Description
Large Banded Ironstone Specimens- Banded Ironstone is an iron rich rock from another time in the earth's history. Because iron oxidizes easily ironstone like this can no longer form. Ironstones are from a time when there was very little oxygen in the atmosphere or oceans to combine with iron. Most of the world's iron deposits formed during Precambrian time. Thousands of millions of years ago the ocean water was rich in iron but had very little oxygen. Then along came the cyanobacteria! This type of bacteria was the first organism to use photosynthesis to make its food while producing oxygen as a byproduct. Over time oxygen became common and in the process it combined with the iron already present in the water. The oxidized iron sank to the bottom. It was deposited in thick layers and is the source of much of the world's iron resources.
The piece pictured here is a sample of our inventory Your piece of Banded Ironstone will look very much like the one pictured here. They are about 4 inches x 2 inches in size."
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