Petrified Snowballs
the Gem of Tok

Not long ago a mysterious cache of hard white balls (about the size of an ostrich egg and weight of a brick) were found behind Tok Welding owned by my brother Chris here in our little community. "What are these?" I asked and tossed one to dad. Like a small cannon, it practically took his left shoulder off and his dog Johnnie leapt up to catch it on the rebound. The thing lodged in his gullet and if it weren't for Dad's quick thinking, grabbing the barbeque tongs to retrieve it, we might have lost Johnnie.

With a sign of relief, for both lives were spared, I looked to my dad for the answer. Growing up with Don Marshall, I learned one thing for sure,  Dad knows everything. All you have to do is ask him! He took a deep breath, wiped the dog’s salvia aside and held the rock-hard sphere up to the sun like a jewel. His eyes caressed the object in his hand, "The Gem of Tok,"  he pronounced in a reverent tone, "a petrified snowball

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Wow, was it really a petrified snowball? I'd never heard of such a thing. Dad motioned for me to sit. I was about to hear about petrified snowballs. Now, upon occasion my father has been known to embellish the facts, just to make a story a wee bit more interesting. So fact from fiction, a listener learns, must be distinguished right from the start. 
 
"The only popular report of a petrified snowball," Dad began giving me the all seeing eye of knowledge,  "comes from Jimmy Carter in Christmas in Plains. Jimmy and his siblings actually owned such a prize. However, we also know of calcified snowballs from several national parks and the  great Salt Lake."
 
Calcified snowballs! Wow again. There really was such a thing! And my brother had hundreds of them right behind his shop! 
 
"Only recently have these petrified wonders been unearthed in Tok, Alaska which is fast becoming known as the petrified snowball capital of the world,"  Dad continued. What he told me, cross my heart, is this:

Origins, according to Dad
Petrified snow (from the Greek root "petro" meaning "rock" or "stone", literally "snow turned into stone") is a type of fossil consisting of fossilized H2O where the liquid materials have been replaced with minerals (a combination of silicate and limestone). Petrified snow is formed into "balls" by glaciers, as it cracks into chunks and is ground smooth by glacial movement. Mineral-rich water flows through the crystal deposits and as they decay away, a stone mould forms in its place.

Petrified snow can preserve the original structure of the water crystals in all its detail, down to the microscopic level. Tok petrified snow consists of limestone, 75 to 77%, and alumina (A12O3) and silica (SiO2) 20 to 25%, approximately the same consistency and ingredients of Portland cement.
 
Variety according to Dad
Silicified snow is usually found within one of three types of strata. First, within the Tertiary strata that outcrop in the lower 48. They are rather nondescript and occur in cave ceilings, like Wind Cave in South Dakota and Mammoth Cave in Kentucky. Both contain petrified snowballs of calcified crystallized sulfate of lime and have been known to fall and conk people on the noggin.
Second, crystallized snowballs also occur by growing salt crystals in a closely controlled Great Salt Lake brine solution.

The third strata occur within volcanic ash under permafrost, i.e. around Tok and up to the North Pole by where Santa lives.  Can you believe it? We are one of the few places in the whole world that produce petrified snowballs!
My brother Chris, can't remember where the Gems of Tok came from, but he said that I could have ‘em! A few are on display at Janice’s Gold and Gem shop in front of Tok Welding. Everyone is welcome to see this natural wonder and for a small donation (to preserve the balls) you can even own one.

After inspecting them, I'll leave it for you to decide if the Gem of Tok, is fact or the fanciful fiction of a one Don Marshall, purveyor of all kinds of mysteries.

 Disclaimer. Petrified snowballs have been known to cause severe concussion. Not to be used in snowball fights!