprolite.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coprolite



This is more than twice the specific gravity of the heavier rocks such as granite. If you don't understand what that means, move along to a thread about WalMart with MS paint and blading at 45 or something.



Who put stardust in your mangina?
Link Posted: 3/13/2009 2:04:27 PM EDT
[#38]
Quoted:
Quoted:
After a grueling investigation of the pictures I must conclude that you are in the possession of a ROCK. A large one at that. and it's classified as a destructive device.


Not just a rock, but an impressive sample of Leeverite.  Personally I would Leeverite where you found it.

That or it is a coprolite.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coprolite



holy shit?!?! a coprolite?    What poor creature would have passed that bad boy....



on a side note in the texas a&m anthropology lab they have a collection of coprolite.  One they have has a deer vertebrae in it... they call it the screamer
Link Posted: 3/13/2009 2:05:43 PM EDT
[#39]




Hamish: Test of manhood.

William Wallace: You win.

Hamish: Call it a test of soldiery then. The English won't let us train with weapons, so we train with stones.



Link Posted: 3/13/2009 3:19:55 PM EDT
[#40]
I asked the smartest guy I know, and who knows quite a lot about meteors. I asked if he thought it was one, he replied:

"Could be, cant tell for sure. Doesn’t have the typical characteristics.  Knock off a flake and send it to me and I can check for nickel.  tk"
Link Posted: 3/13/2009 3:52:10 PM EDT
[#41]
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
To me, it appears to be Volcanic in origin but I may be wrong.

Basalt?


Yep, I gonna rest my case on the following:

Basalt

Basalt is an extrusive igneous rock. Extrusive (volcanic) igneous rocks form when molten rock, which has erupted from the Earth's interior through a volcano or crack in the Earth, cools rapidly at the surface. The rapid cooling does not typically allow mineral crystals to grow large enough to be seen by the unaided eye, so texture is typically fine grained.

Basalt is dark-gray to almost black. It is very hard and fine grained. The common minerals in basalt are plagioclase (feldspar), pyroxene, and olivine. Some of these minerals may occur as phenocrysts (large grains).

Much of basalt in Texas is exposed in eroded volcanoes. A string of basaltic volcanoes were active in the Late Cretaceous in Central and South Texas, around 80 to 100 million years ago, and much younger basalts occur at several locations in the Trans-Pecos. Basalt is used as roadbed material for railroad tracks in many places in Texas and is commonly called trap rock.

The basalt sample in the Texas Rock Kit was collected in Uvalde County and is Cretaceous in age. In Texas, no volcanoes are considered to be currently active.



Your case fails, solid Basalt has a specific gravity of 3.01 –– My sample has a SG of approx 6.63

SG chart



Chromite

How you like me now?!!


Chromite (4.5-4.8 SpG Streak/Scratch test =dark brown) = Chromium (40+%)is slightly magnetic and Iron (25%)is very magnetic. My sample is 6.63 SpG not magnetic at all and Streak is gray/dark gray.

Next


Petrified Alien Shit? Maybe its a meteor then.

Good luck what ever you have.
Link Posted: 3/13/2009 3:59:12 PM EDT
[#42]
Quoted:
Quoted:
wrong shape to be a meteor


Are these the wrong shape?

http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/8151/0newconcord.jpg
http://img50.imageshack.us/img50/4558/0stony.jpg




Well yes they are but like in eveything theres always the exceptions to the rule.

the "rules" can be found here. Great site

http://www.meteorites.wustl.edu/realities.htm

http://www.meteorites.wustl.edu/realities.htm





Link Posted: 3/13/2009 4:21:55 PM EDT
[#43]
Smash it into a fine powder and pan it out.   Break off a couple of pieces and send to lab or assayer.  


List of a couple of assayers:


http://www.goldminershq.com/STORES/assay.htm
Link Posted: 3/13/2009 4:36:24 PM EDT
[#44]
yup, thats a rock
Link Posted: 3/13/2009 4:46:34 PM EDT
[#45]
Have you considered that science doesn't have the answer?


Look inside.....look deep inside.
Link Posted: 3/14/2009 9:20:50 AM EDT
[#46]


Yep.  Looks like petrified dinosaur crap to me, too.
Link Posted: 3/14/2009 10:42:48 AM EDT
[#47]
What state and region did you find it in?

From the second photo it appears that there are some lineations on the left side of the peak.  True?  Can you isolate the red blotches at all?  The streak of those could be telling.  Is the metallic portion a bright shiny yellow?  Do the small broken surfaces look curved like broken glass?  Is any of the shiny material flaky?  Are there any hard cloudy white fragments?

Based entirely on the photos and what you have given so far, I would guess a garnet gneiss or schist with pyrite/marcasite.

SRM

ETA I would bet dollars to donuts that it isn't chlorargyrite, but with silver at $13/ounce it would be sweet.
Link Posted: 3/14/2009 10:55:31 AM EDT
[#48]
Looks like geotite, sphalerite or one of the other heavy metal minerals to me.
Link Posted: 3/14/2009 3:51:45 PM EDT
[#49]
Looks a little translucent for goethite and while iron-rich sphalerite (marmatite) can be that color, it is uncommon at best.

But I could be wrong.

SRM
Link Posted: 3/15/2009 1:23:28 AM EDT
[#50]
Quoted:
Looks a little translucent for goethite and while iron-rich sphalerite (marmatite) can be that color, it is uncommon at best.

But I could be wrong.

SRM


It isn't remotely close to translucent.

I have found both minerals in the presence of a geologist and both looked similar to the OPs specimen- the geothite was a little lighter in color, more similar to lead.
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