...found by a family member while hiking in New Mexico. I tried searching but no luck. Any idea what it is?

Thanks,
7.62lew

Flickr: 7.62lew's Photostream

[memphisgrace]

Do you have more pictures. How hard is it, can you scratch it with your nail, will it scratch glass, is there a density difference between the red and white areas, I am going to school for this although I still need to work on rock identification.

From the picture it almost looks like some form of trace fossil, in which a marine animal burrows in the rock and then those areas were filled in will a different sediment.

But i may be wrong.

[Taff]

Petrified Wood

[7.62lew]

Do you have more pictures. How hard is it, can you scratch it with your nail, will it scratch glass, is there a density difference between the red and white areas, I am going to school for this although I still need to work on rock identification.

From the picture it almost looks like some form of trace fossil, in which a marine animal burrows in the rock and then those areas were filled in will a different sediment.

But i may be wrong.

Here are a few more pictures. I can't put my hand on the rock as it is about 400 miles from me (at my sisters). It seemed uniform in hardness between the red and white area's. It was really hard to the touch, it wasn't soft like sandstone.

[Chocolar]

I would just call it chocolate rock

[woof]

I am going to take a guess that that rock is metamorphic. The patterns are due to inclusions in the original matrix which, when heated, started to spread out in that star pattern. That's a guess.

Why not contact people who are seriously interested in this stuff?


Bob's Rock Shop:*New Mexico Gem and Mineral Clubs
The Chaparral Rockhounds Gem And Mineral Society: Contact Information Page
New Mexico Gem & Mineral Societies
Gem & Mineral Clubs

woof!

[memphisgrace]

I would definitely say the main rock is metamorphic, looks like it may have traveled in a river or stream for a ways judging by the roundness. It is possible that it is an inclusion although i would expect more of a crystaline structure in the white then, I still believe it looks like a trace fossil that we say in class. It is similar to
this only in more of a circular fashion. these images are from this website, although the photos are not very clear, and not all will be textbook like these.
I do not think I can give you more information. I could forward it to a professor if you want me to, otherwise I believe that you should contact one of the websites listed earlier.

[7.62lew]

I would definitely say the main rock is metamorphic, looks like it may have traveled in a river or stream for a ways judging by the roundness. It is possible that it is an inclusion although i would expect more of a crystaline structure in the white then, I still believe it looks like a trace fossil that we say in class. It is similar to
this only in more of a circular fashion. these images are from this website, although the photos are not very clear, and not all will be textbook like these.
I do not think I can give you more information. I could forward it to a professor if you want me to, otherwise I believe that you should contact one of the websites listed earlier.

Thanks for all the replies. I will send off emails to some of the links Woof posted. Feel free to forward it to your professor if you would like(but not necessary). It is mainly my curiosity that is driving my desire to find out what it is. I thought it was a strange looking rock, almost like it had been painted at first glance.

I posted the photo in some flicker groups and I got a reply that said it was leaverite. I was thinking, cool, someone ID'd it already! Then I looked up Leaverite and found this definition: New rockhounds soon learn with Leaverite is. It's any unidentified mineral which, when you pick it up and ask a veteran collector whether you should keep it, the reply is, "No, leaverite there."

The search continues...

7.62lew