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Microbialite -Tiger Iron, Banded Iron Formation (BIF)

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This is a very decorative slap of banded iron ore or Tiger Iron from Australia. This piece has been extensively polished from all sides to show its beautiful structures and the attractive coloring. Banded iron ores from Australia are characterized by a particularly beautiful pattern. Banded ironstone or Tiger Iron from the Proterozoic are also widely referred to as BIF's. BIFs for Banded Iron Formations. Due to the involvement of cyanobacteria in the formation of Tiger Iron many BIFs are classified as microbialites. Microbialites are rocks whose formation is related to the metabolism and growth of microbes. Similar to stromatolites, banded iron ores or BIFs are also organosedimentary rocks. Tiger Iron Ore is actually not a fossil of the stromatolite colonies themselves. They formed by accumulated iron oxide from the primeval oceans. Tiger Iron are therefore considered to be indirect evidence of an increased oxygen content in the Precambrian.

	Location:	Pardoo Iron Ore Mine, De Grey, West- Australia
	Size :	about 190 x 116 mm
	Age:	Precambrian, Lower Proterozoic, Cleaverville Formation (about 3,000 Ma / 3Ga)

Product no.: 10657