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SEAM OF CHALCEDONY SHOWS BEAUTIFUL DIAMOND-LIKE SPARKLING DRUSY CRYSTALS
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LIFELIKE PRESERVED CRETACEOUS PETRIFIED METASEQUOIA WOOD WITH DRUSY CRYSTALS FROM HELL CREEK Hell Creek Formation - Eastern Montana, U.S.A. LATE CRETACEOUS PERIOD: 70 - 65 million years ago Petrified wood in its natural form is less prevalent on the market compared to sliced and polished examples. Unfortunately, when such modifications are done to the specimen, the fossil value of the wood is lessened and the piece becomes more of a pretty mineral showpiece rather than an educational and intriguing display fossil because the natural interior and exterior appearance has been modified or in some cases, destroyed. On our recent 2005 field collecting expedition to the Hell Creek Formation in Montana, we collected and brought back only a few select pieces of petrified wood from the Metasequoia tree. The METASEQUOIA was the predominant tree that made up the Cretaceous forests where dinosaurs such as Tyrannosaurus rex, Triceratops and various raptors lurked. Holding a piece of this wood in your hand lets you actually feel the texture of what this forest was like over 65 million years ago during this final age of the dinosaurs! This petrified wood fossil is perfect to display alongside dinosaur (or other life-forms) fossils such as teeth and claws from Hell Creek and would greatly enhance the educational value of any collection! This specific Cretaceous specimen displays rare features that are less commonly seen in your typical petrified wood. The unique petrification process has retained the most minute cellular structures, COLOR and texture of modern wood. This piece was dug so it had not been yet exposed to the harsh elements of the Montana badlands. A seam of beautiful drusy crystal chalcedony lines a portion of this strip. NO REPAIR, POLISHING, OR RESTORATION. It is deceptively natural looking and would make a superb display specimen of Cretaceous wood as well as an enjoyable piece to handle with all its intriguing natural texture and heavy weight! The Metasequoia tree that once grew in what is now the Hell Creek Formation during the Cretaceous Period over 65 million years ago has been closely compared to a living species found in China called Metasequoia glyptostroboides, also known as the Dawn Redwood. This tree is a true living fossil and was just discovered in a remote valley in Central China in the 1940's. Back during Cretaceous, the region where the Hell Creek Formation now is, was once a region of meandering rivers, swamps and forested floodplains. The temperature was subtropical to temperate much like present-day Florida with a landscape similar to Florida in appearance from the grasslands to the swamps. Metasequoia trees dominated the landscape with trunks up to 12 feet in diameter and over 100 feet tall. These trees produced small pinecones like the present-day Metasequoia glyptostroboides. Petrified trees, stumps, and logs can be found in the Paleocene Period deposits as well as the older Cretaceous Period ones in Hell Creek. The petrified wood can be found as stumps that still stand upright where they once grew, as well as entire logs laying exposed with scattered limbs and fragments. Despite the quantity that can sometimes occur, much of it resembles simple rock. Fine natural display specimens that resemble modern wood are fewer in numbers and are prized for their whole life-like appearance when discovered. Petrified wood forms when real wood lies buried underground and its organic structure is gradually replaced with hard mineral. This petrification requires rapid burial of the wood to prevent normal decay. This can happen in different ways. A flooding river can have bury the forest floor under a layer of sand and silt, for example. Another circumstance could occur when forests are covered by volcanic ash. After burial, mineralized groundwater begins to percolate through the wood, coating cell walls and filling the intercellular cavities with stone. In some cases, the entire log is converted to stone and is solid like a cast of the original piece. In other cases, the delicate cellular structures are preserved along with growth rings, bark and knots such that the petrified wood exactly resembles modern wood yet is heavy as stone when held, and clinks like porcelain. Such detailed preservation is possible because the organic wood molecules become coated and surrounded with smaller silica molecules. Small amounts of impurities in the mineralized water add color to the fossilized wood. The hues of yellow, brown and red indicate iron while black and purple are derived from carbon or manganese. A RARE EXAMPLE OF REALISTIC-LOOKING PETRIFIED WOOD FROM THE CRETACEOUS HELL CREEK FORMATION! 3.5" long $65 PL-020 Actual Item - One Only |
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THE HELL CREEK FORMATION OF NORTHWESTERN U.S.A. |
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