[meteorite-list] Mysterious stone eggs...

[Paul]

kevin decker  asked  if the "Mysterious stone eggs..." from Hunan 
Province..China. were "Something like The Eggs from the Osceola 
Impact Crater?"

No. They are meter-scale, cannonball concretions. Cannonball 
concretions, composed of carbonate-cemented sediments, of their 
size have been found in a number of places, including:

1. Rock City, Kansas

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_City%2C_Kansas

2. Along the along the Cannonball River within Morton and 
Sioux Counties, North Dakota

http://nd.water.usgs.gov/lewisandclark/points/concretions.html
http://nd.water.usgs.gov/lewisandclark/photos2.html
http://meteorites.wustl.edu/id/cannonball.htm

3. In the Frontier Formation in northeast Utah and central 
Wyoming.

http://jsedres.sepmonline.org/cgi/content/abstract/73/3/462
http://www.wvup.edu/ecrisp/crisphomepage.htm

4. Along the shores of Hokianga Harbour of Hokianga, North 
Island, New Zealand

http://www.hokiangatourism.org.nz/activities/koutuboulders.htm

5. near Mecevici, Ozimici, and Zavidovici in Bosnia-Herzegovina

and 6. near Moeraki, South Island, New Zealand

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moeraki_Boulders
http://jsedres.sepmonline.org/cgi/content/abstract/55/3/398
http://www.teara.govt.nz/1966/M/MoerakiBoulders/MoerakiBoulders/en

Some papers, which describe, illustrate, and discuss the origin 
of cannonball concretions, which are similar in size to the 
Chinese "mysterious stone eggs" are:

Abdel-Wahab, A., and E. F. McBride, 2001, Origin of giant 
calcite-cemented concretions, Temple Member, Qasr El Sagha 
Formation (Eocene), Faiyum depression, Egypt. Journal 
Sedimentary Research. vol. 71, pp. 70-81.

Boles, J. R., C. A. Landis, and P. Dale, 1985, The Moeraki 
Boulders; anatomy of some septarian concretions. Journal of 
Sedimentary Petrology. vol. 55, no. 3, pp. 398-406.

Forsyth, P. J., and G. Coates, 1992, The Moeraki boulders. 
Institute of Geological & Nuclear Sciences. Information Series 
no. 1, Lower Hutt, New Zealand.

McBride, E. F., and K. L. Milliken, 2006, Giant calcite-cemented 
concretions, Dakota Formation, central Kansas, USA. Sedimentology.
vol. 53, no. 5, pp. 1161–1179.

McBride, E. F., M. D. Picard, and K. L. Milliken, 2003, Calcite-
Cemented Concretions in Cretaceous Sandstone, Wyoming and Utah, 
U.S.A. Journal of Sedimentary Research. vol. 73, no. 3, 
pp. 462-483.

Thyne, G. D., and J. R. Boles, 1989, Isotopic evidence for 
origin of the Moeraki septarian concretions, New Zealand: 
Journal of Sedimentary Petrology. vol. 59, no. 2, pp. 272-279.

The original article which discusses the "Mysterious stone 
eggs" is:

Mysterious Huge Stone Eggs Discovered in Hunan Province, Epoch 
Times Staff, April 17, 2007.

It can be found at:

http://en.epochtimes.com/news/7-4-17/54224.html

The article stated in part: 

 "Upon photo analysis geologists believe that the 
 stone eggs are rare, large concretions of the 
 carbonate rock. They were formed, starting from a 
 tiny nucleus in the center, snowballing slowly in 
 the oscillating sea water." 

In this sentence, the reporter has very likely either mistranslated 
what the geologists told him or her or is indulging in some poetic 
license in writing his his story. No geologist, whom I know, would 
argue that these concretions formed like snowballs. Instead, these 
concretions, like many other cannonball concretions, started growing 
within sediment underlying the bottom of a sea or ocean only after 
it had accumulated. In the pictures accompanying the articles, 
the original layering of the strata, in which the concretion grew, 
can be seen as concentric rings around one of these concretions. 

The original Chinese article is at 

http://epochtimes.com/gb/7/4/1/n1665041.htm

Looking at the lowermost figure in the Chinese article, I have to 
wonder, being unable to read Chinese, if the author of the Chinese 
article is confusing them with the man made stone balls in Costa 
Rica. (A translation of this article would be greatly appreciated. 

 Best Regards, 

 Paul H.


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