Description
Archean Butterstone chunk, sawn and polished on four faces, honed on two. Approximately 1 5/8″ x 1 3/8″ x 1″. From the South African Greenstone Belt. Soft yellow/green coloration, 3.8 Ounces (108 grams or a bit more) – a healthy-sized example, compared to the generally smaller fragments generally available. This piece dates to the Archean Eon, making it greater than 2.5 Billion Years old. The darker laminations are ancient stromatolites which can – and often do – (see scans) generally contain fossils of coccoidal bacteria and other organism, which are very small, often at and below .003 mm. in diameter or length, and are very ancient occurrences of life on this planet – though not nearly the oldest, those having arisen some 4.1 billion years, in the Hadean Eon. Greenstone is metamorphosed volcanic rock of several types, usually basalt. Original vintage box accompanies this specimen. Please see all scans. LOKSH2
