CAPTIVATING FIND AT THE CARVER AGATE FIELD

GEOLOGICAL MYSTERY DRAWS INTEREST

- JOHN L. CARVER AND BILL HALEPESKA

A new and fascinating geologic mystery is under review at The Carver Agate Field,-in Alpine, Texas.

In 2019, while excavating a large caliche pit on his property, John L. Carver, exposed an unexpected smaller pocket. The space, measuring approximately 30 x 50 feet, contained more than a thousand agate nodules. The site, named “deep pit” by Carver, is on property not incredibly far from the Paisano volcano (peak and caldera). The larger pit area is sufficiently lower than the surrounding area and serves as a frequent repository of incoming debris.

Many of the nodules are geodes (hollow inside) and, when exposed, were surrounded by an ashy greenish/ white material, believed to be volcanic tuff. There is no sorting of material by size or layering typical of water deposited material. Among the geodes discovered, several contain gorgeous amethyst, smoky quartz, and citrine crystal filled cavities. Others contain beautiful calcite crystalline specimens mixed in with the smoky quartz crystalline geode interiors. Additionally, there are nodules with stunning deep blue banded agate, including a few with extremely fine blue banding and very petite sparkling crystal centers. Interestingly, the “deep pit” nodules lack the color and sagenitic variability that has been the hallmark of agates from The Carver agate field.

During his study of the north wall of the pit, Bill notes a clear indication of multiple lava flows. These materials consisted of fine-grained ash/mud debris containing little or no larger objects. Some of these finer materials seemed to consist mostly of carbonates from eroding limestone. One instance of mudflow carried very large pieces of rhyolite. The Paisano volcano reportedly produced a shield-like area of lava with the volume of approximately 150 cubic kilometers, which, as Bill explained, is a gigantic volume.

UNCOMMON NODULES