Sculpted by the earth

 

Close-up of the agatized portion of a rock washed up on a local beach on 16 March 2018.

 

Diamondback

 

Yesterday we were excited to find this beautiful nudibranch, Diamondback Tritonia (Tritonia festiva), at Cape Arago, Oregon.

After we finished fieldwork today, we noticed this wonderful agate, with patterning reminiscent of the nudibranch:

 

A fun back-to-back combination!

 

Which planet is this?

 

Planet Agate!

No, this photo wasn't taken with a telescope.  This is an extreme close-up of a beach stone.  When we lived in Oregon, we often found agates, or agatized rocks, on the beach.  But this is the first one we have found in the Bodega Bay area.

Check out the sparkling white crystals and the needle-like streaks:

 

I don't know enough about agates, but I'm wondering if the soft-looking formations along the edges make this a type of "plume agate"?  If you have more experience with agates, we'd love to learn more about how these structures are formed. 

 

  

Meanwhile, we'll continue to marvel at the beauty of this stone.