Description
- Fern Plate
- Carboniferous Period (299 – 359 Million Years Old)
- Piesberg Quarry
- Osnabruck, Germany
- Specimen measures approx. 7″ x 10 3/4″
- This specimen has been painstakingly prepped so that the fern itself is 3-D having had the matrix removed from around the fern frond.. it is beautiful in person
Piesberg is a mountain of 188 metres high and was formed 70 milion years ago when an underground vulcano pushed deep stone layers up to the surface. The site has been used for coal mining since 1461, but the mining was ceased in 1898 because of heavy water flows. If you look closely today you can still see many of the old underground tunnels now laid bare due to the more recent surface mining for sandstone. The quarry is famous for its fossils (there are many fossil-bearing carbon layers present in the quarry), but it is also possible to find minerals. The quarry is famous for its Plant fossils from the Carboniferous period and fossil remains of dragonflies can be found as well as nice pieces of petrified wood. Besides these fossils, it is also possible to find minerals (14 valid registries) in this quarry. Near the North wall of the quarry, there is a Quartz-vein running, which brought some beautifull specimen in the past.