Prospecting For Septarian Nodules

[jasong]

Nothing of great value here, just something fun to do while taking a break from prepping a house to put siding up and paint. I knew that there was septarian nodules found in Wyoming and Utah, so last night I decided to do a bit of research and figure out where they might be coming from. 

It's been raining lately so I didn't want to make a long journey just to get stuck or not be able to get all the way to my destination, so I decided to just go right outside of town now that I knew what I was looking for and where they might be, geologically speaking. There were a couple areas that seemed like they'd host septarian right close in. Actually I was so close to town still that there were houses within sight! Yet this location seems to be entirely unknown and uncollected.

In a few minutes I was able to locate some highly fractured septarians. A bit more poking around and I was able to find some nodule fragments that were competent enough to not fall apart entirely.

I decided to dig into the fragments a bit more and came out with on larger, seemingly unfractured large chunk which I spent about 15 minutes digging out with my rock hammer. It's bigger than it looks, it's about 75lbs.

I have a 3ft rock saw that is big enough to cut this one with, but it's not set up just yet as I've moved and need to fix my new place up first with water, a proper electrical outlet, etc. I'll cut it later on though, along with the first two pieces. The big one will be a mystery since it's so covered with dirt that I can't see what kind of veining or crystals it has in it through the grime yet. I love cutting rocks, every one is like a surprise inside, never know what you will get.

I did cut some of the smaller hand sized fragments I found. Unfortunately, at this locality all the nodules are extremely fractured. Even some of the more compentent rock still displays small fractures inside when cut. 

So the specimens aren't the greatest, but still kinda cool. And it's like a 5 minute trip from town too. 

Anyways, this is what the smaller ones look like. I think the cutting oil vs using water to cut them turns the grayish limestone part darker than normal septarians. They'd probably look a bit lighter and more gray/less brown if polished.

This one turned out pretty nice I think. I wish I would have cut it about 3/4" further into the center and exposed that calcite geode effect a bit more though.

Cutting rocks is like my zen time, I like it a lot. There is a real bonsai type art to sizing up a rock, looking it over carefully, and figuring out exactly where to put the cut. I have a long way to go to reach master bonsai cutter level.

Anyways, a bit of a change from ID requests. Figured I'd post some more everyday prospecting/rockhounding type stuff here, just stuff to keep an eye out for. Maybe someone will see this and recognize them in the rough while out on a hike now too, as they are definitely one of those rocks easy to walk right past but that can look really cool when cut. 

[Valens Legacy]

Nice looking rocks and you found them close to your home. Do any of them ever hold gold in them by any chance?

Good luck on your next outing and stay safe.

[jasong]

Unfortunately no yellow gold in these, just an unusual looking bookend or desk rock basically. These things come out of a deep marine shale that isn't really noted for any precious metals...but it is noted for black gold (oil).