Petrified Wood - A Few Questions For The Experts

[fossiljunkie]

hello all,

i recently posted a hunt where i found an unusual specimen of petrified wood. after researching petrified wood further i learned a little bit but i'm unsure of the facts in the scientific community and what is accepted fact. when i found this large piece of petrified wood it didn't quite have the look of specimens i have found before. as a matter of fact it looked so close to modern day wood i almost passed it up.

i believe this piece was missed by numerous other hunters also for the same reason and possibly due to its size.it was large and it looked more like modern wood than petrified. on first glance i almost passed it by but noticed just a subtlety as i looked closely. there were very fine crystals reflecting off its surface.

then when i touched it expecting modern wood.it was not and i picked it up. it was heavy as rock and completely mineralized. i have fooled 2 fossil friends with this petrified wood from a 1.5 foot distance. they also thought modern wood in appearance but clearly petrified. it weighs 8.5 lbs and measures around 11" long. and that brings me to a few questions.

from what i see online, the specimens that very closely resemble modern wood grain patterns are a little more rare in occurrence than typical specimens looking more rock-like in appearance. but i also came upon a site that states that petrified wood on occasion will be preserved on a cellular level as well as times when it is cast in stone with the usual mineralization process. does the scientific community agree with this? just curious. i have taken multiple photos of the piece and in the top row right photo you could see the crystals that are spread like a dusting over its surface. there are hundreds of these little crystals spread over different areas of the wood but not visible in most photos.they are tiny. its a cool specimen and would like to hear what may be fact or fiction concerning petrified wood from the experts. also any cool ides for display? thanks in advance everyone.

[jpc]

I'm no expert, but here's my two cents. Petrified wood comes in all forms. I have seen cretaceous wood that is pure powder. Confusing at first when you dig it up, but the imprint left in the sandstone told us it was wood. The same tree was preserved as a quarter inch thick layer of charcoal in other places. Agaion, the nice impression confirmed tree. Most pet wood that I have found is not like this, but it ranges from this to replaced at the cellular level with minerals. These latter can be beautiful... think petrified forest and blue forest wood. When yo cut and poish this stuff, yes, you can see cell structures in it. This is usually how petrified woods are identified... on the microscopic level. A lot of cretaceous and paleocene wood I have seen around here tends tobe chalky looking and only mediumly preserved. I've also seen wood that is basically a sandstone filling of a hollow left by wood.

I hope this helps.

[PaulR]

Much of the petrified wood I find looks alot like yours. The place I get it from was kind of like your situation. I walked passed the first piece several times thinking it was just an old piece of wood until one time I went to look at it and found it was actually a 20ft long piece of petrified wood. Scientific theories, can't help. Display ideas, hhmmm. Some of mine I have had sliced and polished to make bookends and desk ornaments, other fist sized or bigger pieces I have made wire twisted trees and scorpions and mounted them on the pieces and put out in my rock garden. There are some pics in my gallery of some of the wood I found.

[fossiljunkie]

I'm no expert, but here's my two cents. Petrified wood comes in all forms. I have seen cretaceous wood that is pure powder. Confusing at first when you dig it up, but the imprint left in the sandstone told us it was wood. The same tree was preserved as a quarter inch thick layer of charcoal in other places. Agaion, the nice impression confirmed tree. Most pet wood that I have found is not like this, but it ranges from this to replaced at the cellular level with minerals. These latter can be beautiful... think petrified forest and blue forest wood. When yo cut and poish this stuff, yes, you can see cell structures in it. This is usually how petrified woods are identified... on the microscopic level. A lot of cretaceous and paleocene wood I have seen around here tends tobe chalky looking and only mediumly preserved. I've also seen wood that is basically a sandstone filling of a hollow left by wood.

I hope this helps.

thanks for the thoughts. it does help. of all the pieces i've found the size and appearance of this piece was definitely unusual, thats why the curiosity. been trying to think of interesting ways to display it. any ideas. its about 11" x 5" x 4".

[MikeD]

Sometimes the cell structure is preserved. I have seen some petrified wood sliced and stained for microscopic examination that was amazingly well preserved.

A nice example of this preservation is on RomanK's post.

http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php/topic/16912-polished-devonian-wood/page__p__186835#entry186835

[fossiljunkie]

Sometimes the cell structure is preserved. I have seen some petrified wood sliced and stained for microscopic examination that was amazingly well preserved.

A nice example of this preservation is on RomanK's post.

http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php/topic/16912-polished-devonian-wood/page__p__186835#entry186835

excellent, thanks for that link. maybe someday i'll invest in some used lapidary equipment. i'd like to see a cross section of this piece out of curiosity.

[Auspex]

Under just the right conditions over a looong period of time, cell-by-cell replacement of wood does occur.

[piranha]

I love petrified wood - who doesn't? The fossils are fabulous to behold at the cellular level. There is a phenomenal book on the topic - "Ancient Forests: A Closer Look at Fossil Wood" by Frank J. Daniels and Richard D. Dayvault. The next best thing to having a collection of world class petrified wood is having a world class volume chock full 'o' the most gorgeous, jaw dropping fossils you could ever hope to see. This is one of those books that you will treasure always. There are 1600 color photos and over 400 macros revealing the micro structure at the cellular level. Read the reviews at Amazon and if you treat yourself to a copy for the holidays please buy it directly from Frank Daniels HERE The price is reduced and I can't think of any other book that deserves a higher recommendation. This is a must have for any paleontology library shelf and would be a bargain at twice the price.

Edited November 25, 2010 by piranha

[bdevey]

Nice wood, I love the ones that are surprising. You pick it up and WOW its petrified. You dont forget those.... I'd like to see a photo of it sliced but I think it may be dark inside? It realy looks good as is.

[MikeD]

I almost forgot about this one.

http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php/topic/12899-petrified-vine-brazos-county-texas/page__p__146812__hl__vine__fromsearch__1#entry146812