Petrified Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 I found this piece of petrifed wood a few yrs ago and finally got around to having it cut in half. Definition of a fossil= Love at first site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 Crazy patterns! Looks like it might be a "limb cast". Are you thinking of polishing it? "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petrified Posted July 13, 2011 Author Share Posted July 13, 2011 Yeah Im going to see if a guy in a nearby town will polish it for me. Definition of a fossil= Love at first site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petrified Posted July 14, 2011 Author Share Posted July 14, 2011 (edited) Im getting the stone polished on monday. Ill take pictures of it when its polished too. Whats ironic is I went back to the same location and picked up 5 more pieces and no rings showed up at all. It just showed a grey and thats it. Edited July 14, 2011 by Petrified Definition of a fossil= Love at first site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tracer Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 the pattern on the end of it is reminiscent of biggs jasper, but i can't tell from the picture if the material will even polish. almost has a grainy look to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 ...I went back to the same location and picked up 5 more pieces and no rings showed up at all. It just showed a grey and thats it. Not too surprising, really, because it looks like a sandstone cast (rather than mineral-replaced "agatized" wood). "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petrified Posted July 14, 2011 Author Share Posted July 14, 2011 I see what youre saying. I think the substance is like sandstone. Im just confused because all the lycopods in the area are like a sandstone substance. So youre saying in the long run they are not polishable? In my gallery I have a real nice black lycopod and thats a sandstone like substance also. The fossil is to nice of a specimen to cut in half to see if rings show up or not. What would cause the trees to turn into a sandtone like substance? Definition of a fossil= Love at first site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 ...What would cause the trees to turn into a sandstone like substance? They were buried and rotted away, leaving a mold that was filled. Lycopods were not made of the wood we are familiar with today; they decayed too fast for cell-by-cell mineral replacement to take place. "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 ...cut in half to see if rings show up or not... The pattern we see is mineral staining, and has no relationship with the original structure. "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petrified Posted July 14, 2011 Author Share Posted July 14, 2011 Ok so youre saying that the core of the fossil was replaced by sandstone over the yrs? See the problem is Im not firmiliar on the process of fossils and so on. I just know what to look for to find a fossil. The whole scientific process is a different language to me. One thing Im curious on though so in the long run the real nice lycopod specimen that I have in the album was replaced by sandstone too and worthless to cut in half to see ring patterns? Definition of a fossil= Love at first site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 Ok so youre saying that the core of the fossil was replaced by sandstone over the yrs? See the problem is Im not firmiliar on the process of fossils and so on. I just know what to look for to find a fossil. The whole scientific process is a different language to me. One thing Im curious on though so in the long run the real nice lycopod specimen that I have in the album was replaced by sandstone too and worthless to cut in half to see ring patterns? This is just the usual state of preservation of Carboniferous branches, trunks, and "roots"; the only original features are the external textures. Sometimes, a "pith" structure is discernible (especially in the "roots"), but that's about all you would hope to find by cutting (and if it's there, it is usually visible without cutting). It is the later evolution of woody trees that true "petrified" wood, showing the minute internal structures, became possible. "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bdevey Posted July 15, 2011 Share Posted July 15, 2011 Ok so youre saying that the core of the fossil was replaced by sandstone over the yrs? See the problem is Im not firmiliar on the process of fossils and so on. I just know what to look for to find a fossil. The whole scientific process is a different language to me. One thing Im curious on though so in the long run the real nice lycopod specimen that I have in the album was replaced by sandstone too and worthless to cut in half to see ring patterns? Maybe this cool piece, will help you out. As you can see its petrified wood. But in the middle, it at some point degraded away, leaving a void. That was later filled in with silica, Creating a cast. If you click on the photos, you can see the wood grains on the outer edge of the [cast] agate. Now as far as the wood becomeing petrified, its the same process, but on a cellular level. hope that helps. Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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