The other day while out attending to chores about a mile and a half from the main buildings on the estate I came across an interesting piece of
chalcedony out in the desert. Tucked up next to a mesquite bush this unusually shaped piece of chalcedony looked more like a cartoon mouth or a rock shaped box that formed when the the quartz was liquid and flowing creating a shape I'd never seen before. Finishing my chores, I shoved it in my pocket and continued walking back out of the desert. Back at the estate one of the first things I checked after cleaning the stone was it fluorescence. Using a short wave UV light, which I use to check bedding at the
Painted Pony Resort, the specimen fluoresced green. A previous post about
fluorescence shows both yellow and green fluorescent chalcedony found around the estate and this specimen gets added to the pile of big and little specimens that when illuminated with short wave UV light re-emit light at a visible wavelength.
I use a 395-410 nm UV light to illuminate the desert and look for a variety of fluorescent plants such as lichens,
animals, and rocks at night.
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| Chalcedony specimen under normal lighting. |
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| Chalcedony specimen with short wave UV light fluorescing green. |
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| Chalcedony found around the Painted Pony Resort. |
Amazing!
ReplyDeleteDo you ever sleep?
When I'm out and about on the estate I always keep my eyes open for anything unusual and this piece of chalcedony caught my eye. For me, paying attention or situational awareness as it is known in aviation is the key to finding interesting goodies when out walking.
ReplyDeleteWe went arrowhead hunting one time and I saw pretty colors but my brain would not conform to looking for the arrowhead shape. Maybe with practice. I may have to get the weed whacker out today before it gets too hot; then into the A/C. That rain we had [a couple of rains] turned the dry grasses bottom section to green and they are growing. I have to trim some so I can see Diamondback rattlers, mainly. [also a fire break near the house]
ReplyDeleteWhen out surface hunting I always think of "edges" not necessarily shapes. Most rocks tend to be smooth and rounded while worked stone have edges.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear that grasses around your place are greening up. The Tabosa grass here has not received enough rain yet to green up, though the Giant Sacaton grass in the riverbed is green. The big green hummocks of Sacaton grass contrasts in an interesting way with the uniform brown of the Tabosa grass, islands of green in a sea of brown.
I have some tufts of gramma grass but don't know the name of the other grass, run of the mill grass. Once I put 5 different grasses in baggies for Howard to ID but I've forgotten what they were; I should have kept a diary on that.
ReplyDeleteI had a restoration ecologist identify the grasses on the estate as part of the grassland restoration project I've been working on. He was able to identify a number of species around the estate and I wrote up the results and published them on the blog. If you need a reference check this post https://bloggingfromthebootheel.blogspot.com/2013/10/warm-weather-grass-species-in-painted.html . I also listed them (including species I identified) in one slide from the talk I gave at the Peloncillo Heritage Days which can be found at https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9IXOUCL-_hoSTRQd3N0bWU1dGc/view . If you wish you can check your grasses against what was found on the estate. Tabosa grass is the most common species in the riverbed and easy to spot.
ReplyDeleteI did look up Tabosa but that is not what I have here. [I don't think] thanks for the other references
ReplyDeleteNo problem. Not being a botanist my IDs of plant species tend to be "tree, bush, shrub, and grass".
ReplyDeletetee hee, some friends took a Botany course at SWRS once and were told to just speak with authority and people would believe them. ha ha
ReplyDeleteI try to have evidence handy to back up any claims I make. I realize that many folks know a lot more than I do. My life has been a learning curve and it has been far from a straight line.
ReplyDeleteSaw a huge Diamondback rattlesnake near the hose yesterday. I don't want to explore the grounds NOW with the snakes out. Maybe in November I'll find my own Chalcedony! Hope so............it's very pretty.
ReplyDeleteThanks Pat and sorry to hear you ran across a big rattler. I would imagine there are lots of nice chalcedony specimens around your place being so close to the mountains. A lot of the nice pieces I've found have been close to the Pelocillo mountains.
ReplyDeleteHubbie knew about this snake.............says it eats rats that come close..............sheesh..............glad I saw it but at this time of year, I'm always looking........and I don't go FAR. I walk the dog usually on the driveway and road only.......it's "doing his duty" here that makes me use a flashlight in the dark and look for a snake coiled up. Today I saw a toad hopping away; the dog did NOT see it, happily.
ReplyDeleteI have signage posted for guests reminding them of venomous creatures and always ask them to report any animals they are not sure about so if it is a rattler I can relocate it.
ReplyDelete