Septarian Nodules - 4/29/23

Southern Utah is one of our very favorite places in the world. We are drawn to the  magical, otherworldly landscapes of red and pink sandstone, given its color by oxidization of iron in the rock. Our love for Southern Utah led us to purchasing a plot of land on the East side of Zion National Park. While today it sits as a primitive piece of property (no electricity, no plumbing, and no cell service), we hope someday to develop it further with a small A-frame. Until then, we try to visit often and camp on the property, drawing water from the natural spring. 

On our most recent trip, we decided to hunt for Septarian nodules for a second time. On our first trip we found many smaller pieces for polishing, one large nodule we haven't yet figured out how to cut, and pieces with crystal-filled vugs (my favorite!) Septarian nodules are concretions containing cavities or cracks, derived from the Greek work "septum" for "partition." The outer rock is typically mudstone while the inner cavities are most often composed of calcite (yellow decayed marine matter ) and aragonite (brown layer). Most septarian nodules are found in Madagascar and Southern Utah.

A map to the exact location can be obtained from Joe's Rock Shop in Orderville! Once we grabbed our map, we headed on back to the collecting spot. There had been a lot of rain recently and the usual route was not advised due to the washing out of the road. Thankfully the Jeep was up for the task of taking an alternate route up a steep-ish hill, reaching a 28 degree incline! It was just a little stressful and no, I was not driving!

We followed the road back to a dead-end which leads almost directly to the site. At first it doesn't seem like much is going on, but closer inspection of the cracked mud texture reveals little bits of broken Septarian strewn about. Since it had recently rained (and temps were creeping up) we decided to surface collect vs. dig as we did last time. 

After an hour or so and happy with a couple of small pretty pieces, I was ready to climb down into the wash and up the steeper wall to get back to the Jeep. However, once down in the wash, I kept sinking into the mud with every step and was seriously questioning this route. In that moment of growing concern and exhaustion, I looked down and saw the rounded bubble shape of a septarian buried in the mud. I reached down and grabbed it, feeling the texture of crystals on the other side covered in mud. This might be something special! 

Finally back at the car, I immediately rinsed off the nodule and was so happy to see it was indeed a beautiful geode! The crystals were well-formed, intact, and it has such a pretty shape (see bottom right image above)! It was my best septarian find yet!

Now back at home, we plan to cut and polish more of the nodules for gifts and giveaways (material found on BLM land is not legal to sell for commercial purposes). They achieve a mirror-finish beautifully with just a sander and diamond grit polishing pads. And I've recently upgraded to a new Mikita wet polisher that I can't wait to test on these beauties!

We'd love to hear your Septarian hunting stories in the comments below. 

Happy exploring, friends!

Cameron

Note: Collage features photos from both trips to this collecting spot! The geode was found on our most recent trip in April of 2023.