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Petrified Wood?


jnicholes

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Hello,

 

So, I was looking in my collection, and I found this. Its the first fossil I ever found. Found it in my backyard in Nampa, Idaho.

 

I was looking at it today, and I was beginning to wonder if it really was petrified wood. I mean, it didnt look that much like it. It looks more like a crystal. While I was getting a picture under my magnifier, I discovered that it had lines like wood grains going in one direction. I never noticed them. The thing is you can only see these lines under a magnifier at maximum magnification. They are that faint.

 

I have two questions. First off, is this really petrified wood? Second, if it is, why is it so black? I have never seen petrified wood this color.

 

Any help will be appreciated,

 

Jared

Wood.jpg

Wood top.jpg

Wood up close.jpg

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The color of most any fossil is a mater of what minerals happened to be in the environment when it fossilized.

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@Rockwood

 

Thanks  so much for clearing that up. I'm still a little new when it comes to fossils. Thanks for helping me out!

 

Jared

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1 hour ago, jnicholes said:

@Rockwood

 

Thanks  so much for clearing that up. I'm still a little new when it comes to fossils. Thanks for helping me out!

 

Jared

Looks like wood -- if you Google 'petrified wood' and look at images, you'll see that it can range from almost pure white to solid black and just about every color you can think of, including green and purple.

 

 

Mark.

 

Fossil hunting is easy -- they don't run away when you shoot at them!

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1 hour ago, jnicholes said:

@Rockwood

 

Thanks  so much for clearing that up. I'm still a little new when it comes to fossils. Thanks for helping me out!

 

Jared

You should still think of it as an educated guess. Partly because my brother lives there and his rockhounding club finds poorly preserved wood, but some wood is only identifiable  under a microscope.

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Hey Jared, nice find. Not sure what the backyard is like but that's a pretty big piece and doesnt look too worn so I'm wondering if there might be more somewhere closeby...

Regards, Chris 

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@Plantguy

 

Actually, there was.  I mentioned a rock I found in another post. It was filled with petrified wood, had to gastropod shells in it, and some fossil bones.

 

 None of the pieces were like this piece, though.

 

I tell you, that backyard has some good stuff in it! Unfortunately, we had to move from that house last March. That's a bummer!

 

Jared

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18 minutes ago, jnicholes said:

@Plantguy

 

Actually, there was.  I mentioned a rock I found in another post. It was filled with petrified wood, had to gastropod shells in it, and some fossil bones.

 

 None of the pieces were like this piece, though.

 

I tell you, that backyard has some good stuff in it! Unfortunately, we had to move from that house last March. That's a bummer!

 

Jared

Well I understand the pain of moving a bit...never did find an actual fossil in the yard though...across the street is as close as it got...lol....I sadly left a number of locales behind....

Good luck out there--you never know until you look!

Regards, Chris 

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