Article
The fossil pearls of the Million-Pearls Flowstone, Fairgrounds Room, Fort Stanton Cave, New Mexico USA
Victor J. Polyak, Paula P. Provencio, and Yemane Asmerom
- Two cave pearl layers are preserved in a thin flowstone on an extinct stream bed
- The pearls are referred to as ‘fossil pearls’ due to their unusual occurrence
- The pearls consist of calcite and exhibit layers of white amorphous-like silicate material
- Their nuclei are composed of aggregates of calcite crystals or clay balls
- Timing of the pearl layers are coeval with two Last Glacial stadials
