Orbicular Stones

[Mark]

Many stones used in Lapidary work have orbicular patterns.  Probably the best known are the Porcelain Jaspers, Morrisonite, Royal Imperial Jasper, Bruneau Jasper, Blue Mountain Jasper, and Willow Creek Jasper.  Ocean Jasper which many consider an Orbicular Agate, is another very well known stone that usually has an abundance of Orbicular patterns or Orbs for short.  Orbs tend to be round or oblong in shape, but can take on many other shapes.  Orbs may have formed as the stone cooled and bubbles of gas that formed when the stone was molten, hardened instead of popping.  The orbs that are not spherical in shape, probably started out spherical and had their shapes distorted by the flowing of the molten stone before it cooled and hardened.  Orbs come in a wide range of colors and degrees of opacity and a single stone can have a large number of different colors, sizes, and shapes of Orbs.  Here are a few examples out of the unlimited number of Orb'd stones.

Mark

[Mark]

Hey Philip, how about a little help with some of your incredible Orb'd Morrisonite photos.  I seem to have left all my good pics of Morrisonite at home.  Any Willow Creek or others would be great too.

Mark

[ScarlettoSara]

Here is my orbicular:) Its not real fancy like morrisonite or the porcelain jaspers but I like it:) Reminds me of ancient and mysterious places, like the back of the bottom drawer of the refrigerator:)

[stoneviews]

ScarlettOSara, That is beaitiful. To Me; It looks as if your looking down on a busy day in Hong Kong, they are the tops of peoples heads and they are all wearing the same color hat. Their are a couple looking up.
Very nice slab, I love it.

[Taogem]

Again, excellent job getting us started up with the orbs Mark..

Thank you.. I have a feeling this is going to be one of those smokin threads.. !

I will share some orbs in a bit .

Thanks again Mark  :)

[ScarlettoSara]

You got a great imagination Stoneviews:) Now I see them too.
Thank you George for having the bestest forum in the whole world  and thank you Mark and I am going to try real hard not to poke fun at Mark for at least two days cause he thought of this most excellent idea:)

[stoneviews]

Here are a few. I threw in Laguna Lace cut 90 deg. to show the orbs, but it is not considered an Orbicular Stone, is it? How about Priday Poka Dot, are those orbs or should we start a thread on Poka Dotted Stones? HHHHmmmm

[ScarlettoSara]

That last one is malachite right? Another one of my favorites.
Nice slabs Stonesview:) That red/orange one is really hot:)

[Mark]

They all look like orbs to me.  I didn't think about Lace Agate, but some of them have some really cool little yellow orbs buried inside the clear agate.  I'll go take some more pics from my Man Cave.

Mark

[Taogem]

Great orb pics you guys...

Clinton, I think of your lace agate as an orb material when it is cut the way you slice them. I wish would see more of the same online.. Probably just me, but seems like everyone slices them the other way..

If I had to choose an absolute favorite orb material, it would be Ocean Jasper. So many colors,  varieties, and even translucents.

I remember that slab  of yours Scarlet.. Can't remember if we ever did ID it correctly for you, and yes..., your last one there is Malachite.

There are a few neat video clips that talk about some of the orb jaspers here.

Ok, time for me to get some orb pics up... !

 

[Taogem]

Ocean Jasper..



Rainforest Jasper has some beautiful orbs.



Birds Eye Jasper



Leopard Skin Jasper



Oolite



More to come over the next few days !  :)

[bobby1]

Gualalupe Jasper Cab - 5" across. It came  from a site that was a few miles from the famous Morgan Hill Poppy Jasper (another orbicular jasper).

Bob

[bobby1]

How about an orbicular pattern in a Brazilian Agate? This cab is about 3" tall.
Bob

[Freeform]

Ok, this is highly debatable to me. Gem jaspers that display the orb pattern, is not the same type of orb pattern displayed in orbicular jaspers [ie Poppy Jaspers/Rhyolites].  Look closely, Gem jasper that have the egg pattern, show a continuous ever reaching pattern. No concentric "layered" bubble. Gene from the Gem shop had a video on his site for years about Royal Imperial jasper. And explained the idea of a single geologic action that produced the pattern. Like throwing a stone in a pond and getting a never ending flow. However the flow is still not concentric, but overlapping. Or unfolding as I like to see it. Poppy Jaspers should be classified away from Gem Jasper in my opinion. The patterns are not the same style of formation and is one ever ending confusion to the term Orbicular.  Even with Piece like the last one [Agate orbs], That formation is the same as most poppy jaspers, just only happened in a couple layers during that peroid of dehydration.   

[Mark]

There are different things that people consider orbs.  I think that most of us tend to clump them all together.  There are definitely different ways they were created and they clearly are distinguishable from one another.  The classic orb'd jaspers have the overlapping orbs that are probably mostly not round or oblong, but have an evolving shape that flows as a pattern.  These orb'd jaspers are my favorites.  Then there are the other orb'd stones that have individual orbs that do not all come from the same starting point.  They either float in the stone in different layers, go all the way through (kinda like a tube), or are mostly a surface treatment.  Of course, almost any stone can have orb patterns on occasion.  Maybe the stone was sitting there happily hardening up and some stupid dino flying over, lets go of one and spash.  The unnamed object goes through the stone layers, leaving bubbles in its wake.  The stone hardens up, and you have some orbs where they would not be expected.  Bet you guys didn't know that flying dinos were the cause of all the orbs!  So next time you get ready to lick a slab to see the orbs better, think twice.

Mark