Great South Gems & Minerals

• Petrified Wood Display piece •
Sanded and polished (Indonesia)

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE

• Petrified Wood Display piece •
Sanded and polished (Indonesia)

petrification - Petrified Wood Display piece - Petrified Wood

A great displace specimen of petrified wood that has been sanded and polished. From Indonesia. Measures 9-1/4" High X 8" wide X 4" deep at the base. Weight: 12.0 pounds.

This material comes from one of the most geologically turbulent places on earth. Active volcanos, tsunamis, frequent earthquakes, sinkholes, and devastating mud slides have made the chain of some 17,000 islands that make up Indonesia a most turbulent place. The eruption of the Toba super volcano, approximately 70,000 years ago, was one of the largest eruptions ever, and caused a global catastrophe. See a brief write up of the geology of Indonesia.

"Petrification" is the process by which organic material, such as wood, sea shells and bones are turned into stone. The term is most often used when referring to Petrified Wood Display piece Specimen. Petrification is a mineral displacement process, meaning the minerals in the original item has been replaced with a different mineral, usually a silica/quartz. The petrification process occurs underground, when wood, or other organic material becomes buried under sediment and is initially preserved due to a lack of oxygen. Mineral-rich water flowing through the sediment deposits minerals in the cells of the organic item and eventually harden into stone. Petrified Wood Display piece Specimen can preserve the original structure of the wood in all its detail, down to the microscopic level. Structures such as tree rings and the various tissues are often observed features.

The colors seen in Petrified Wood Display piece Specimen is a result of the contaminating elements that are in the soil where the Petrified Wood Display piece Specimen is found. The following is a list of contaminating elements and the related color hues found in the Petrified Wood Display piece Specimen:

• Carbon - black
• Cobalt - green/blue
• Chromium - green/blue
• Copper - green/blue
• Iron oxides - red, brown, and yellow
• Manganese - pink/orange
• Manganese oxides - black

Often times a small amount of the wood fiber will deteriorate or rot away prior to the tree becoming petrified, leaving some cavities in the organic material. When this happens these cavities are often filled with silica/quartz crystals called drusy. Such is the case with large deposits of Petrified Wood Display piece Specimen coming from Alabama and Utah. The material has small quartz crystals on one surface. Petrified Wood Display piece Specimen is the state gem of Washington. See other Petrified Wood Display piece Specimen:

• Polished Petrified Wood Display piece from Oregon
• Petrified Wood Display piece with drusy quartz crystals - Utah
• Red Petrified Wood Display piece from Arizona
• Petrified Forest National Park

(You can always remove items from your cart later if you wish)