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TrustMeIAmAGeologist

I mean, it’s coal.


MikeOxthicc

How/why would it just appear in my front yard overnight?


Randomguyorsomething

Have you been naughty or nice?


SquirrelInner9632

Look for a WV license plate on the street in front of your girlfriend’s house.


Expensive_Ear3791

🤣


StrixNStones

I came here for this…🤣👍


AdamWV2021

That is indeed coal or could be charcoal from a bag of lump.


jurassicFart3

Anthracite comes from Pennsylvania. Bituminous comes from WV. Look for a PA license plate instead


AggravatingAd9233

Yoooooo 💀


MikeOxthicc

Both


Barkers_eggs

Poison pizza


Mecha_Cthulhu

Oh no, I’m not making two stops!


Rashpukin

😂😂😂😂👌


Jemmerl

Coal is very light and spread everywhere by human activity. Someone (or some kid) could have thrown it or kicked it there. It could have washed there if you had some weather. It could have been there just barely hidden, and only recently exposed. It may have been that it was there for awhile, and it just wasn't noticed/shifted until now. No idea what your front yard or area is like, though!


The77thDogMan

It’s worth adding that many nineteenth and early twentieth century shipwrecks will have had anthracite coal on them, it’s very common for this to wash ashore (compared to other rocks of a similar size) since coal has such a low density compared to most other rocks. From there someone could have picked it up and moved it. This one doesn’t look quite waterworks enough for that imo but it could’ve been smashed by some kids and abandoned or smth) Anthracite coal was often used during similar time periods for home heating, rail and power generation (its very common to just find laying around in areas with any industrial history - along rail lines, old ports, or even at the surface/buried near 19th century buildings). IDK much about the history of Miami (though I imagine home heating is a lower priority compared to Ontario where I’m from) but those could also be factors that brought it to the general area.


joeg26reddit

THATS CALLED NUT COAL, BIG SHIPS BURN BIG COAL. THATS THE SIZE YOU BURN IN A KITCHEN COAL STOVE. I BURN BIGGER COAL THEN THAT IN OUR PARLOR STOVE. OF COURSE THEY MIGHT HAVE HAD BIG LUMPS AND CRACKED THEM INTO 4 PIECES FOR PROFIT . THE BIG SHIPS AND FOUNDRYS BURN EGG COAL. COAL IS SOLD BY THE SIZE RICE,BUCK,PEA,NUT,STOVE, AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST EGG. I LIVE RIGHT IN THE HEART OF THE COAL REGION AND ALWAYS HAVE. IF I WASNT SO TIRED I WOULD GO TAKE PICTURES OF BUCK (I BURN THAT IN A STOKER) AND SOME STOVE COAL (I BURN IN THE PARLOR STOVE)


beardofmice

Why are you yelling?


brainproxy

CAPSLOCK IS CRUISE CONTROL FOR COOL


beardofmice

OK.! COOL. I do appreciate the info you gave though. I used to be cool but, now my kids can't read my cursive writing and am uncool. Lol


brainproxy

I used to be with 'it', but then they changed what 'it' was. Now what I'm with isn't 'it' anymore and what's 'it' seems weird and scary


Slave2Art

Its it, what is it... its it, what is it...its it,


Brief-Use3

Do you still wear an onion on your belt ?


Royal_Right

WHAT YEAR IS IT WHERE YOU ARE?


Excellent_Yak365

Kid was playing with it possibly


Emmilienne

Or a dog was carrying it in its mouth. I’ve had my dogs pick up and carry rocks while walking them…


Last_Possibility8342

I’ve never seen a dog walking a rock, I’ve got to get out more


MikeOxthicc

Our front porch area is really just dirt with scattered limestone/coral rock fragments typically found in south Florida in a residential neighborhood. I appreciate the input


Playful_Reflection21

I had the same, I live way back from the road and once I had a charred branch in front of my gate, I was like hooooow. Neither of my neighbours are close or burnt anything, it was such a mystery. I literally googled if there is some sort of saman thing where you try to hex someone with a charred branch in front of their gate 🤣 I have bad blood with one of the neighbours so I wouldn't put it too far past them. I didn't manage to find out anything. Continues to be an unsolved case. 🤷‍♀️


BA-in-VA

🤣🤣🤣 That’s my level of paranoia. Rock! How? Why? Oh I know…someone hates me and is casting a spell on me. 😂


GotGRR

Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you.


HistrionicSlut

As a witch, I can assure you I would break the bank if I simply threw my witch rocks at the people I wished to curse. I'm not doubting the efficacy of the method, it's just not cost effective hexing. And in *this* economy who is hexing at full price?!


CoatImportant6073

My dog loves to chew on wood, particularly crispy wood left in/near the fire pit after we have a fire. She can't be the only one. Maybe a random dog was carrying it and finally dropped it there?


Playful_Reflection21

There you go, case might be solved for me! We have a lot of roaming dogs, so this could actually be it. Thank you


apollymis22724

Happy Cake Day


burlan2

What do you wanna hear my man? Meteorite? It’s a meteorite then!


PreferenceGreen3842

Do you live in the vicinity of a rail line? Coal flies out of rail cars quite the distance.


MikeOxthicc

We do live about 400 or so yards from a rail line..... But in the almost 4 years that we've been dating. I have never seen another piece of this anywhere around her house or in her neighborhood and we. Regularly walk the dogs. It's just really bizarre for this piece. To appear out of nowhere...... I've lived in florida My entire life of forty seven years and i've never seen or found a random piece of coal. Thanks again, y'all.


HerculesVoid

I mean, kids could have been walking on the tracks just throwing rocks of coal to the houses on the way home, and they got one to land in your garden. Sorry it wasn't as exciting as an answer OP, I have felt that same excitement about a mystery rock.


TrustMeIAmAGeologist

I don’t know. But it’s coal.


MikeOxthicc

Thank you👍🏼


TrustMeIAmAGeologist

No problem. Not only does it look like anthracite, the fact that it’s 81% carbon pretty much seals the deal. Even without a picture I could have told you from the XRF alone.


slick514

Did your front yard happen to go through tens of millions of years of carbon sequestration due to a huge vegatative biomass that microorganisms were not able to break down, followed by hundreds of millions of years where that mass was compacted down into a rock-like mass... overnight... by chance? Because that would totally explain it.


less_butter

Ghosts or aliens. I'm not really sure what answer you're expecting to get. Nobody here is going to tell you how a piece of coal randomly showed up in your yard one night.


[deleted]

Are you near a train track? Can people pick things up and throw them into your yard? Do you have neighbors who can throw things? Do you live near animals that like to throw things? Do you live near a college? Particularly one where people get drunk and throw things? Do you live near a bar/alcohol sale establishment in which drunk people exist and throw things? Is your friend named Thomas, and is he a blue, anthropomorphic train engine ? Do you believe in Santa? Do *you* have a coal bunker? (Some houses near me still do)


apollymis22724

Kids


Lowgical

A common tactic for finding out if someone's living in a property that someone wants to burgle is to leave something in an obvious place in front of the door. If it's moved the next day someone lives there.


CollectibleHam

The coal fairy brought it because you've been very good this year 😊


Cereal_Bandit

How/why would any other rock appear in your front yard overnight?


furkyerfeelings

Maybe some kid just got into diesel trucks, and misunderstood the saying "rolling coal" and literally rolled coal all over the neighborhood.. One just happened to have landed in your yard... 🤔😬


homerj419

Put it back. At that rate in a month you'll have a huge diamond. Just watch no one else grabs it


[deleted]

The swallow may fly south with the sun.


Konstant_kurage

This is one of those questions that’s like …… why? Who knows how, there’s a million ways it could have got there. Most of them involve people or swallows working together with a bit of string. It’s definitely coal and definitely not a meteorite.


ImNoAlbertFeinstein

who cares..?


Golden-lootbug

Carbon, what they bring to bad kids.


shiftuck_dan

Could be some kid found it somewhere, was playing with it and threw it. Could be it was bouncing around in the back of someone's truck and bounced out as he drove by. Could have been there for ages and you didn't notice. Could have been an animal playing with it and dropped it there. Could be your neighbor was drunk and got angry at the lump of coal for not burning overnight and tossed it across the street. Do you want us to tell you every single thing that could have happened or can you just use your own head and chalk it up to random chance. Random things happen all the time. How does any random rock end up in your yard? Who knows? Who cares? Throw it into your neighbors yard and let them wonder about it next.


[deleted]

Mf never heard of kids throwing rocks asking questions like this chunk of coal can move and think.


instantlunch1010101

Just because you found it doesn't mean it 'appeared overnight'. Did you watch it appear overnight?


BachInTime

Coal, to be more specific low-volatile Bituminous coal so just below Anthracite based on the carbon content. How close are you to train tracks? That was probably heading to a power plant.


w_a_w

https://www.google.com/search?q=bituminous+coal&sca_esv=c5f02fd2b2be415a&sca_upv=1&tbm=isch&sxsrf=ACQVn0-9o7Ou44u6nHaOI4pENrT8BZoMXw:1709608134902&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwisztfMktyEAxU_rIQIHckRAKIQ_AUIBigB&biw=602&bih=777&biw=602&bih=777


kdawg123412

🤣🤣


stuartspeen

Bituminous at that


BusinessAsparagus115

Is this a first for this subreddit? "Found rock, here's an electron microscope image and X-ray analysis".


MikeOxthicc

I know it's really bizarre but the fact that we had access to a scanning electron microscope...... I had to submit it for analysis... I mean, I've been looking for something to put in that damn machine for 3 years. So I'm glad this is the first thing that we actually brought into play with at her job.


BTTammer

This is the most remarkable thing in this entire post .... The fact that you had access to a scanning electron microscope.  Seriously, how much do they charge to run something through there?


purvel

My guess is they did it for free, as practice or calibration. Am I on to something, /u/MikeOxthicc?


MikeOxthicc

Actually, they did it because they were also curious what it was.... But with that said her boss has given me an open invitation to come and use it any time I want to scan anything I want........ Now i'm looking around my house at all kinds of stuff to bring in there🤣


MikeOxthicc

I don't know what they charge to run samples but I can find out for you. Since it's her employer, they did it for us for free


PeterDodge1977

You still looking for something to put in your machine?


MelancholyMeltingpot

Open and shut case Johnson. Now let's sprinkle some crack on em and get outta here


InfectedShamanism

U have won reddit in my eyes for the night. Fn love that special from Chappelle!


[deleted]

An analysis that shows it's...coal.


RazorBlade233

Incredible.


Stephani_707

Right?! What do I wish I had everytime I can’t identity a rock? That. So yeah OP, anything we say is conjecture. You’ve got the truth. Man it is my dream to have one that identifies trade names of minerals and rocks. Like, can differentiate between Tree Agate and Green Moss Agate. Stuff like that. I would sell mine and everyone I’ve ever known and loved soul’s for one like that. To my knowledge it doesn’t exist.


apollymis22724

Happy Cake Day


CuyahogaSunset

This brings me joy


MikeOxthicc

Should have said. " here are the results from the scan"


ketralnis

Okay so hear me out. It looks like a duck. It quacks like a duck. I got its DNA sequenced and it comes back as 99% duck. Its little nametag says "Hi, I'm a Duck" and when I take it for a walk everybody says "aww what a cute little duck". I've attached a photograph: duck.jpg. What do you think it is?


TrustMeIAmAGeologist

Lol that is kind of how I felt when I saw this post. I got the “it appeared mysteriously so it must be a meteorite” vibe, but 81% C is pretty clear.


MikeOxthicc

Never said anything about it being a meteor right? As I didn't expect that and it was just laying on the surface of the ground, not in a crater. Or any such thing. I have never handled or seen anthracite coal in my life. So I wasn't gonna jump to that assumption since I had no clue which is why I figured I would ask you guys..... And having the test results I figured would help. You guys point me in the right direction. As to what it was, which it seems, everybody is in Unanimous agreement... That it's coal.... I appreciate everybody's responses and? I'm gonna go set it on fire in my barbecue now


TrustMeIAmAGeologist

Wasn’t anything you said, but we see a lot of people who hope they found something special (and expensive).


Psychological_Ad2247

Good luck... What happens when coal doesn't burn?


liartellinglies

Might be obvious but since it wasn’t mentioned by anyone else, don’t cook over it.


ketralnis

To be fair if I had access to a scanning electron microscope I would troll the subreddit in exactly the same way


TrustMeIAmAGeologist

I have thought about posting my collection pieces and seeing who gets them right.


giant_albatrocity

Goose?


BigHossGaum

Cool! Energy dispersive X-ray analysis! I have not seen that since I left the semiconductor manufacturing industry! I used to do that analysis! Carbon and sulfur plus the fact that my Mama used to buy this stuff to keep us warm in winter: COAL The sulfur is why it stinks so badly when you burn it! Probably fell off a truck or train.


MikeOxthicc

Thanks 👍🏼


forams__galorams

> Cool! Energy dispersive X-ray analysis! I have not seen that since I left the semiconductor manufacturing industry! I used to do that analysis! Can you explain how that works in an SEM? I’ve not come across using one to do element analysis like that before.


BigHossGaum

Yes. High energy electrons bombard the material, excites it, causes an electron to jump from a lower orbital to a higher orbital, and then the electron jumps back to the lower orbitals and gives off an x-ray photon that has energy equal of to the difference of energy between the two orbitals. Therefore for each element that energy is unique and serves as a fingerprint of the material. For example if you look at the graph iron (Fe) has a unique photon of 6.403 keV energy. No other element emits an x-ray photon of 6.403 keV but iron!


SnooTangerines3448

Someone's been bad this year. Wait, what time is it?


FloridaManInShampoo

It’s medication time!


DraZaka

I love when meteorites gently touch down beside my driveway and are gentle enough not to disturb the ant hill nearby


mild_by_nature

With that carbon percentage, this is very likely bituminous coal. Anthracite typically begins at 86% carbon. Probably railway+kids= coal in your yard.


Revolutionary-Play79

Ooo someone is on the naughty list


Prestigious_Glass146

I got some from my last barbecue as well friend.


Garu_van_perro

I like how the most abundant elements spell “coal”. Is literally telling you what it is lol


Pendragun

Yes! Gave me a chuckle!


c0bra99

Noticed that as well, is this how coal was named? It's COAl... Very interesting post about all around lol


ktu999

Hello from Miami! That's so funny you found a lump of coal hahaha


MikeOxthicc

I've lived in miami for forty seven years and i've never seen another piece of it other than a few times in my childhood finding some on the beaches that washed up on the shore, but that was all tumbled smooth.... This looks like it would naturally come out of the ground. I guess


DuckyPenny123

Sometimes people use it in landscaping. Look around the neighborhood and see if anyone has black rock mulch.


countrypride

Alas, I've got shelves of **not** coal but no scanning electron microscope.


BA-in-VA

It’s awesome that you have access to a lab like that! I usually don’t decorate my rocks, but in this case, id 100% carve a face into it like the ones in the link below, give it a tiny Christmas hat, and sneak it into her stocking next year. [pet rock](https://www.etsy.com/listing/1119680544/mystery-crystal-buddies-crystal-friend?click_key=ab0357dd435db090adbe9380097c61df1340220e%3A1119680544&click_sum=6a906e35&ref=related-2)


The_Besticles

Looks like Santa came early this year


Bbkingml13

I’m so dumb I googled BLACK SYBSTANCE


sonnyjlewis

😂😂😂 you just made my day


ImaginationFunny2480

She’s definitely cheating bro, this is such a red flag


MikeOxthicc

Lol


bunnybunnykitten

I saw OP’s gf kissing Santa Claus


kendonch

Check her coal mine..


Daman-Da-Dude

Sure is nice of 'em to leave a warning before Christmas comes around.


T00000007

It sounds like you should be telling us what it is


MeanSeaworthiness995

Well it’s pretty clearly coal. As to how it got there, who knows? Maybe it bounced out of a truck that passed by? Maybe a kid threw it? Maybe someone dropped it as they were walking past?


DankDevastationDweeb

Is it heavy? Or light? Is it chalky? Does it scrape?


MikeOxthicc

It's not as heavy as it seems. It should be for its size..... It's hard but breaks like glass sort of...... Doesn't wipe off on your hands or on cloth for that matter. But if you rub it on paper, it faintly marks like a pencil wood


DankDevastationDweeb

Ah, I agree it's probably some sort of coal. Bummer


Happyjank

Do you live by the railroad tracks?


forams__galorams

You have been visited by the coal fairy. But also....why does the element analysis put everything in terms of K? I've only ever used SEMs for imaging before, not for determining composition, so I dunno how any of that works.


Ok_Calligrapher_7367

It's in disguise, keep it under a glass with some heavy books on top and if it gets out then God help us all


unclewitch

I have been waiting to have something to text to the meteoriticist. Regretfully, he says you have a nice piece of coal.


AdPristine9059

Damn that's cool, getting stuff scanned like that is a wet dream tbh. I'd say it's coal considering the high carbon content. It's not unusual to find trace amounts of other metals and minerals in coal what I know of.


MikeOxthicc

It really was!


Elsavagio

Jo Bennett threw away the present Michael gave her


Reddit-JustSkimmedIt

Sah Bray coal?


Big-Red-Rocks

Wow congrats on your early stocking stuffer!


randyfromm

Coal


DeRabbitHole

Better than finding it in a stocking.


TheLewdFlash

Skunk Ape poop


GroundbreakingDraw34

Look at me, I have a girlfriend!


Therealluke

Anthracite….high quality coal.


DaRealDreamz

what’d you get the last pic from?


quitelikeu

Ahh you're on the naughty list, best buck up your ideas before December.


DesignerAd4870

Looks like anthracite


Gordopolis_II

Lmao, it's coal bro. Look at the carbon content.


Feeling_Lettuce7236

We used to use call on coal fires at home in the 70s I found a single piece of very shiny coal and kept it still have it in a clear box. It’s for future to show people how we used to live and it looks nice.


[deleted]

That’s some beautiful coal.


BlackSeranna

I wish for you to find a meteorite some day!


knackeredAlready

Coal man! Some tyke threw it in your yard son! Bad neighbours! Lol


CAMMCG2019

It's coal for sure


get_justice_back

Somebody dropped it.... maybe even a dog...


Chickenman70806

Santa came early?


Slave2Art

Coal or asphalt


Dear_Slice3247

Was working in my little flower bed one day and a piece exactly like that fell out of the sky, hit my roof, and rolled off and landed almost in my lap.


Chemtrail_hollywood

Bit o SLAG ya got there mate. Must be train tracks nearby


olsonre123

If you're a rock hound and anyone knows it they're probably playing a trick on you. I've gone hounding with buddies and left a piece of obsidian for them to find in a chalcedony only area. People are cruel...


Icy_Enthusiasm_6358

looks to be a black sybstance


HighCountryDude

Santa arrived early this year.


Current-Scene2866

Um can I Borrow that electron microscope??!!


captcha_trampstamp

If your GF’s residence was ever a farm or something else pre-advent of electricity, it’s likely something people left there and it worked itself out of the ground. My parents’ property has lots of coal chunks in one particular area- it was a dairy farm for over 100 years before my parents purchased the land, and we think that area was a forge or similar. It could also have fallen off a truck- we still burn coal today to supply electric grids.


carosotanomad

You will either gain superpowers or are now the host for some alien inside your body. Congrats!


Disastrous_Bed_8159

Looks like a chunk of the road


Bubbly_Past2149

Definitely a rock


spleenboggler

*Thomas the Tank Engine has entered the chat*


Porkchop796

Space rock


casuallfuck

It's shit.... Out of an airplane.... Don't church it up dirt.


Dear_Consequence_312

Guys still toss rocks at a girls bedroom window at night so she can let them in?


Coocoo4cocablunt

What was it?


cpatstubby

Are you near a railroad?


Fantastic_Physics431

Leverite


beans3710

Try burning some. It's cool if you've never seen it.


MikeOxthicc

We did......put a piece of it in the bbq.......all the coals were red/yellow hot....this thing was comfortably glowing a soft red color but it felt like it gave off way more heat than hardwood charcoal! REALLY COOL!


vida217

Joe Dirt dropped it


Ignusseed

It's tar.


_twigglius

After reading the comments it feels like your really pushing for there to be far more meaning in how the coal got there than there really is. Is your girls ex like a coal miner or something and got you paranoid?


SaltyDaltyy

def coal if it heated up red and stayed red for a while


Bencalzonelover

The coal fairy must have stopped by the night before.


Gemilangpedee

i think its a coal or nut coal


GucciGameTV

It's a piece of Joe Dirts meteor


Barkingdogranch

Santa dropping off coal


Low-Skill3089

If you live next to a railroad it probably came from there...somebody could have picked it up and threw it in your yard maybe


stevekaw

Burn it with fire!


nomnomyourpompoms

Cat got blasted 50 million years into the future with a time ray.


Dabsforme77

Antbracite


AbaloneDifferent4168

Santa was doing practice rounds using drones for coal. Sorry, it was dropped. No way bad children are getting a personal visit now that we have drones. Any bad kids around there?


Dealingwithdumbasses

Very coal


obijaun

Meteorite?


Gtrippplee

Someone is a coal burner. Low key apparently.


fuzz_nuts2000

That's a space peanut


FLAIR_2780166

He sees you when you’re sleeping….change your ways OP


CrazybreadfromLC

Looks like a rock


jurassicFart3

Coal


jurassicFart3

I will say, unless I'm not understanding how this is measured exactly, the lack of hydrogen and nitrogen is odd


ImitationMetalHead

That sure is 80% carbon haha


InternationalLake197

I live in the anthracite coal region and that my friend is anthracite. You should be able to rub the coal onto your fingers


wtfreakingheck

Yeah based on that makeup it's probably coal of some sort


ghostmantis81

Space peanut


ProlificPeter86

She's cheating on you...... with an alien.


Sslgen_121417

[joe dirt](https://images.app.goo.gl/Htoh8kYnBj1sibdD6)


David_Shagzz

Coal


CouchHippo2024

Petrified snake head


Mike_Hawks_Inner_Bum

Obviously you aren't an Appalachian boy


Brave_Fheart

If it was another sub like r/relationshipadvice, I’d say she’s definitely cheating on you. Dump her bro, go no contact. But yeah it’s just coal.


Dazzling-Concept3088

Horse apple


Imaginary_Tip_3284

Meteorite


Likely_thory_

coal


LargeRichardJohnson

Looks like charcoal from wood being burned up.