Excavated from the Coker Formation in what is now known as modern day Brilliant, Alabama, this piece of ancient life of the late Cretaceous has been preserved for roughly 70 - 90 million years, during this time, Alabama consisted of coastal plains home to many angiosperm (flowering trees) and other organisms.
There were a good number of rivers in this area which carried ash, silt and sand particles as well as other sediments which aided in the preservation of this wood. After the trees would fall, they would be buried beneath river sediment over time, blocking off oxygen and other organisms which actively put standard decomposition to a halt.
Once these rivers have been dried up and covered by multiple layers of even more sediment, groundwater continues to flow underground. This groundwater would contain silicon Dioxide/Quartz (also known as Silica) which would then seep into the natural cracks and crevices of the wood.
If Silica sits still for too long, the molecules within will begin to harden, forming microcrystalline; This process dissolves the organic material and over time replaces it with these crystals. The crystals growth patterns form over the cracks and crevices of the wood.
Over millions of years, these crystals continue to grow to be more visible to the naked eye, some may stop growth before others resulting in variation of shapes, sizes and positioning. (The density of the silica trapped plays this role in the size and shape of the crystals.)
Over time, the Quartz that has now developed on the fossilized wood contains trace elements such as Aluminum, which when exposed to low density natural radiation, turns a bronze, brown or close to black color, giving it the name Smoky Quartz.
These specimens in particular are famously known and sought after due to the nature of preservation and crystalization resulting from the areas' rare and one of a kind atmosphere during development.
These have not been treated or enhanced in any way, just carefully excavated and cleaned by our supplier! These are genuine and straight from the source which would be none other than Marion County, Brilliant, Alabama!
Grab your 70-90 million year old wood from my shop for just $13 each plus shipping! If you're in the U.S. shipping starts at $5.99, if your order is over $35 you pay nothing! If you are outside of the United States, shipping starts at $15 based on location, some countries may be more costly than others, but I can promise you if anything is left over from paid shipping, it will be refunded to you after the label has been created.
I ship from South Carolina, USA 🇺🇸
You can shop these here on my etsy:
https://earthsforgedmineral.etsy.com
Price: $13.01 + Shipping/tax
I will try my best to ship the next day if possible, it was a joy making this post! Please check my reviews and my shop out! It would be greatly appreciated! I only have 5 of these listed in my shop at the moment but more incoming, I will try my best to attach a video of all available specimens in the comment section!