Facetted Garnet Bead String

A freestanding matrix containing a large Ophiuroidea sp. specimen. 262 grams, 10.3 cm



From a Cambridgeshire, UK, collection.

Diplomystus sp. in a rectangular matrix. 1.52 kg, 22 x 16 cm



From Wyoming (Green River Formation), USA. From a Lincolnshire, UK, collection.

In southwest Wyoming (and parts of Colorado and Utah) in the Green River Formation are found some of the world's most outstanding specimens of fossil fish. The Green River system was composed of three lakes: Lake Ulinta, Lake Gosiute and Fossil Lake. These Eocene lakes lay in a series of intermountain basins formed by geological events that uplifted the Rocky Mountains during the early Tertiary time. The climate was much different from the desert-like climate of this area today. Both the fauna (crocodiles, alligators, boa constrictors and some subtropical fish families) and the flora (such as large palm trees) indicate a climate much like that found along the Gulf Coast today. Large amounts of ash found in the sediments indicate that volcanoes were particularly active at this time.

A coarse octahedrite class IIB iron meteorite from a witnessed fall in the former USSR, showing exceptional ablation forms and surface preservation, cleaned. 25 grams, 32 mm



From a Lincolnshire, UK, collection.

Sikhote-Alin is an iron meteorite that fell on February, 13, 1947 on the Sikhote-Alin Mountains in eastern Siberia. Though large iron meteorite falls had been witnessed previously and fragments recovered, never before in recorded history had a fall of this magnitude been observed. An estimated 70 tonnes of material survived the fiery passage through the atmosphere and reached the Earth. The strewn field for this meteorite covered an elliptical area of about 1.3 km2 (0.50 sq mi). Some of the fragments made impact craters, the largest of which was about 26 m (85 ft) across and 6 m (20 ft) deep. Fragments of the meteorite were also driven into the surrounding trees. The Soviet Union issued a stamp for the 10th anniversary of the Sikhote-Alin meteorite shower and this reproduces a painting by P. J. Medvedev, a Soviet artist who witnessed the fall: he was sitting in his window starting a sketch when the fireball appeared, so he immediately began drawing what he saw.