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Black
Agate Thundereggs
Black Agate Mine on the west side of Wiley Well
District,South of Blythe, California |
Paul "GeodeKid" Calburn opened an mine by cutting through the
black volcanic glass bed to open an access to the thunderegg
bed. The thundereggs are found connected to each other with
narrow rhyolitic chains like trains that has to be broken in
order to extract them. The bed was dipping downward and also
shifting to its side that it's tricky to figure out which way to
cut unless one actually marks the in-situ thundereggs before
they were extracted out.
The thundereggs contain
excellent examples of "Tillage Agates" which preserves the
tectonic activities (earthquakes) in the agates that are
growing in successive sequences. The horizontal bands would be
forming and already solidified before an earthquake occurs
that shifts the bed at a different angle and the younger
horizontal bands would fill in the remaining space that is not
parallel to older bands. The color are colorless, gray, white
and black, and single red,yellow or orange bands had been
noted in some specimens. Some specimens have been found with
"tubes/eyes" structures."
I was able to visit the mine site after having to walk to bypass the blocked road and wash and it was quite a mess. The large hole where Paul and Pete Ghitney dug apparently had been collapsed or reclaimed so it's not possible to access the thunderegg beds down there. I poked around to see if they missed anything and I found a nice one. :) I advise against trying to dig from top. The thunderegg strata at the bottom of a thick tan & blank weathered pertile/tuff bed.
I was able to visit the mine site after having to walk to bypass the blocked road and wash and it was quite a mess. The large hole where Paul and Pete Ghitney dug apparently had been collapsed or reclaimed so it's not possible to access the thunderegg beds down there. I poked around to see if they missed anything and I found a nice one. :) I advise against trying to dig from top. The thunderegg strata at the bottom of a thick tan & blank weathered pertile/tuff bed.
Click on the pictures to see larger and closer-up
pictures.
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| Road blocked! |
Black Agate Mine |
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Typically contain black to white waterline agates, sometimes with tubes/"eyes" structures.
