Banded iron (NMNH 76079) | Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

Smithsonian Institution

Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

Chip Clark

Catalog number 76079, a cut and polished banded iron formation, from the Mineral Sciences collections at the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History. ??From the Sant Ocean Hall exhibition label: On land, red beds (iron oxide deposits) form only if the atmosphere contains free oxygen. This rock, about 2.2 billion years old, tells us that the atmosphere had at least some oxygen. Many scientists think atmospheric oxygen levels then were about 1 percent today's levels.

Catalog number 76079, a cut and polished banded iron formation, from the Mineral Sciences collections at the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History. ??From the Sant Ocean Hall exhibition label: On land, red beds (iron oxide deposits) form only if the atmosphere contains free oxygen. This rock, about 2.2 billion years old, tells us that the atmosphere had at least some oxygen. Many scientists think atmospheric oxygen levels then were about 1 percent today's levels.

Catalog number 76079, a cut and polished banded iron formation, from the Mineral Sciences collections at the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History. ??From the Sant Ocean Hall exhibition label: On land, red beds (iron oxide deposits) form only if the atmosphere contains free oxygen. This rock, about 2.2 billion years old, tells us that the atmosphere had at least some oxygen. Many scientists think atmospheric oxygen levels then were about 1 percent today's levels.

View Banded iron formation in the GeoGallery.

Metadata Usage (text):: Creative Commons Zero
Creative Commons:: This media is in the public domain (free of copyright restrictions). You can copy, modify, and distribute this work without contacting the Smithsonian. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use.

Taxon:: Banded iron - Primary

Record Last Modified:: 17 Sep 2024
Specimen Count:: 1
Stratigraphy:: Vermllion Iron Bearing Series

Other Numbers:: IGSN ID : 10.58151/NHB004C8G
USNM Number:: NMNH 76079

Place:: Minnesota, United States, North America

See more items in:: Mineral Sciences; Rock & Ore Collections; Oversize Collection (Shelf); NMNH - Mineral Sciences Dept.

Record ID:: nmnhmineralsciences_1369368

GUID (Link to Original Record):: http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/3cc614683-b66f-4116-844b-06d121d253e3

Open Access Online Media:: Creative Commons Zero; These media are in the public domain (free of copyright restrictions). You can copy, modify, and distribute this work without contacting the Smithsonian. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use.