Great South Gems & Minerals

• Turritella Agate Rough •
Fossil Stone (Wyoming) 

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• Turritella Agate Rough •
Fossil Stone (Wyoming) 

rough Turritella Agate - Turritella Agate

This chunk of rough Turritella Agate measures 6" long X 4-1/2" wide X 4" thick, and weights 4.0 pounds.

The turritella is a shallow water aquatic snail, a gastropod, member of the mollusca family. During the Eocene age (34 to 56 million years ago) Wyoming was covered by shallow seas. Today, huge quantities of this fossil rock is found in Wyoming's Green River Formation as evidence of this event. Different species of turritella are known to have existed from the Cretaceous to recent periods. Due to the shape of the Turritella it is called an AUGER SHELL.

This rough material is commonly referred to as "Turritella Agate", however this is incorrect. The small fossil shells themselves, in the stone matrix, is a chalcedony agate material, a member of the quartz family but the matrix stone is more properly identified as a Jasper, not Agate. While Jasper and Agate are both members of the quartz family and both are silicon dioxide... there is a difference. From a lay person's point the difference can be explained as such: Agate is translucent while Jasper is not. Take a thin piece of material.. hold it up to a light source.. if you can see light through the material it is an agate, if you can't see light through the material it is a jasper.

For larger, individual fossil turritella shells see: p-F1326.html.

See more information of the Turritella and Turritella Agate.

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