Announcing The First Ever Discovery In Tennessee Of Lignite Fossilized To "jet"!

[Tennessees Pride]

The following posts will be a sample of Jet material i have recovered....

[Tennessees Pride]

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[Tennessees Pride]

A specimen of some of the bark that never did turn to Jet....strangely...

[Stocksdale]

Very cool. So you think the outer part of the tree got charred by lightning and sealed in the inside part, keeping the wood unaltered.

Does the unaltered wood begin to deteriorate after being exposed?

[Tennessees Pride]

Very cool. So you think the outer part of the tree got charred by lightning and sealed in the inside part, keeping the wood unaltered.

Does the unaltered wood begin to deteriorate after being exposed?

Man, i just spent an hour typing an explaination to this, and my browser forced closed!...& about to retype...

[Tennessees Pride]

Very cool. So you think the outer part of the tree got charred by lightning and sealed in the inside part, keeping the wood unaltered.

Does the unaltered wood begin to deteriorate after being exposed?

Here is what i think. I see no signs of the outside surface of the fossil tree being burnt by lightening or any other agency. The outside surface is intact pretty well, w/ the only alterations being water-worn, and also teredo borings here and there. Because little is known about Jet formulation....and also Jet w/ petrified wood is completely unexplained to science, briefly i will assert my own theory. This is the one i've chosen to go w/, have sure considered some very outlandish theories. Generally what is read about Jet formulation states it to be a product of extreme pressures and mild temps after deposition....this however can't just explain it, of Jet would be more freely occuring. I believe there is an unknown chemical @ play in the equation. One day while curious if the unaltered wood would burn, i set fire to a sample. The wood burnt alright....and hot too, but it would never flame for some reason. It burnt so hot that i had a bit of trouble putting it out! Ultimately i had to stick it under water to extinguish it....wierd. Now, while it burned, i could smell a strange order i've never smelled before, and still can't quite compare the smell to anything else. It hit me, there must be unknown chemical @ play in the Jet formulation process! Because i am blessed w/ extremely rare samples of Jet that all combine Jet wood,amber, and petrified wood, i feel i may perhaps provide a better understanding of the Jet formulation process. Bear in mind, my expermentation is so far elementary, but like i say.....no one else has samples w/ unaltered wood w/ which to work off of that also are attached to pet wood and Jet. Let me describe the tree, then i'll give my theory on how it happened. First, you have a tree with an outside skin of Jet, moving toward the center, the next layer is unaltered wood which contains Amber resin, and then at the center of the tree is petrified wood. I believe that first, the jet formulation process happened,secondly was the petrification process enacted. Either before the tree went into the water, or afterward, an unknown chemical was infused into the tree, this chemical didn't however completely saturate the tree through and through. Living tissue combined w/ the chemical during the early stages of "Jetification". At some point afterward, and before deposition, an iron bearing chemical may have also been at play, perhaps siderite or other iron agent, by this point, deposition was right at happening. During deposition, the Jetification process continued, but also the petrification process now began. Where the unknown chemical was least concentrated in the tree was in it's center, that is where the tree began and ultimately petrified. Where the unaltered wood now is, that is where the unknown chemical was concentrated in amounts not sufficent to bring Jetification, BUT was crancentrated in high enough amounts to completely retard the petrification process. (!) At deposition, the pressures that were exerted on the tree would not allow for the unknown chemical to escape back through the outside of the tree while the petrification process happened....starting at the trees base and moving upward through it's center. In effect, this lead to the middle part of the tree not being Jetified or Petrified....and remaining as one can still see it to this day....unaltered wood! A strange theory, but, the best one i can come up w/ to rationalize what has happened. This theory, if in the future it merits attention, i propose to call it: "The Gwynnetha Jetification Process", in honor of my daughter Gwynneth. To answer your other question sir, the wood that is unaltered doesn't crack, become brittle, or deteoriate...i'd be willing to bet it looks the way it did when dinosaurs were walking around it! The Jet does seem to alter somewhat after introduction to the atmosphere, which gives the impression of Soft Jet (freshwater), but i know for a fact that the deposition layer was in salt water, because of the teredo borings, and also ghost shrimp burrows near at hand. When the term soft is used, what it really means is brittle to the point it fractures w/ induction to the atmosphere...after this is over, you will have hunks of solid Jet left over. One last thing i might add, a couple clues in determining the unknown chemical would be that it doesn't act as a solvent on the Amber, and also that it will let the wood still burn, but not combust into flame while burning. Edited May 7, 2014 by Tennessees Pride

[Tennessees Pride]

Sorry, there are some typo errors in my previous post, but the time i've already spent on it, i just decided to leave it be.

[Tennessees Pride]

One last thing i will add, i'm personally not convinced that high pressures @ deposition are a factor in Jetification (though i'm not unagreeable to the idea either), but i have questioned is that unknown chemical when combined w/ the woody structure not making the tree become somewhat "mushy"??

[Coco]

Hi,

I have to say to you that I don't understand what you mean when you write "w/". Don't forget we are a lot of member non american first language ! Thanks.

Coco

[Tennessees Pride]

Hi,

I have to say to you that I don't understand what you mean when you write "w/". Don't forget we are a lot of member non american first language ! Thanks.

Coco

I'm very sorry Coco, thank you for pointing that out to me, i won't write like that anymore. "W/" is an abbreviation for the word "with".

[Coco]

Ah OK ! I never seen that before you use that !

Coco

[Tennessees Pride]

Ah OK ! I never seen that before you use that !

Coco

It sure has taught me a very important lesson too...i won't abbreviate anything anymore.

[Stocksdale]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on it. Very interesting. Do you think some of this will be making its way to the Smithsonian to keep your Teredo Wood company?

[Tennessees Pride]

Everything about this huge specimen is beautiful!!!.....just look @ the pet wood when it's ready for display.....

This Specimen is now property of the Tennessee Division of Geology. It will be displayed in an upcoming exhibit by the Tn. Div. of Geology at the NWTF Convention from feb.11th-14th in Nashville.

The original pic of this specimen is post #10 on this thread.

Edited December 27, 2015 by Tennessees Pride

[squali]

Congratulations on getting your specimen accepted.

Very cool!! What do the geologists think of the jet and its formation?

[Tennessees Pride]

Congratulations on getting your specimen accepted.

Very cool!! What do the geologists think of the jet and its formation?

They said write the paper!

[Raggedy Man]

This Specimen is now property of the Tennessee Division of Geology. It will be displayed in an upcoming exhibit by the Tn. Div. of Geology at the NWTF Convention from feb.11th-14th in Nashville.

The original pic of this specimen is post #10 on this thread.

This is fantastic!

[Tennessees Pride]

This is fantastic!

Thank you very much sir.