Is this rock interesting?
Welcome to the rock judgment zone—where everyday gravel meets existential crisis. Our geologist (and occasional chaos gremlin) puts rocks on trial to decide if they’re scientifically fascinating…or just driveway filler. Expect snark, science, and the occasional “why did you even bring me this?” moment. Because sometimes geology rocks, sometimes it’s just a rock, and either way—it’s chaos.
An Interesting beef calcite, complete with MRI imaging of the sample.
Got this table for cheap at an auction, turned out to have a real marble top.
Sunbury Beef Calcite
Marble Tabletop
Devonian Black Shale
Core sample of Kentucky Devonian Black shales tell us a lot about paleogeography.
Silica Geode
A geode that was sliced and polished and dyed. the geode is real, the pink isn't.
Finally found an interesting one! This chunk of Beef CAlcite from Kansas.
Found this one on a hike in Palo Duro Canyon, Texas. The way the canyon formed is metal af.
Kansas Beef Calcite
Palo Duro Sandstone
Petrified wood
So the petrified wood isn't that interesting to Alex, but the process of petrifying the wood is.
Concrete
Not a rock! Alex was not amused!
Sometimes we need to drop some acid (hydrochloric acid to be exact) to identify what the rocks are.
Another gift from a friend - gypsum satin spar from the CaprocK Canyons Region of West Texas.
Lost pink calcite
Satin spar
Bat-tholomew Edition
Labelled a "stone chiroptera" at the rock shop. Meaning: Stone Bat. Interesting? If you like bats.
Weird fallen stalactite
Stalactites form from dripping water, so why does this one have pressurized fibrous calcite?
Oncoid formations from Guadalupe Mountains in Texas, which are an ancient reef. Interesting? Yes!
common Quartz-rich sandstone. Our resident geologist thinks this one is definitely not interesting.
Ancient reef oncoids
Rock from a friend
Mount Nebo Rhyolite
Extrusive igneous rock full of silica and marked by the rock saw.
Taffy or rock?
This one is a solidified lava flow - probably shouldn't try to eat it.
Limestone rock full of fossils, but are they rare Fossils? Nope.
The #1 rock identification question we get at the KGS is - is this a meteorite? This one, Sandstone.