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Let's Rock => Rock Talk => Topic started by: safossils on October 25, 2019, 08:05:51 AM

Title: Is there a name for the pattern in this agate?
Post by: safossils on October 25, 2019, 08:05:51 AM

I've heard it called turtle back, but that does not seem right....

Title: Re: Is there a name for the pattern in this agate?
Post by: rocks2dust on October 25, 2019, 09:51:08 AM

Looks like Turtleback agate to me. After cutting across the bubbly structure, the fibrous nature of agate preserves the ghost of the botryoidal formations.

Sometimes, Turtleback will show colorful rainbow flashes along the bands or bubbles. If yours has that, you get to call it Iris agate (in addition to Turtleback). Usually only happens in thin pieces, and sometimes you have to look at it against various strong light sources to detect the rainbows. If you find them, those pieces can be quite spendy. Either way, needs to be in an open-back setting so that it can be viewed against the light.

Title: Re: Is there a name for the pattern in this agate?
Post by: lithicbeads on October 25, 2019, 10:24:05 AM

Long been called turtle back. Some of the small streams on the southern Oregon coast seem to have the best but not much of it.

Title: Re: Is there a name for the pattern in this agate?
Post by: safossils on October 25, 2019, 10:30:19 AM

Many Thanks for the info...

Best,
Walt

Title: Re: Is there a name for the pattern in this agate?
Post by: lapidaryrough on October 25, 2019, 03:52:26 PM

 botryoidal Geode,  hollow solid. Brazilian agate.