Petrified Wood Slice

Petrified wood is the common name for wood that has turned to stone. Wood begins a petrification process once it is buried in sediments with very little exposure to oxygen. Overtime, the mineral rich water from the soil will replace the organic cells of the wood with inorganic elements like carbon (black), cobalt (green/blue), chromium (green/blue), copper, (green/blue), iron oxides (red/brown/yellow), manganese (pink and orange), manganese oxides (black or yellow) and silica ( white/grey/blueish white) to name a few. This process can happen very quickly, in as little as 1000 years, and it is the combination of these minerals and colours that creates a truly unique fossil specimen each time. Like other fossils, the various wood types require a lot of work in cleaning, polishing, and preparing the pieces for display. May you enjoy your fossil, as it is a scientific find as well as a link to our distant past. Fossils are to be treasured and enjoyed for future generations.