Our World Tuesday ~ Agates

 One of the many activities that visitors and Haida Gwaiians like to do on island is to search for agates.  "Agate is a microcrystalline variety of silica, chiefly chalcedony, characterised by its fineness of grain and brightness of color. Although agates may be found in various kinds of rock, they are classically associated with volcanic rocks and can be common in certain metamorphic rocks."(from Wikipedia).   Agates are a result of gas bubbles in lava.  As the lava cools the gas escapes leaving a cavity.

 Silica in solution seeps into the cavity and forms layers, gradually filling the cavity.  As erosion by wind and water occurs the agate or nodule is released. Agate is translucent and relatively hard.

 It shows up in various sizes and colours here on Haida Gwaii.  In the photo above the big rock is opaque while the agates are translucent.  The density of agates is considerably lighter than "normal rock".

 Most agates found on Haida Gwaii are the size of the little ones in the forground but occasionally after a good storm some big ones will wash up on shore.  The agate on the left weighs in at 6lb 2 oz and is currently being looked at for possible cutting to see what is inside.  (My orange crock is size 11 for size comparison!)

 This beautiful opal geode(a form of agate and quite possibly what the other big agate is) I found last week after one of our big storms.  

 In this case the nodule did not fill with silica before it was released from it's birthplace so crystals formed in the open space. You can see the layers of silica that formed to make this the agate.

 The is the source of most of agates found on Haida Gwaii, Tow Hill.  Tow Hill is the the lava flow of an ancient volcano.  The left side of the volcano has eroded into the sea exposing the dolomite columns.  As the sea batters and erodes the exposed dolomite nodules or agates are released to be tumbled and washed ashore on the beach.

This beach, within Naikoon Provincial Park is called Agate Beach for a reason!  The two large agates I found come from ancient volcanic activity south of Tlell.

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MyWorld Tuesday ~ A mornings walk on the Beach

The weather has finally started to turn around so when the sun shines you take advantage.

We walk the beach almost every morning and part of that ritual is to pick up the garbage that comes up on the new tide.

This morning we got a surprise when about a dozen dog fish in this state showed up.

We don't know whether it is natural or man made but a call has gone into the Ministry of Fisheries.  Dog fish are considered a garbage fish by commercial fishermen.

High Tide line

Each day the beach is different.  Haida Gwaii gets two high tides and two low tides a day.  High tides can be as high as 24' on the New and Full moon. 

Peter with this mornings collection

This, I am sorry to say is the average collection every morning on the same stretch of beach, approximately 2 kms!

The finds are not all bad though, Agates, the second hardest rock in the world which are created through volcanic activity are a bonus to our morning walks.

Amazing pieces of drift wood are also a bonus if you can pick them up...this one would look great in the garden!

And of course you can't forget the views!

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and please think about where your garbage goes if you do not recycle it!