Stone 7 of Level Two.
Stone 6 of Level Two.
Stone 5 of Level Two.
Stone 4 of Level Two.
Stone 3 of Level Two.
I have seen a few stones like these on the beaches of the south coast, all of them green. They fascinate me as they seem to be put together from small bits and pieces, all variations on green. Is it a breccia, a stone made up of randomly oriented angular fragments cemented together in a fine-grained matrix, the fragments not previously eroded by water or wind? I don’t know, the fragments are very small.
Stone 8 of Level Two, from Riverton.
One side of Stone 8 of Level Two.
Stone 8 of Level Two.
Stone 8 of Level Two.
The close-up images show you more of the stone’s constituent pieces:
Close-up of Stone 8 of Level Two.
Close-up of Stone 8 of Level Two.
Close-up of Stone 8 of Level Two.
Stone 8 of Level Two.
Close-up of Stone 8 of Level Two.
Close-up of Stone 8 of Level Two.
Close-up of Stone 8 of Level Two.
It is hard to get a completely smooth polish from such a stone. Not all the segments are of the same hardness and so some may not polish at all. Others are brittle. Sometimes a small piece can come loose in the tumbling process.
View of the edge of Stone 8 of Level Two.
Stone 8 of Level Two.
View of a different part of the edge of Stone 8 of Level Two.
Hello, I’ve just started up this rock hunting hobby and I was wondering how you tell the difference between quartzite and chalcedony? I have stones that look like jasper with a clear sort of agate or quartz running through them in either bands or lightening patterns… some also have black lines running through them and some have yellows or greens running through them! How on earth is one to know?! I can identify a red jasper and I can identify agates.. but the rest is very confusing.
Hi! Thanks for your Comment. I’ve been collecting beach stones for four years and I don’t know that I am any different from you. My main source for recognising quartzites and agates has been my observations at the Birdlings Flat Gemstone and Fossil Museum – see, for example, https://tumblestoneblog.wordpress.com/2016/05/18/my-visit-to-birdlings-flat-day-2-gemstone-and-fossil-museum. Another source has been “Gemstones” by Jocelyn Thornton (1985) – see https://tumblestoneblog.wordpress.com/2016/04/15/gemstones-by-jocelyn-thornton, one of the few books I know of to identify actual stones from New Zealand and to include photos (limited though they sometimes are). The geology texts note that jasper is a type of chalcedony, that chalcedony is the general name for cryptocrystalline quartz (also called “microcrystalline”), and agate is another type – see https://tumblestoneblog.wordpress.com/2019/08/02/dianes-stone-and-an-introduction-to-jasper. Another way to learn about these varieties is to talk to experienced rock hounds and get them to show you what they have figured out. I don’t count myself as knowing near enough by a long shot.
Thank you for all your help! I enjoy following your blog entries! With all my searches about rock hunting your blog comes up the most and has the best picture references! I also use the pdf by Jocelyn Thornton to refer to. And the mindat.org page sometimes has relevant information. It must be time for me to take a step past the internet now.
I think the Timaru museum might have a collection I can have a look through, and there is a group in Oamaru I could contact to find some rock hounders, I’ve also heard there is a good book by a man with the last name Luxton, and that he lives in Ashburton and is very helpful with rock identification. So no doubt I will figure this all out in good time.
Thank you again!
I have just joined a Facebook group called “New Zealand Lapidary, Rocks, Minerals, Fossils” https://www.facebook.com/groups/433087407069065. It looks potentially very helpful too.