Natural History - Historic Canadian Silver Ore Specimen

The iron meteorite (chemical group IIAB) with a coarse octahedrite structure. 18 grams, 25 mm



From Sikhote-Alin Mountains, Primorye, Russia. From a Lincolnshire, UK, collection.

The Sikhote-Alin meteorite fell during daylight at 10:38 am local time on 12th February, 1947. Witnesses reported a fireball that was brighter than the sun. It came from about 15 degrees east of north and descended at an angle of 41 degrees. It left a trail of smoke and dust 20 miles long which lingered for several hours. Light and sound of the fall were observed for two hundred miles around the point of impact.

The white apophyllite crystals with salmon-pink stilbite. 78 grams, 70 mm



From Poona, India. Collected in person in 2015. From the private mineral collection of Stephen Atkinson, Harpenden, UK. Accompanied by a copy of a letter from the vendor giving details of him collecting these minerals throughout his life.

Knightia alta specimen on a rectangular matrix. 303 grams, 14.5 cm



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

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.