Item Number
2163
Type
image
Description
Tiger iron
Status
in inventory
Display/Storage
Display
Building
Zuhl Museum
Original Site
Australia
Date Acquired
2017
Source
Glen Archer
Gallery/Room\Floor
Wow Gallery
Notes
Banded iron formations (BIF) with tiger’s eye, also known as tiger iron, are most widely recognized for their exquisite banding/layers. For the most part the black layers are made up of hematite/oxides, the red layers are made of red jasper, and the golden layers consist of tiger’s eye. Tiger’s eye is a pseudomorph of quartz that retains the fibrous texture of the preexisting mineral, crocidolite. BIFs are evidence for some of the very first living things on earth, Cyanobacteria (blue/green algae). BIFs are formed when cyanobacteria produce gaseous oxygen as a waste product of photosynthesis, the oxygen then reacted with ionized iron in the shallow nearshore marine habitat to form iron oxide. The iron oxide precipitated out in layers on the seafloor, creating iron rich layers (indicated by the black coloration of iron oxides) and iron poor layers (typically indicated by the red coloration of red jasper and golden coloration of tiger’s eye). Bacteria, including the photosynthetic cyanobacteria, were the only forms of life for the first 2 billion years that life existed on Earth. In the modern-day BIFs are hosts to some of the oldest fossil microbes, as well as being a primary source of iron ore in the steel production industry.
Preview
Description
Banded iron formations (BIF) with tiger’s eye, also known as tiger iron, are most widely recognized for their exquisite banding/layers. For the most part the black layers are made up of hematite/oxides, the red layers are made of red jasper, and the golden layers consist of tiger’s eye. Tiger’s eye is a pseudomorph of quartz that retains the fibrous texture of the preexisting mineral, crocidolite. BIFs are evidence for some of the very first living things on earth, Cyanobacteria (blue/green algae). BIFs are formed when cyanobacteria produce gaseous oxygen as a waste product of photosynthesis, the oxygen then reacted with ionized iron in the shallow nearshore marine habitat to form iron oxide. The iron oxide precipitated out in layers on the seafloor, creating iron rich layers (indicated by the black coloration of iron oxides) and iron poor layers (typically indicated by the red coloration of red jasper and golden coloration of tiger’s eye). Bacteria, including the photosynthetic cyanobacteria, were the only forms of life for the first 2 billion years that life existed on Earth. In the modern-day BIFs are hosts to some of the oldest fossil microbes, as well as being a primary source of iron ore in the steel production industry. 12
Keywords
Tiger iron Banded iron formations (BIF) with tiger’s eye, also known as tiger iron, are most widely recognized for their exquisite banding/layers. For the most part the black layers are made up of hematite/oxides, the red layers are made of red jasper, and the golden layers consist of tiger’s eye. Tiger’s eye is a pseudomorph of quartz that retains the fibrous texture of the preexisting mineral, crocidolite. BIFs are evidence for some of the very first living things on earth, Cyanobacteria (blue/green algae). BIFs are formed when cyanobacteria produce gaseous oxygen as a waste product of photosynthesis, the oxygen then reacted with ionized iron in the shallow nearshore marine habitat to form iron oxide. The iron oxide precipitated out in layers on the seafloor, creating iron rich layers (indicated by the black coloration of iron oxides) and iron poor layers (typically indicated by the red coloration of red jasper and golden coloration of tiger’s eye). Bacteria, including the photosynthetic cyanobacteria, were the only forms of life for the first 2 billion years that life existed on Earth. In the modern-day BIFs are hosts to some of the oldest fossil microbes, as well as being a primary source of iron ore in the steel production industry. 2017 Sphere
Keywords
Tiger iron Banded iron formations (BIF) with tiger’s eye, also known as tiger iron, are most widely recognized for their exquisite banding/layers. For the most part the black layers are made up of hematite/oxides, the red layers are made of red jasper, and the golden layers consist of tiger’s eye. Tiger’s eye is a pseudomorph of quartz that retains the fibrous texture of the preexisting mineral, crocidolite. BIFs are evidence for some of the very first living things on earth, Cyanobacteria (blue/green algae). BIFs are formed when cyanobacteria produce gaseous oxygen as a waste product of photosynthesis, the oxygen then reacted with ionized iron in the shallow nearshore marine habitat to form iron oxide. The iron oxide precipitated out in layers on the seafloor, creating iron rich layers (indicated by the black coloration of iron oxides) and iron poor layers (typically indicated by the red coloration of red jasper and golden coloration of tiger’s eye). Bacteria, including the photosynthetic cyanobacteria, were the only forms of life for the first 2 billion years that life existed on Earth. In the modern-day BIFs are hosts to some of the oldest fossil microbes, as well as being a primary source of iron ore in the steel production industry. 2017 Sphere