'TIGER IRON' - Australia
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‘TIGER IRON’ (A VARIETY OF BANDED IRONSTONE)
Cut and polished
2.5 billion years old
Ord Range, Western Australia
A beautiful example of 'tiger iron', a variety of banded ironstone that has been metamorphosed (subjected to heat and pressure) producing bands of magnetite, jasper and 'tigers eye' quartz. It is commonly used in jewellery.
Banded ironstone provides unique evidence of the early history of life on Earth. It was formed under the sea by iron reacting with oxygen to form iron oxide (rust). This rock therefore provides the first evidence of oxygen appearing in the Earth's atmosphere, the oxygen being produced by rapidly increasing numbers of primitive, single celled algae - the only life forms at that time. These algae were for the first time using sunlight as a source of energy and producing oxygen as a by-product.
Banded ironstone is also one of the world's most important iron ores.
Click on a picture for a larger image
Cut and polished
2.5 billion years old
Ord Range, Western Australia
A beautiful example of 'tiger iron', a variety of banded ironstone that has been metamorphosed (subjected to heat and pressure) producing bands of magnetite, jasper and 'tigers eye' quartz. It is commonly used in jewellery.
Banded ironstone provides unique evidence of the early history of life on Earth. It was formed under the sea by iron reacting with oxygen to form iron oxide (rust). This rock therefore provides the first evidence of oxygen appearing in the Earth's atmosphere, the oxygen being produced by rapidly increasing numbers of primitive, single celled algae - the only life forms at that time. These algae were for the first time using sunlight as a source of energy and producing oxygen as a by-product.
Banded ironstone is also one of the world's most important iron ores.
Click on a picture for a larger image
Size: 12 x 4.5 x 3 centimetres
Weight: 300 grams
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