all over the surface. Even a few quarter-beads. Are they produced in halves? Quarters? Or do they cleave after formation? Broken beads, including halves, are found in the matrix. Did grinding cause the cleavage, or were these examples already cloven, or do they split easily? If they are easily split in neat halves and quarters, what does that say about composition?

A few of the broken spheres show some slight signs of banding of some sort but most do not. Most appear to be as solid as the ones we see here. Would a precipitate act that way? Or could the beads have formed more like droplets within the matrix, and could that matrix have been a semi-fluid itself?

The matrix rock appears to me to resemble a semi-fluid even now, and I'm thinking of salts deposits in the desert. Its slickness and shine and intricacy are all telling. And the fact that the grinding product continues to adhere to the surface suggests salts as well.

What of the layers? They appear to be both there and not there. They are so obvious from a distance, yet seem to meld together on closer inspection.

Endless fascination.

Cheers, BRFelix