Unknown Orange Mineral with Agate Found in East Texas

Farmerman will be along soon, after he's finished scything the lower paddock.

He knows a lot about rocks.

Thanks! Here's the link to the photo: http://www.pinterest.com/Vermilli0n15/my-specimens-texas-geology/

By the way, can you upload photos here?

The striations on the "rock" make me think it may be some form of petrified wood or amber rather than rock. But I'm not sure. Is it a very hard material or can you scratch it with a pin?

Maybe it's because it is amber?

Yes, it made a very small scratch, but it's very hard.

Can amber be found in Texas?

Might be Amber then.

You've given yourself the name of botryoidal?? Cmon you know what it is.
Youre a rockhound aren't you. This is a nice one. I don't have any idea about size. Put a coin next to the rock

Well, amber is basically residue from a tree that's hardened... So does Texas have any trees?

the mineral is an agate form called carnelian. ITs HABIT is called Botryoidal.SO that's why I believe the OP is already knowledgeable as to what it is.
Its not amber, even though there are some amber deposits from the Pleocene nd Eocene down in Texas.
Heres my guess, another rolled pebble of botryoidal carnelian



PS, SW Texas is famous for fire agates and carnelian and all forms of chalcedony. We used to use the deposits as "sedimentary markers for some specific formation near the town of ALPINE Texas.
I believe theres a version of the "Gem Trail" book series for Texas. Some of the old maps from 1940 are fascinating source information, all you have to to is take some of the old maps and replot onto a topo sheet and then stick that into your GPS and you can drive to the sites pretty much "hands free".

Thanks for the info

I thought it was too yellow to be carnelian, and there's no botryoidal habit whatsoever. I'm not an expert in this field. Thank you so much for the information!

Rather than scratch it, you'd surely do the static test first if you thought it was amber.

you can see the habit rings under the rounded shape of the pebble.
Carnelian is a bit softer than other chalcedonies so It may hve been slightly scratcheable. BUT Id never scratch it as a first test. Id do a gravity test if I suspected amber ALso, amber is somewhat fluorescent(yellowish to a pistachio green) whereas Carnelian is not and most agates are variable in their flourescence , ( ps some ambers will actually FLOAT in water)

And as his Lordship said, if you suspect its amber, do a buff test with a soft rag . It will release a resin smell and will protect the specimen .
Always go for a destructive test LST. Get a rock book (Pough's field guides are good) They have lot of hand tests that don't wreck the specimens

Okay, thank you so much!

I forgot. Amber is fluorescent under the LONG WAVE ultraviolet(390 nM)

Farmer, as someone who is working on a theory about how the Universe is evolving via life forms, frequencies and such, could you provide more information on how minerals behave under certain frequencies as you did here?

It would help me tremendously on my studies, as I am working on a theory that suggests that electrons and bees behave too similarly for it to be a coincidence - in fact, the bee can see in ultra-violet, while the electron is in gamma, thus showing that the Universe was decreasing its frequencies as it reached radio waves, and by doing so, I feel the transition between gamma and radio waves was via the electron, the bee and then finally the animal that could see in any color (radio frequency).

Thank you very much, Farmer. You will be a valuable asset to my studies as of now.

If you don't believe me, then please do research on the design of the bee hive and how electrons come together in a hexagonal pattern. It's not a coincidence - it's a universal design.

they behave most incorrigibly.

For an example.

How does an opal behave?

How does a diamond behave compared to the opal?

Thank you, Farmer.