Petrified Wood by bmac62
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Description
...wondrous to see the shape and grain of a once living tree preserved as stone.
...John Day Fossil Beds, Oregon.
How does wood petrify?
Wood must first be covered with such agents as volcanic ash, volcanic lava flow, volcanic mud-flows, sediments in lakes and swamps or material washed in by violent floods - by any means which would exclude oxygen and thus prevent decay. A number of mineral substances (such as calcite, pyrite, marcasite) can cause petrification, but by far the most common is silica. Solutions of silica dissolved in ground water infiltrate the buried wood and through a complex chemical process are precipitated and left in the individual plant cells. Here the silica may take a variety of forms; it may be agate, jasper, chalcedony or opal. The beautiful and varied colors of petrified wood are caused by the presence of other minerals that enter the wood in solution with the silica. Iron oxide stains the wood orange, rust, red or yellow. Manganese oxide produces blues, blacks or purple.
Bill
"Loop Tattoo"
Comments (30)
jocko500
wonderful shot of this wood
awjay
a fantastic thing
jayfar
This is absolutely fabulous Bill, I would love to own that and what wonderful textures. Also thanks for the info.
sharky_
Its just amazing... Nice shot. Aloha
helanker
WOW it looks awesome. Love wood in decay like this. !!!
bazza
Wood say this is rock hard Bill, Love this sort of thing, great capture of this one was tree rock Bill.. Did you take it home for a souvenir? I would have we have several lumps of rock here with fossils in them and this would make a great addition lol..
durleybeachbum
That is SO interesting! Who would have thought there would be so many colours?!
blinkings
That is truly amazing Bill.
T.Rex
Good work, Bill. This looks so real wood I first thought you were pulling my leg - it looks like it's been a chopping block. I've seen several examples of petrified wood, but this is the best preserved sample I've yet seen a photo of. It would be nice to see for real. And to touch. The wood grain is really brought out in this photo. Keep up the good work! :-)
GiMi53
I saw such a petrified forest in Lesbos... Nice upload ! :~)
wotan
Beautifulshot.. great colors and txt!
Feliciti
wonderful natural structures and textures !!great capture too!!
fallen21
Amazing capture!
debbielove
Fascinating to see, amazing to know about.. So old you cannot fathom... Good post Bill, well done. Rob
jendellas
That is amazing, great info!!!
MrsRatbag
Fantastic find! Amazing stuff...and a great shot!
auntietk
I've lived here all my life, and have seen examples of petrified wood on many, many occasions. Shoot ... it's even our State gem. But it's still hard for me to wrap my brain around the fact that this is a ROCK! It's like a magic trick. Totally cool! We need to make the Ginko Petrified Forest one of the top things on our list. (Discover Pass required.) Great shot of this amazing natural wonder.
kansas
Fascinating shot and info. Thanks.
cfulton
Nature never ceases to amaze us/me. Thank you for the educating image, Clive
Blush
Awesome capture Hugs Susan~
bobrgallegos
Wonderful natural colors and textures Bill!! Very well captured!!
goodoleboy
Excellent capture of the petrified stump, Melinda, replete with terrific clarity, colors, lighting effects and texture. And the description below was most instructive.
RodS
These are so cool! I've always been fascinated at the process of petrification, and the amazing result. This is a really great photo, Bill! So much cool detail!
whaleman
Very nice specimen!
dbrv6
Petrified wood is very often very interesting. So much goes into how it looks. Great - very clear - capture.
tennesseecowgirl
beautiful, interesting facts, once again I am always amazed by the things to learn on this site.
junge1
Great capture Bill and interesting information. While working for the State of Arizona near Petrified Forest we saw a chunk probably several hundred pounds heavy and it was outside the park limit. We contemplated taking it, but we had to go through private land to get back to the road and we had a state vehicle. I doubt that we could have loaded it anyway, but we left it because we didn't want to take a chance and get in trouble, but it was tempting. We all collected smaller pieces, easily found outside the park limits.
0rest4wicked
Delightful details!
danapommet
An amazing process and beautiful results. This is a must zoom!
Rainastorm
I love finding stuff like this...of course with a dad like I had we were always being shown the different kinds of every and anything in the nature form. Great capture Bill.