 Description:
This finely polished and lustrous specimen shows a wide array
of brown, and tan hues. It is a limb or trunk section. Giving
the wood slab another dimension of interest is the outer petrified
bark. It would make a unique decorative piece, or splendid addition
to your fossil collection.
Madagascar produces, by far, the largest commercial, and most
affordable quantity of brown petrified wood sold on the world
market.
Petrified wood is the name given to a special type of fossilized
remains of terrestrial vegetation. It is the result of a tree having turned completely into stone by the process of permineralization.
All the organic materials have been replaced with minerals (mostly
a silicate, such as quartz), while retaining the original structure
of the wood. The petrifaction process occurs underground, when
wood becomes buried under sediment and is initially preserved due
to a lack of oxygen, which inhibits aerobic decomposition. Mineral-laden
water flowing through the sediment deposits minerals in the plant's
cells; as the plant's lignin and cellulose decay, a stone mold
forms in its place.
In general, wood takes less than 100 years to petrify. The organic
matter needs to become petrified before it decomposes completely.
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