Desert Sunset Jasper Rough Australia 7x7x3" 7lbs11oz Tuff To Find Cleans Up Well

Description

Desert Sunset Jasper Rough Rock Australia 7" x 7" x 3" 7 Lbs. 11oz. Tuff To Find
Condition is "New". Shipped with USPS First Class.
5lbs 13.1oz
This piece has a lot of color!
Photographed wet & Dry in natural sunlight
Sunset Jasper is found in the Pilbara region of Western Australia adjacent to the Marra Mamba iron formation.
Sunset Jasper is a metamorphosed sedimentary rock that is part of the quartz family, being very high in silica but with a high percentage of impurities, in this case mainly iron oxides. These iron impurities give Sunset Jasper its mixed range of colors, from vivid reds through to various shades of yellow, cream, brown, and grey. The stone often has vugs of higher purity iron in the form of goethite pisolites. Interestingly, the deposit has 3 distinct layers, each with its own palette of colors and patterns.
The deposit sits adjacent to the Marra Mamba iron formation, in one of Western Australia’s main iron ore provinces, which explains its high iron content. It is close to operating iron ore mines. This area was once a vast inland sea, where iron was pumped from underground vents into a very calm body of water. The heavy iron particles settled in layers on the sea floor, building up over time. Heat, pressure and an oxygen atmosphere, transformed these layers into the iron ore we see today. The Sunset Jasper was a later but similar layered formation, with much of the iron replaced by silica. The iron formations date back 2.4 – 2.8 billion years, but the jasper deposit is likely younger than this. With a moh’s hardness of 6 – 6.5, Sunset Jasper is well suited to beads and cabochons, specimen pieces and slabs, carvings and other ornamental objects. As with all rocks from nature, there may be fracture lines either visible or invisible. We do not put them there ~ Mother Nature does, so please keep this in mind when planning your purchase - Thank you!