A previous Post set out details of the two TumbleStone Calendars for 2024. The theme for the 2024 is beach stones collected during my four months “Southern Sojourn” at the start of this year, based in Riverton Aparima. Calendar #1 features one photo of one stone each month while Calendar #2 features a beach scene plus photos of four stones each month. This Post identifies the stones in Calendar #2. The stones were chosen for their colours, patterns and intriguing aesthetics. Note that my expertise is more in tumble polishing stones than in identification, but below are my current best guesses, with some unknowns. The numbers refer to the numbered stones in the scan of each month’s page.
JANUARY – FEBRUARY – MARCH
JANUARY features four stones from Gemstone Beach and the Te Waewae Bay coast nearby. 1 = Poppy (orbicular) jasper (see here). 2 = Unknown stone, probably epidote providing the green. 3 = Quartz with red iron oxide and green epidote vein. 4 = Maybe a quartzite.
FEBRUARY presents four stones from Kakanui’s Seadown Beach. 1 = Fossilised ocean floor, could be calcium carbonate with small fossils (see here). 2 = Quartzite with transparent quartz inclusions. 3 = Quartzite with tiny transparent quartz inclusions. 4 = Quartzite with tiny transparent quartz inclusions.
MARCH’s four stones come from Gemstone Beach. 1 = Unknown. Could be an amygdaloidal stone (see near the beginning of this Post). 2 = Breccia stone, probably igneous (see the comments on breccia following Stone W105 in this Post). 3 = Quartz/epidote breccia. 4 = Brecciated argillite.
APRIL – MAY – JUNE
APRIL is the first of two months on Ward Beach stones. 1 = Limestone with trace fossils (also known as zoophycos – see the first part of this Post). 2 = Unknown, maybe limestone with quartz or chalcedony veins. 3 = Brecciated stone, with agate (chalcedony) veins. 4 = Dendritic limestone (see second part of this Post).
MAY brings us back to Gemstone Beach. 1 = Banded and veined sandstone. 2 = Unknown. 3 = Orbicular rhyolite. 4 = Could be a quartz conglomerate.
The stones of JUNE were found at Kakanui’s Seadown Beach. 1 = Brecciated stone, maybe quartzite. 2 = Jasper with quartz. 3 = Bryozoan fossils in chalcedony (see here). 4 = Quartzite.
JULY – AUGUST – SEPTEMBER
These three months are all Gemstone Beach stones.
JULY – 1 = Amygdaloidal stone (see near beginning of this Post). 2 = Unknown, igneous? 3 = Could be an amygdaloidal igneous stone? 4 = Brecciated.
AUGUST – 1 = Igneous stone with white crystals (see Section 5 here). 2 = Brecciated quartz with iron oxide? 3 = Hematite jasper with chalcedony vein. 4 = Brecciated jasper with quartz.
SEPTEMBER – 1 = Breccia. 2 = Brecciated jasper. 3 = Amygdaloidal stone. 4 = Quartz with green epidote?
OCTOBER – NOVEMBER – DECEMBER
Ward Beach is the source of OCTOBER’s stones. 1 = Unknown. 2 = Limestone with agate vein. 3 = Limestone with chalcedony. 4 = Limestone with calcedony.
NOVEMBER’s stones are again from Gemstone Beach. 1 = Brecciated argillite? 2 = Unknown. 3 = Epidote in quartz. 4 = Unknown.
Finally, DECEMBER’s stones, from Gemstone Beach, are: 1 = Unknown. 2 = Conglomerate? 3 = Amygdaloidal stone. 4 = Igneous stone with white crystals (see Section 5 here).
This 2024 TumbleStone Calendar (“Southern Sojourn #2”) is for sale, with postage within New Zealand included, for $30 non-rural, $35 rural. Contact me at john.tumblestone@gmail.com. The other 2024 TumbleStone Calendar (“Southern Sojourn #1”), details of which can be seen here (and below), costs the same price.
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