Dallas-area rock collector may have found traces of an ancient cataclysm | Science and Medicine
Through it all, Tackel continued to collect and study his rocks. Typically frugal, he splurged on a $1,400 rock saw so he could see how the rocks looked inside . He carved some like slabs of bacon. Others he sliced into thin pieces that looked like petrified wood. He cleaned and polished them and mounted them in frames. He photographed hundreds of samples, posing them with quarters and pennies to show their size, and sent them to experts around the world. For a time, he slept with a six-shot revolver to protect his collection from thieves. He returned to the creek beds again and again until he could no longer walk, lugging 40- pound trash bags of samples from creek bed to truck and from his truck to his house. Sometimes he brought Jones’ two children, whom he helped care for. Over the years, the samples accumulated under his bed, took over the guest room, lined the bottoms of drawers, huddled in his shower, spilled onto the patio, hid inside every cabinet and filled his garage. He bou...