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What kind of rock is this?

Acorn_Elf

Well-Known Member
I found it on a secluded beach in the Chesapeake bay. The inside of the holes are a rust color, but you can't see in the pic.
20170627_164823.jpg
 
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It has been a long time since I took Geology, so I can't think of many kinds of rocks now. See if it is magnetic. If so, it is probably hematite. If not, see if the shiny spots flake off easily. That could mean it is feldspar or mica.
 
The shiny spots don't flake off. The craters in the rock are a rust colour. I'm hoping it's a meteorite because I've always wanted one. Odd are it could be a meteorite because it's a very odd looking rock to find on a beach. Do you guys think it could be meteorite?
 
I just managed to break it open and it's a glassy metallic looking inside, so it probably not a meteorite :(
 
It looks like tektite - basically it's formed from terrestrial material during a meteor impact. If it's smaller than a couple centimeters then that probably is, if it's bigger, then my answer is for sure wrong.
Tektites are found all over the world.
 
It does seem like it might be tektite after breaking it, it's very glassy/metallic on the inside. It's also small, just under a couple centimeters. Cool
 
The Chesapeake Bay, which is where I found it, has an impact crater. I just found that out when I was reading the Wikipedia article about tektite.
 
looks like Jet? to me a glassy form of coal...sometimes carved because it was soft by sailors I think?
The Iron holes may indicate it is a old shipwreck piece of jewelry maybe?
 
I found a meteorite on the banks of the Mississippi River many years ago that looks a lot like your rock but mine is extremely heavy for its size and so dense that there is no way you could break it open. I took it to a rock and gem show to confirm that is it indeed a meteorite. I've always loved geology and have rock samples from all over the North American continent. I also have a rock polisher that I run in the garage because it is noisy and it can take literally months to properly polish stones. Rock hounding is one of my hobbies. I even found a small crude diamond at the diamond state park near Hot Springs, Arkansas. Cool!
 
If it looks like glass inside, then it was once liquid.
A Tektite is a drop of molten rock that fell from a meteor then hardened when it hit the ground. The shape isn't like mine. But, it could have rounded when it hit the mud it fell into. It may have soaked into the mud creating the black colour too. Carbon and nickel mixed into the crust around the glassy inside while still liquid.
I have found them around the Arizona meteor crater area. And if there is an impact crater by the bay, then it probably is a Tektite that hit muddy earth and solidified. That would account for it's being glassy inside and the outside would be the mud that clung to it as it hardened.
They aren't very heavy.
The other type of rock that is natural glass is obsidian.
Formed from lava that hits water, solidifies into a natural black glass. But, there probably were no volcanos in that area.
I have several meteorites also. Iron and two very nice nickle ones.
I was actually at the impact site of another and had to wait days for the core piece to cool so I could dig it up.
It is solid black, no burn holes, very condensed. Would take a machine to break it open. Nickel with a small amount of iron in the center. Being a core piece, it is more of a rounded shape. And so heavy I had to roll it into a wheel barrow to move it.
I'll take some photos and put them in my album here to show the differences.
 
It definitely light weight, almost weightless. It's definitely not obsidian, and there are no volcanoes that I know of, but the Chesapeake Bay is definitely an impact site. I really wish to find a meteorite.
 
The Chesapeake Bay IS a meteor impact site, from what I've read. It's basically one big meteor crater that has eroded over millions of years into what you see today. There should be lots of tektite in the area. A huge meteor will actually melt the ground around the impact site, and then that becomes tektite.
 

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