What kind of rock is this?

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There is a bed of this rock in a mountain, I took off a chunk of it with my hand and carried home, when staying in home I took the rock and separated with my hands in halves very easily, then I observed that it had this kind of biological features or what it seemed to me, in both halves. The first I thought it was some kind of root that was got into the rock, but then I remembered that the chunk was shut. I noted that it had two layers of this material, one different to the other, I ended up destroying one layer, in order to photograph the one with more remarkable features. I would like to know what kind of rock is this and if the biological features as seems to be are indeed that or they are the result of weathering.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/51986587@N04/sets/72157632716535471/

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@tlatoanitzin,

could be roots , esppecially if you broke the "rock" with your hands. Its probably a claystone that is not really consolidated yet. Lota times plants will send roots through c,ay layers and these roots will decay and make casts of their length.
Was there any water dripping from the clay layers? The color is like what we call "Glaying" which is indicative of water soaking around the particles of clay and any rocks frgments. The color change is due to a "rinsing" effect in which heavy metals like Iron and manganese are actually washed out of the soil horizon

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http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8525/8456940004_a233c237da.jpg

I saw stuff like this in the Badlands of Montana. Kinda like naturally fired terracotta.

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@tlatoanitzin,

Does the place you found those rocks look like North Dakota's Clinker?

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@33export,

Awesome place! The soil is similar, red clay, the landscape is a bit different. Naturally fired terracotta sounds interesting although I couldn't find any picture regarding that in the web. I think is a good hypothesis anyway. Thanks for the input.

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@farmerman,

Roots were my first impression, but I have a reasonable doubt, most of people I asked about this agree with you. The bed was totally dry, no dripping, although today rained, I will go to see if the water filtered through and to take photos of the bed for clarification. Indeed, this kind of rock structure seems to be extremely frail and prone to detachment. Thanks farmerman.

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What kind of rock is this?

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