Now, while this is similar to a geode - ordinary on the outside, beautiful within - thundereggs can only be called geodes if there is a cavity or hollow spot inside the rock. Many thundereggs are completely full of solid agate. And while most thundereggs contain agate, some may instead contain jasper, opal, quartz, or selenite (pure, or combinations of those stones).
Like other agates, thundereggs form from rhyolitic lava flows, slowly cooling and solidifying inside a cavity. Scientists still don't quite agree how these unique formations occur, but a common theory seems to be that molten or cooling rhyolite was launched out of volcanoes. Projectiles such as these are called volcano bombs. Then, the molten agate drops fell into volcanic ash and slowly formed thundereggs. So in a sense, the Pacific Northwest tribes may have been right that the volcano-dwellers threw the rocks!
Now, while this is similar to a geode - ordinary on the outside, beautiful within - thundereggs can only be called geodes if there is a cavity or hollow spot inside the rock. Many thundereggs are completely full of solid agate. And while most thundereggs contain agate, some may instead contain jasper, opal, quartz, or selenite (pure, or combinations of those stones).
Like other agates, thundereggs form from rhyolitic lava flows, slowly cooling and solidifying inside a cavity. Scientists still don't quite agree how these unique formations occur, but a common theory seems to be that molten or cooling rhyolite was launched out of volcanoes. Projectiles such as these are called volcano bombs. Then, the molten agate drops fell into volcanic ash and slowly formed thundereggs. So in a sense, the Pacific Northwest tribes may have been right that the volcano-dwellers threw the rocks!
This Thunderegg is from the Black Rock Desert in Nevada; image property of David Rix Eibonvale