What Izzit

[Bedrock Bob]

I thought it was opal when I picked it up. It is much softer and lighter. Copper will scratch it but aluminum won't. It is not much heavier than bone.

Pretty pink stuff. Almost an oily feel to it. 

 

You can see the cortex. It almost looks like burned bone on the outside.

 

You can't scratch it with your fingernail but not by much. It won't scratch my fingernail. Super soft stuff.

Here is a weathered face...

 

What the heck is it?

[d_day]

Interesting. Clay or soapstone perhaps?

[Mardli]

Chert maybe?

[Bedrock Bob]

I think it might be soapstone or pipestone. 

I don't think it is clay... It may have been at some point but it is definitely altered. It breaks with a conchoidal fracture. But you can see little bending fractures at 90 degrees to the flake. Kinda like half baked clay.

It isn't chert. It is much too soft. But it is definitely similar. Chert probably passes through a stage that is really close to this.

I think it is closer to soapstone than anything else. It is like a hard, dry casting wax. Or an old crayon. It has a greasy feel to it.

I wish I had a bucket full of the stuff. I only found this one tiny piece in an ocean of coarse tertiary gravel. Lots of opals and wood agates and obsidian nodules but no repeats on this stuff. 

I bet if you got it hot it would harden up. It just feels like it would. But it is so light I really wonder what it is made of. It is much lighter than obsidian of the same mass. Probably 50% lighter. So it must be some type of organic material. It might be some sort of petroleum or bituminous material. I just don't know.

I can usually pick up a rock and know just about what it is. At least a general idea. This one has me stumped. It is something strange for sure. 

 

[Morlock]

Have you tried tasting it? Maybe someone left some toffee or some other type of candy out in the sun and it got fossilized over time 😏

[Bedrock Bob]

16 minutes ago, Morlock said:

Have you tried tasting it? Maybe someone left some toffee or some other type of candy out in the sun and it got fossilized over time 😏

I actually did taste it. I thought it might be peach flavored bubble gum or something. 

...its not. 

[Bedrock Bob]

Hey Morlock. You ol' rascal. You gave me an idea.

I was sitting here wondering about this little rock and there was a lighter sitting there. I decided to see how heat affects it.

THE $#!T BURNS!

It has to be some sort of polymer. Maybe what looks like cortex is a charred rind or something?

It smells a bit like crude oil. Not really rubber or plastic smelling but it darn sure burns and will sustain a flame. 

It sure looks like a rock to me. But it burns. And it isn't coal. So I'm figuring it is some type of resin. 

How is that for a Joe Dirt story? I can't identify this rock because it isn't a rock! At least I don't think so anymore. Hell I'm not sure of anything now. My whole world is sliding sideways.

 

[Au Seeker]

1 hour ago, Bedrock Bob said:

Hey Morlock. You ol' rascal. You gave me an idea.

I was sitting here wondering about this little rock and there was a lighter sitting there. I decided to see how heat affects it.

THE $#!T BURNS!

It has to be some sort of polymer. Maybe what looks like cortex is a charred rind or something?

It smells a bit like crude oil. Not really rubber or plastic smelling but it darn sure burns and will sustain a flame. 

It sure looks like a rock to me. But it burns. And it isn't coal. So I'm figuring it is some type of resin. 

How is that for a Joe Dirt story? I can't identify this rock because it isn't a rock! At least I don't think so anymore. Hell I'm not sure of anything now. My whole world is sliding sideways.

 

Bob, 

It's my guess that it's from an extraterrestrial MRE, it's either a fuel or food....or maybe even both, it most likely has many other uses as well for when those rascals are out in the field covertly visiting various planets. 

[Morlock]

1 hour ago, Bedrock Bob said:

I'm figuring it is some type of resin. 

 

 

Bingo.

[Bedrock Bob]

1 hour ago, Au Seeker said:

Bob, 

It's my guess that it's from an extraterrestrial MRE, it's either a fuel or food....or maybe even both, it most likely has many other uses as well for when those rascals are out in the field covertly visiting various planets. 

I think you are right Skip. What I thought was cortex is actually fusion crust. It is probably a flammable peach chondrite from Venus. I hear they use that stuff to power atomic transporters that can send matter through space and time.

Whatever it is it isn't a terrestrial rock. And that means it is a very unique find. It is absolute proof of life on earth at some point before 1/1/2020.

I'll be offering it on EBay for $200 a gram tomorrow morning.

 

 

[Bedrock Bob]

40 minutes ago, Morlock said:

Bingo.

I'm thinking maybe polymer clay. I use that stuff in my crafts. It is basically PVC in some kind of thick paste. 

It breaks conchoidally if it is over fired. And I just burned a piece and it burns the same.

They use that stuff to make all sorts of fake gemstones. Good ones too. Even labradorite and opals. And it polishes up almost like glass. 

Im figuring it is someone's art project that wound up in a fire. If it is not polymer clay it is the burned core of a bowling ball or something.

 

[Au Seeker]

24 minutes ago, Bedrock Bob said:

I think you are right Skip. What I thought was cortex is actually fusion crust. It is probably a flammable peach chondrite from Venus. I hear they use that stuff to power atomic transporters that can send matter through space and time.

Whatever it is it isn't a terrestrial rock. And that means it is a very unique find. It is absolute proof of life on earth at some point before 1/1/2020.

I'll be offering it on EBay for $200 a gram tomorrow morning.

 

 

Make sure you post your eBay seller's name in this topic(Bill won't let you post a link to the eBay auction)because I'm pretty sure it can also be used to identify meteorites and you get a few buyers from some of our new members who found some meteorites and need a small piece of it!!

[Bedrock Bob]

I'm thinking I might just market this exclusively to Nugget Shooter members who think they have found a meteorite.

Heck. I went out to find a rock and came back with a chunk of plastic. I should probably give those guys a break. Most of them can at least find rocks.