What's done this to the stone I found.

[cuddlepop]

Found today,perfectly halfed.

[Torvaig]

Possibly a geologist looking for fossils?

[cuddlepop]

Possibly a geologist looking for fossils?

But what caused the patterns in the stone?

[highlander]

cuddlepop that looks like a agate, they look like an old tattie on the shore, and is very common in skye, they were formed by gas in minerals going into a hollow in the rock of a volcanco, and over millions of years the gas solidifiled,
each one is unique, they are found on bottom of mountains or on the sea shore. once they are sliced open you can have them polished, i will post you some of the ones i have tomorrow night.

[cuddlepop]

cuddlepop that looks like a agate, they look like an old tattie on the shore, and is very common in skye, they were formed by gas in minerals going into a hollow in the rock of a volcanco, and over millions of years the gas solidifiled,
each one is unique, they are found on bottom of mountains or on the sea shore. once they are sliced open you can have them polished, i will post you some of the ones i have tomorrow night.

Thanks Highlander.
Found it along the river bank at the bottom of the Cuillins.It looked so unusual that I picked it up.You can see some shining paricles on the surface ,a bit like glitter.
Where it was I cant imagine someone deliberatly breaking it and leaving it there.
Nature must have decided to split it in two and leave it side by side.

[highlander]

Cuddlepop this is what an agate looks like on a beach

[highlander]

Once polished they are beautiful inside, if you ever get a chance to go to Golpsie, go to Sutherland Gemstone's, he has a fantastic collection from all over the world.

[highlander]

[gillian17]

I cannot tell from the photo' but it could possibly be a fossilised bivalve.

[cuddlepop]

I cannot tell from the photo' but it could possibly be a fossilised bivalve.

Really showing my ignorance here but if you dont ask ....
Whats a bivalve?

Highlander your collection is beautiful,did you polish them up yourself?
My stone looks a lor rougher than yours and more mishapen.Yours does look like a pototo.

[gillian17]

Bivalves are molluscs such as oysters and mussels. They tend, though not always, to be symmetrical and as such will split along the hinge line. The outer profile of the "stone" may be asymmetrical but the fault line within will normally be symmetrical.
Bivalves have existed since the Cambrian period ie about 500 million years ago to the present day and have been found all over the world but the Old Red Sandstone, which is not particularly old, nor predominately red and not always sandstone, (I don't make these terms up), is littered with them.

[Torvaig]

I'm glad you started this thread CP; has made for some really interesting answers. I used to make jewellry a long time ago with Scottish stones which were already polished when I got them but it was possible to buy a "tumbler" yourself and finish them off at home. These are the type of stones you find in a lot of jewellry sold in souvenir shops; the colours are endless and are very reminiscent of the colours found in nature (which of course they are).

[Bill Fernie]

If you want to see a huge range of stones visit the Orcadian Stone Company at Main street, Golspie.
They have shop but also a fantastic museum with thousands of samples of stone from all over the world. I passed it many times over the years before stopping and going in for a look.

It is well worth it.

A few of the potos I took are still on the web site at http://www.caithness.org/atoz/suther...tone/index.htm

[cuddlepop]

If you want to see a huge range of stones visit the Orcadian Stone Company at Main street, Golspie.
They have shop but also a fantastic museum with thousands of samples of stone from all over the world. I passed it many times over the years before stopping and going in for a look.

It is well worth it.

A few of the potos I took are still on the web site at http://www.caithness.org/atoz/suther...tone/index.htm

Thanks Bill,I think I've just found a new hobby.

[highlander]

Thanks Bill for the right name of that shop and museum, thats the place i was meaning.

[Rheghead]

Found today,perfectly halfed.

could it be a type of geode called a nodule?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geode

[sassylass]

Best of all, I liked seeing your reflection on the polished surface

[Phoenix200416]

Best of all, I liked seeing your reflection on the polished surface

Beat me to it Sassylass. I was going to say that too

[Dog-eared]

The Orcadian Stone company is well worth a look, allow plenty time ,it's a big collection.
Not to be confused with the Sutherland Stone Company, who cut flagstone.

The shore at Golspie has some nice stones especially by the stream.
And there is the fabulous Big Burn Walk.
Golspie is only an hour away...............