SHELL PATCH

MusselShells on Natural Matrix Cretaceous Coober Pedy, Australia

Opalized Clam exquisite specimen

Each individual clam shell has been completely, or partially, opalized

Over 100 million years ago, most of the Australian continent was under water. The water was highlyconcentrated with silicate and other opal-producing minerals, which deposited in layers in and around the shells.

OPALIZED MUSSELS Eyrena tatei Lower Cretaceous Coober Pedy, southern Australia This marvelous profusion of prehistoric mussels comes from the “opal capital of the world”, the inhospitable and isolated Coober Pedy, in the southern Australian outback. Their shells have been geomorphically replaced over millions of years by precious opal, flashing with translucent green, pink, orange and violet, and because of opal’s microcrystalline structure, the smallest details of the fossil shells have been preserved. This natural assemblage of over 29 opalized shells has been partially prepared from the characteristic salmon-pink sandstone plaque which provides a delicate aesthetic contrast. Most of the shells have been polished to reveal the opalescent colors from within. The largest individual mussel specimen measures 2 5/8 inches and the complete matrix plate measures 18 inches in length.

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display ofbright lively colors of purple, lavender, green and ivory white

Opalised fossils from South Australia, mainly the Coober Pedy area, are of saltwater creatures, snails, clams, mollusks, crayfish, belemnites and mussels from the early Cretaceous period

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