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The Denver Coliseum Mineral Fossil and Gem Show 2018 is actually a combination of five venues within the same general area, same promoter. The promoter says that there are 8 miles of tables in these five shows, covering 500,000 square feet of covered space. And that is just ONE of the shows here.
Masinton (shown here with Jim) is one of the few dealers in the main Coliseum building with petrified wood, but the show affords many opportunities to looks at beautiful rocks, visit with friends .. and to learn about fossils. With one week here, we should have plenty of time to explore the shows and dealers, hoping to find some wood! |
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Juniper (Juniperus sp.)
Toe Jam Creek Formation, Oligocene Tuscarora, Nevada ** A phenomenal slab from a renowned locality with a humorous formation name! The Tuscarora locality is famed for its brilliant shades of rust, pink and gold – and its interesting patterns. This slab is from an old collection. How do we know that? No one we know today is cutting slabs from logs this gorgeous at 1/2” thick! All of the wood we have ever seen from Tuscarora is "squished" (a not-so-technical term) indicating that perhaps it was quite wet and spongy when it was buried under a great deal of volcanic ash. It is possible that the deposit might have been a pond with sunken logs in a "waterlogged" condition, making them susceptible to being compressed by the great weight of the ash into oval and diamond shapes instead of their original round configuration. Part of the story that goes with this fabulous wood! 13" x 6" on polished face; 3/4" thick slab $195 |
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Bald Cypress (Taxodium sp.)
Columbia Basalts Group, MioceneSaddle Mountain, Washington ** Some of you likely know the lament: petrified wood is not becoming easier to find, especially quality petrified wood. Here is an example of what we as collectors wish we could still be finding. But trust us, it is not that easy. Saddle Mountain wood is almost always beautiful, and this one certainly qualifies with its great pattern on the polished face. It is a large and a relatively heavy specimen - something perhaps for the coffee table or the patio or for the centerpiece of your next display of exceptionally patterned wood. We don't often acquire specimens like this which are not what we call a complete round, but we simply had to make an exception for this one based purely on woody character aesthetics. It is simply a beauty! ++++++++++ Bald cypress occurs mainly along riparian wetlands subject to periodic flooding by silt-rich "brownwater" rivers. The generic name is derived from the Latin word "taxus" meaning "yew" and the Greek word "eidos" meaning "similar to." The trees are especially prized for their heartwood because it is extremely rot and termite resistant. The heartwood of living trees contains a sesquiterpene called cypressene, which acts as a natural preservative. 9.5” x 5.5” on polished face; 4.75” thick end cut $75 |
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Tanoak in lahar (Lithocarpus sp.)
Mehama Volcanics Unit, Little Butte Formation, Oligocene McQueen Ranch, Sweet Home area, Linn County, Oregon ** A very unusual specimen with excellent wood anatomy preserved! The McQueen Ranch was across the road from the former Marker Ranch (now called Holleywood Ranch) which produced some of the best preserved wood in the Linn County Petrified Forest. This stick of tanoak was rolled into a thick blanket of volcanic lahar. Lahar is a word originally derived from the Indonesian language in Java and it means a flowing, usually violent, mass of material ejected from a volcanic vent which combines with water and whatever soil and vegetation is in the area to create a hot mudflow concentrating in rivers or smaller stream channels. If they have sufficient gradient, they can be exceptionally destructive. Imagine a hot, viscous mudflow with the consistency of wet concrete and you can get an image of what a lahar would look like. The difference between a lahar and a flow consisting of only pyroclastic material shows up on this specimen. The lahar picks up anything in its way - either destroying it or taking it along for the ride. In our specimen, the stick of tanoak is being taken for a ride while the flow picks up small pebbles and bits of soil on its journey. Notice in the photo that you can see just how angular all of those pebbles and bits are. These small bits are definitely not river-tumbled with smooth surfaces. This angularity is often some of the best evidence of a lahar flow. The viscosity of the volcanic material in this particular flow made it possible to actually roll the stick into a larger cylinder before the entire mass cooled and was covered over by additional ash and mud. It is not possible to determine the source of water that made the flowing mixture possible. It could have been a heavy rainfall during the eruption, it could have been an existing stream, or it could have been a mass of snow which was immediately melted by the hot pyroclastic material. Whatever it was, it did a fabulous job for the petrified wood collector in producing this exceptional specimen. Please note that this is a HEAVY specimen - weighing in at just over 7 pounds. So, international collectors will need to think about the cost of shipping for this piece. Domestic customers will benefit from the USPS flat rate box program so shipping will not be much of a concern. In either event, please note that we also have a thick slab and the end cut off of this specimen which might appeal more to international customers or those with more limited storage/display space. 5” diameter on polished face; 6” long limb section $125 |
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Willow (Salix sp.)
Mehama Volcanics Unit, Little Butte Formation, Oligocene Holleywood Ranch, near Holley, Sweet Home area, Oregon ** Well, yes, we did spell Holleywood correctly. It is named and spelled this way because it is just outside the tiny, unincorporated hamlet of Holley, Oregon. In the really old mid- 20th century rockhounding days, it bore the name "Marker Ranch," and we still see some labels with this name applied to specimens. In any event, what we have here is an exceptional willow with a fantastic pith (no don't get me started on how it looks like a starfish...) We've included a photomicrograph (right) of this remarkable feature, as well as another closeup (far right) of the woody fine structure of the willow. The Holleywood Ranch was featured on the television program “Cash and Treasures” a few years back. It has produced some really exceptional wood -- even by the very high Sweet Home Petrified Forest standards! This specimen is a fine example of that quality. We particularly like the pattern created by differing iron oxide impurities in the chalcedony (red from hematite, black from Goethite, and tan from limonite). 6.75” x 4.5" on polished face; 1/2" thick slab $65 |
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Limb section (Angiospermae)
Denver Formation, Dawson Member, Paleocene East of Parker, Colorado ** Classic locality for color in limb sections. Long called "Parker wood" by rockhounds, this material is widespread over the high plains of Eastern Colorado -- from Parker, Colorado, all the way out east to the border with Kansas. Included in this area is the tiny railroad hamlet of Agate, Colorado. Guess why the railroad stop was called "Agate"? Of course, the material was mostly just agate limb casts with very little to hint that it had started out as wood. The problem has always been finding representative specimens with good wood structure and a center pith along with nicely defined growth rings. This one has some patches of structure that enable us to identify it as a dicot angiosperm and there are hints of growth rings as well. The color and wood grain character make this a nice specimen to add to any collection as a good representative of this old rockhounding locality. 1.75" x 1.25" on polished face; limb section 3" long $38 |
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Note the chalcedony bubbles on the edge of this fantastic slab/
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Ancient Redwood (Sequoia sp.)
Columbia Plateau Basalts Group Miocene Saddle Mountain, Washington ** An exceptional piece from Saddle Mountain with clear and crisp aesthetic growth rings and a really eye-catching presence! This stunning display-quality specimen is further enhanced by the cavity which emanates from the center. This cavity is filled with bubbly white chalcedony over its entire surface. There are similar bubbles of chalcedony dripping off of the exterior rind of this slab as well! A truly outstanding piece. Got lots of Saddle Mountain material in your collection? This one might top the list! 10” x 5.5” on polished face; 1/2” thick slab $210 (immediately qualifies for our 10% discount on orders over $200) |
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Tanoak (Lithocarpus sp.)
Mehama Volcanics Unit, Little Butte Formation, Oligocene Sweet Home area, Linn County, Oregon ** Wow, what a beauty, and one of the better-preserved slices of Tanoak that we have seen from the Sweet Home petrified forest. The perfect preservation is best seen microscopically in the tan areas of the slab. We particularly like the blue agate filling in some of the dessicaton cracks and cavities. The cracks were already present in the wood prior to petrification and later provided passageways for the groundwater to enter the log. Be sure to check closely our photomicrograph of the outstanding woody fine structure. The blue fortification agate filling some of the cavities in the old log gives this slab real aesthetic appeal. 9” x 7.5” on polished face; 5/8” thick slab $95 |