I found this petrified “hamburger” among the landscaping cobbles at my old house. It is a water-worn limestone rock that has a layer of fossilized creatures. We keep it on display in a McDonald’s container and bring it out for show and tell regularly.
At first, when I’d show it to my family and friends, I’d say, “Would you like fries with that?” Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to follow through if they said, “Yes, please!”
Well, I’m happy to report that we now offer petrified fries with our (two-and-a-) quarter pounder!
Near Paris, Ontario, along the Nith River is a tufa outcrop. Some years ago, during the spring runoff a great mass of the tufa was washed away. Exposed were several cavities at the interface of a calcite-cemented conglomerate unit and the tufa unit. These vugs were lined with massive and crystalized calcite.
In 2016, erosion revealed more treasures, including these calcite pseudomorph twigs.
The calcite speleothems fluoresce strong, pale yellow in long wave ultra violet light, and also phosphoresce. You don’t get that sort of “up-sizing” at the golden arches!
