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Turritella Agate
Turritella Agate is a brown stone with naturally occurring seashell fossils.
These seashells are turreted, cone shaped shells exhibiting long slender whorls with spiral ribbing.
Turritella Agate is not banded or translucent, but in one of those inconsistencies in the rock world, it is called an agate.
Although people have called this material “Turritella” agate for several decades, the name is actually incorrect. It was mistakenly named after a genus of fossil snails that are very similar to the shells in the agate.
The name of the snails is actually "Elimia tenera," a member of the Pleuroceridae family. The shells of Elimia are distinguishable from Turritella by being generally shorter and wider.
Turritella Agate formed during the Eocene Epoch, between around 53 and 42 million years ago.
The shells accumulated in the sediments of a shallow inland sea in an area that we now know as Wamsutter, Wyoming and were then agatized by the deposit of fine-grained silica into the cavities of the shells and the voids between them.
Turritella agate cuts easily and takes a great polish!
OakRocks has been in the rock and mineral business for over 40 years!
We are a great source for Turritella Agate and carry a selection of rough rock, stone slabs and polished pieces.