A Small Kakanui Fossil Seafloor Stone

Yesterday I found this stone in a 3lb barrel of Kakanui stones that had been tumbling for 11 days in 400 silicon carbide grit. I was sorting through the stones, working out which to tumble again in 400 grit, which to send to a tumble in 600 grit (all the jaspers go to this stage), and which ccould go straight to the polish stage. This stone stood out from all the others because it was shiny and felt waxy – that’s when I realised it is a fossilised seafloor stone and that further tumbling would not improve it. This type of stone often includes many tiny features that can be seen only in close-up. This is one side of the stone:

Side A of stone.

Side A, after tumbling.

Top half of Side A.

Detail of top half of Side A.

Bottom half of Side A.

Detail of bottom half of Side A.

This is the other side of the stone:

Side B of stone.

Side B, after tumbling.

Top half of Side B.

Detail of top half of Side B.

Bottom half of Side B.

Detail of bottom half of Side B.

I found this stone on Kakanui’s Seadown Beach in March 2022 – see here for more information on this North Otago beach. The photos I took of the stone that day were partially marred by a drop of water on the camera lens, but it is still apparent that the wearing away of the surface by the tumbling has changed it quite a bit:

As found in March 2022., Side A

Side A, after tumbling.

As found in March 2022, Side B.

Side B, after tumbling.

Other fossilised seafloor stones found on Seadown Beach this year include these six:

Two other TumbleStone Blog Posts on this type of stone can be found here- “Kakanui Fossilised Sea Floor Stones – Only 400 Grit Tumble” and “January 2022, Stone of the Day #13 – Kakanui Fossilised Sea Floor”.

[Apologies for the lack of Posts over the last month but I have been distracted by dental issues.]

Author: tumblestoneblog

Retired Academic, male, living in the New Zealand countryside near Whanganui with his wife as well as Jasper the dog, Fluffy the cat, Dancer and Penny, the horses, and a shed half-full of stones. Email john.tumblestone@gmail.com. View all posts by tumblestoneblog