Polished Septarian Display Plate - 137mm, 303g

Locality - Mahajanga, Madagascar
Size – 137 x 96 x 12mm
Weight – 303g

This septarian plate features excellent, crisp 'giraffe skin' patterns in grey-brown limestone with 'cracked' detailing and rich, lemon yellow calcite with milky 'veins'. It has been polished on both sides and displays beautifully on either one, ideal as a windowsil decoration. This polished plate will be accompanied by a chrome display stand with rubber ferrules as shown in the picture.

The septarian stone, also called 'septereye' and 'septaria', is named after the Latin word 'septum', meaning 'partition', and refers to the cracks and separations characteristic of the rock, and not for the Latin name for 'seven' as widely believed. Septarian stones are a form of sedimentary geode formed on ancient sea floors during the Cretaceous period 50-70 million years ago. Though their formation is not completely understood, it is widely believed that it started when sea life killed by volcanic eruptions became trapped in sediment forming mud balls that dried and cracked when the ocean receded. As the ocean returned, decomposing shell life carried calcite into the cracks which crystallized. The yellow colour is caused by calcite, the brown lines by aragonite, the grey rock from limestone and the white or clear areas by barite.

Septarian stones are also known as 'Dragon Stones' due to an old Malagasy legend claiming the stones to be the fossilized remains of dragons, the cracked patterns resembling their scales.