Description
Biggs Jasper & Sterling Silver earrings. The drops are 0.9 inches in length & 1.1 inches wide. The 22 gauge earwires are one inch. The total length of the earrings is 1.2 inches. Biggs jasper is found between two basalt lava flows that once covered the states of Oregon, Washington & parts of Idaho. Many thousands of years passed between the individual flows, allowing life to flourish. During this time, the volcanic ash decomposed into clay & was deposited by rain water in streams & lakes atop the cooled basalt. There it mixed with silica & iron from the weathering of the then-recent igneous rocks, forming a plastic colloid. When lava next flowed over it, the heat & pressure transformed the muddy mixture. As water escaped in the form of superheated steam, pressure variations resulted in flexation & many short fluctuating changes, reflected in the jasper's many thin, parallel bands. The hydrothermal reaction progressed as a shock wave through the mud, removing iron from it & depositing the iron as intertwining bands of limonite. The altered rock remained plastic, & subject to local movement as a result of pressure changes. These caused the great variety of marbled, rosette-like & picture designs found in Biggs jasper. Biggs Jasper & Sterling Silver Earrings Handmade By Chris Hay
