Natural History - Fossil Pine Cone

A very large selenite gypsum 'desert rose' composed of blades of selenite with gypsum sand inclusions. 3.1 kg, 22 cm wide



From a Humberside, UK, collection.

Comprising two iron Campo Del Cielo (IAB) meteorites. 3.07 grams total, 12 mm each



From Chaco Province, Argentina, found 1576. Property of an East Sussex, UK, teacher.

A crater field of roughly 26 craters was found in the vicinity of this crater, which is estimated to date to 4-5 thousand years BP. The age of the meteorite itself is thought to be c.4.5 billion years, formed as part of the development of this solar system. The largest two fragments, the 30.8 ton Gancedo and 28.8 ton El Chaco, are among the heaviest meteorite masses ever recovered on Earth. In 1576, the governor of a province in Northern Argentina commissioned the military to search for a large mass of iron, which it was believed the local people claimed had fallen from the sky and which they used for their weapon production. The expedition discovered a large mass of metal which was assumed to be an iron mine and brought back a few samples, which were described as being of unusual purity. Following the legends, in 1774 Don Bartolomé Francisco de Maguna rediscovered the iron mass. He himself did not believe that the stone had fallen from the sky and assumed that it had formed by a volcanic eruption. However, he sent the samples to the Royal Society of London. In 1990 it became protected by law.

The rectangular matrix containing a Knightia alta fish. 233 grams, 14.6 cm



From Wyoming (Green River Formation), USA. Acquired during 1980s. From the Pradi Collection, Boston, U.S.A.

Seasonally some 58 million years ago, in the Green River region of Wyoming, torrential rains fell in the mountains. They flowed down the mountain sides, forming wide shallow lakes in the valley below. During the dry season, these lakes would dry up due to evaporation (as happens in certain parts of Africa today). Millions of fish died in this short period of time. This climatic cycle happened over a 20-thousand-year period. Layer upon layer of mud entombed all these fish. At a much later date, volcanic activity uplifted this area to expose the fossils.