# can anybody id this rock type?



## zaroba (Apr 8, 2006)

was at a local park with my mom and brother today and we were walking around in the stream. after a bit of messing around, i noticed the steep high hill the stream was against was pretty much made up of sheets of layered rock.

i'm almost thinking its slate, but it is very easy to break apart the thin layers by hand, so maybe its shale. i was easily able to pull chunks of rock out of the hill that were about 1ft x 2ft x several inches thick and then break them in half with a few hits with a softball sized piece of quartz rock (which is also all over the place). i even had some large chunks of rock break while carrying them back to the van just from thier own weight.

i kept meaning to take a pic of the hill, but never got to it. but heres a pic of the chunks i brought back.









so, anybody know what it is? and if its safe for use in a viv?


----------



## thong_monster (May 6, 2006)

I cant tell you the name for them but i was some simailar ones at a LFS that was selling them for $2.99 a pound :shock: 

Great find, I think it should be safe since people would use these for aquarium applications. Just be sure to clean it up with a great boil or bleach solution followed up with a nice rinse.


----------



## defaced (May 23, 2005)

Looks like slate to me.


----------



## sbreland (May 4, 2006)

defaced said:


> Looks like slate to me.


Thanks pretty much what I was thinking too


----------



## KeroKero (Jun 13, 2004)

Slate is the metamorphic rock version of the sedimentary rock shale... slate is not something you should be able to break apart by hand, so its shale.


----------



## chuckpowell (May 12, 2004)

Its slate.

Best,

Chuck


----------



## defaced (May 23, 2005)

For our application, is there any difference between the two that could be of concern? If not then forget the ID and use it. 

You should try pming/emailing Patty (I haven't seen her lately though) and see if she can get her son to look at it - he's a geologist.


----------



## Roadrunner (Mar 6, 2004)

it`s been a while and we never covered rock types ability to affect amphibians during my geology degree but there is such a thing as oil shale. if we could find a way to process the oil in the shale we may be able to solve the energy crisis. if it is, and it is in pa(coal, nat gas, etc), i may be a little concerned.


----------



## pa.walt (Feb 16, 2004)

*shale ?*

if you wish to get a hold of patty just post the message over on kingsnake since she is there a lot.
about the rock the good thing is it would easy to shape to fit in in viv because it is soft. the bad thing is that it is soft so could break down in the viv in a few years if sprayed alot. one other thing you said you got this from a park. most of the parks i go to in pa. frown upon people taking a piece of the park home with them.


----------



## sbreland (May 4, 2006)

KeroKero said:


> Slate is the metamorphic rock version of the sedimentary rock shale... slate is not something you should be able to break apart by hand, so its shale.


I can pull apart slate layers with my hand, so maybe you just aren't trying hard enough. I still say slate, as it appears just about everybody else does too.


----------



## KeroKero (Jun 13, 2004)

I was thinking of the phyllite/schist that I use in my tanks... can't break layers apart and are further developments of shale on its way to being gneiss... much stronger than slate and you can see the layers in most of the peices, but can't break them apart like slate. I've referred to those peices as slate so long that I had to go smack a couple peices around before I figured out they were actually schist, not slate.

shale (easily crumbles) > slate (break along layers) > phyllite > schist > gneiss


----------



## sports_doc (Nov 15, 2004)

you rock people crack me up...  


S


----------



## Steve (Apr 8, 2006)

I used to live by and go walking a lot in old Slate quarries.. it's Slate. Natural slate can be pulled apart depending on the sedimentary layers between it (geologists chime in if what i read was off).

The stuff we used to collect could be seperated by hand or the swift crack of another piece of Slate but to get a big slab requires the use of tools.

Steve


----------



## chuckpowell (May 12, 2004)

I already did.

Best,

Chuck


----------



## Roadrunner (Mar 6, 2004)

in that area there are harder shales which could be mis id`d. depends on how close the shales were to the melting event. i believe they grade from slate to shale in that area. do a search of the valley you were in. the geological descriptions are out there for the watersheds you were most likely in. from the quick read i did there are a couple slate and shale layers in that area. and if your near the edge of where that event changed the shale it could get tricky as to which it actually is.


----------



## Roadrunner (Mar 6, 2004)

if you have any hydrochloric acid lying around do a drip test on it. i remember the tichner limestone from around here some people misid`d as slate, i think, on our last exam in structural geology. he was a jerk when it came to throwing in oddities like that. it`s gettin a little hazy now that it`s getting closer to 20 years ago i was learning about this stuff. 
ive used shale and slate in tanks before. i`d boil it though and check the ph of the water before and after boiling to see if thats a problem if you dont have any hydrochlor. acid.


----------

