Petrified wood is found worldwide, however there are some locations that have more abundant amounts or more colorful varieties of these fossils. It is important to remember that this process takes thousands of years to completely replace the vegetation and during this time the climate will undergo many shifts, so for impeccable preservation to occur, very specific conditions are necessary. A significant portion of petrified wood is believed to have formed from ash covering forests after major volcanic activity. What you are left with is a non-carbon-copy of the tree made of rock instead of organic matter. Given the rigidity of plant cell walls, these structures act as a blueprint for the replacement to take the exact shape of the preexisting material. If conditions allow, groundwaters rich in silica, calcite, and other minerals, will seep through the buried tree and replace the organic material with inorganic material. This lack of oxygen protects the structure of the tree from rotting and decaying.
WOOD BOOKENDS FREE
If that covering happens quick enough and complete enough, it will create an environment around the tree that is free from oxygen. This occurs when a tree falls and is covered by sediment. Petrification of wood can happen in a few ways, but the most common process is by way of silicification. This color is dependent on the location and age of the wood, but all specimens are truly astonishing to behold. Depending on the minerals present in groundwater during the fossilization process, petrified wood can be a variety of different colors from deep blacks to reds, yellows, pinks, blues, whites, and even green. Most of the petrified wood circulating on the market is the remains of tree trunks. This term is applicable to any form of fossilized vegetation, typically trunks or stems of larger plants.
First and foremost, petrified wood is actually a fossil.