NATURAL TREASURES
HEAVENLY ROCKS
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This page displays rocks that have an association with the heavens for their source or formation, For example, Fulgurites were formed by lightning striking the earth, fusing sand grains together. Meteorites are ancient, primordial fragments from the proto solar system that happen to collide with the earth as it travels around the sun. Although most meteorites vaporize in a brilliant light show as they speed through the earth's atmosphere, some do occasionally impact the ground for us to find. Keep your eyes open!! Tektites are silicate glass formations, lechatelierite, created by an asteroid slamming into Earth. Such massive impacts liquefy and splash portions of the Earth into the upper atmosphere, which return to Earth as glass.
FULGURITES- "PETRIFIED LIGHTNING"
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- MFUL8 MFUL9 MFUL7 MFUL10 MFUL11
MFUL7
MFUL8
MFUL9
MFUL10
MFUL11
Fulgurites (from the Latin "fulgur" meaning lightning) are produced by lightning striking exposed rock surfaces, especially sand. It is estimated that each lightning flash releases about 1 billion joules of energy and reaches temperatures of 20,000 degrees Kelvin- hotter than the sun's surface, enough to melt and fuse san grains into a fulgurite. Fulgurites are sometimes branched, and sometimes exhibit a hollow center, where the sand was vaporized by the lightning.
| Item # | Description |
Price(no tax) |
Price(w/tax-TX res) |
|---|---|---|---|
| MFUL7 | Hollow Fulgurite, West Texas 2.3" long, 0.4" wide SOLD | $30.00 | $32.48 |
| MFUL8 | Hollow, Fat Fulgurite, Libyan Desert, Egypt, 2.5" long, 0.9" wide | $30.00 | $32.48 |
| MFUL9 | Solid, Thin Fulgurite, Tampa, Florida, 3.3" long, 0.3" wide | $26.00 | $28.15 |
| MFUL10 | Hollow Fulgurite, West Texas 2.2" long, 0.8" wide | $26.00 | $28.15 |
| MFUL11 | Hollow Fulgurite, West Texas 1.7" long, 0.9" wide | $26.00 | $28.15 |
METEORITE, New Campo del Cielo, Argentina
MMRTNC1 
MMRTNC2
These are iron meteorites from the relatively new discovery of Campo del Cielo meteorites in Argentina. They are very stable and oxidize very little.
| Item # | Description | Price (no tax) | Price (w/tax TX res) |
| MMRTNC1 | Meteorite Specimen- New Campo | $195.00 | $211.09 |
| MMRTNC2 | Meteorite Specimen- New Campo | $125.00 | $135.31 |
METEORITE, from the Sikhote-Alin Mountains, Siberia, Russia
MMRTSA
MMSTMP
The Sikhote-Alin meteorite shower, the largest one known, was witnessed at 10:30 am on 12 February 1947 as it streaked across the Sikhote-Alin Mountains of Siberia, Russia. This nickel-iron, coarse octahedrite is very stable and exhibits regmaglypts, which are thumbprint-like depressions, and has ragged, twisted and distorted surfaces. This occurred because the meteorite broke up at a rather low altitude and was not subjected to the intense ablation that would have smoothed its surface had it broken up at a higher altitude.
The Russian postage stamp commemorating both the Sikhote-Alin meteorite fall as well as the space program and the launch of the satellite Sputnik was issued in 1957.
| Item # | Description | Price (no tax) | Price (w/tax TX res) |
| MMRTSA | Meteorite Specimen- Sikhote-Alin SOLD | $68.00 | $73.61 |
| MMSTMP | Sikhote-Alin Russian Postage Stamp | $20.00 | $21.65 |
METEORITE, from Gibeon, Great Nama Land, Namibia
MMGBN1
MMGBN2
MMGBN3
This Gibeon nickel-iron, fine octahedrite is the bounty of a huge meteorite shower that occurred thousands of years ago when an enormous iron mass fragmented upon impact with Earth's atmosphere. It was first recovered in 1836 from the edge of the Kalahari Desert, although native inhabitants knew about it before then. Local tribesmen mined the meteoritic iron to make spear points and other tools.
| Item # | Description | Price (no tax) | Price (w/tax TX res) |
| MMGBN1 | Meteorite Specimen- GibeonSOLD | $34.00 | $36.81 |
| MMGBN2 | Meteorite Specimen- Gibeon SOLD | $33.00 | $35.73 |
| MMGBN2 | Meteorite Specimen- Gibeon SOLD | $31.00 | $33.56 |
TEKTITES, variety MOLDAVITE
MMVT1 
MMVT2
MMVT3
The most beautiful of all tektites, moldavite is found in the Moldau River Valley in Bohemia and Monrovia (formerly part of Czechoslovakia) and was created nearly 15 million years ago by a massive meteorite impact. Moldavite has been revered as a talisman by Paleolithic humans, worn as pendants in the Middle Ages, and delivered by men to their fiancées in the 17th-19th centuries to assure harmony in their marital relations.
| Item # | Description | Price (no tax) | Price (w/tax TX res) |
| MMVT1 | Tektite, variety Moldavite | $28.00 | $30.31 |
| MMVT2 | Tektite, variety Moldavite | $24.00 | $25.98 |
| MMTV3 | Tektite, variety Moldavite | $20.00 | $21.65 |
TEKTITES, variety LIBYAN DESERT GLASS
MLDG1 
MLDG2 
MLDG3
Libyan Desert Glass is an example of Lechatelierite, which is fused quartz grains. It is believed to have been formed as a result of a large meteorite impact. Like Moldavite, above, the tremendous energy released by the impacting meteorite, transformed into heat, melted and fused grains of quartz sand into "glass". Many specimens display ventifacts where the surface appears to have been sandblasted by wind blown sand. This creates a frosted appearance as well as scooped out facets. The facets form when the glass is subject to wind blown sand for a period of time until an extra strong wind moves the piece into a different position and another facet is formed. Libyan Desert Glass has been radiometrically dated at 29 million years ago, putting it in the Miocene Epoch. No meteorite crater, responsible for its creation, has yet been found. These specimens were collected in the Libyan Desert, Egypt.
| Item # | Description | Price (no tax) | Price (w/tax TX res) |
| MLDG1 | Libyan Desert Glass, frosted, ventifacts SOLD | $31.00 | $33.56 |
| MLDG2 | Libyan Desert Glass, mottled surface, no ventifacts SOLD | $31.00 | $33.56 |
| MLDG3 | Libyan Desert Glass, frosted, ventifacts | $31.00 | $33.56 |
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