Yellow Cat Redwood Limb Cast • Moab, Utah • 487 grams/1 lb. 1.2 oz. for Sale

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Yellow Cat Redwood Limb Cast • Moab, Utah • 487 grams/1 lb. 1.2 oz. For Sale

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Yellow Cat Redwood Limb Cast • Moab, Utah • 487 grams/1 lb. 1.2 oz.:
$395.00

Yellow Cat Petrified Wood from Utah

Collectible, Rare, Unique Fossil Wood • Morrison Formation

Background: Tusher redwoods are more commonly known by the name, Yellow Cat Redwood. It is recognized as one of the rarest mineral occurrences on the planet. They are cast silica replacements of Jurassic age conifers. These specimens are found at Yellow Cat flats in the Brushy Basin Member of the Morrison Formation in Eastern Utah near Moab. The Yellow Cat Petrified Wood stands alone as a spectacular example of fortification agate. The colors are very intense yellows, blacks, white, lavenders, oranges and red which are produced by ta variety of minerals including silica, barite, calcite and groutite. In 2008 a limb section of Yellow Cat redwood was sold at sale for $ 60,000.00.

How Do I Know This is Petrified Wood? There are several clues that lead us to the conclusion that these are bona fide chunks of real wood:

1. Appearance: We hate to state the obvious but take a good look. The outside of the sample probably has a coating or rind that looks like the outside of a tree. You may also see speckles inside the structure of the bone or on the sides. These are the cells of the bones that have been filled with minerals that hardened. They are all colors from white to black and the rarer and more beautiful bones have oranges, reds, yellows and even blues and purple minerals inside. Finally, sometime the shape is a very recognizable branch or limb section.

2. Collecting Location: These specimens were collected in Brush Basin member of the Morrison Formation near Moab, utah. It is a rock layer that was formed when large trees covered the earth and is famous for being full of wood specimens

3. Host Rock: The rocks in the Morrison Formation, where the bones are found, are sedimentary rocks. Sedimentary rocks are prime collecting locations for fossils. If you look in igneous rock layers (cooled lava) or metamorphic rock layers (squished and heated rock) you are going to have a much harder time finding fossils.

4. Microscopic Study: Paleobotanists, scientists who specialize in studying plant fossils like this one, have examined specimens from the Morrison Formation using a microscope. The specimens that are studied have all of the characteristics of wood and can be easily distinguished from rocks or dinosaur fossils also found in the area.

Uses: On the hobby side wood is great for cutting and polishing to display. Some folks like to make petrified wood jewelry if the specimen is full of colorful minerals. You can also find tables, benches and counters made of colorful wood. From an educational standpoint this is great example of mineralization and a nice complement to other mineral replacement specimens.