Petrified Wood

Polished sphere of 220 million year old petrified wood from Madagascar.  The brilliant colors are due to various mineral impurities in the silica which replaced the wood during the fossilization process.

An stunning slab of petrified wood from the Hubbard Basin region of Nevada.  The petrified wood from this area can have brilliant coloration with rich blues, oranges, reds, and purples.  

Brilliant Arizona Petrified Wood (Araucarioxylon) Slab

This is a brilliantly colored 9.2x7.1" slab of petrified wood from the Triassic aged Chinle Formation of Arizona.

The vibrant coloration is due to the contaminating minerals in the silica which replaced the original wood structure. For example pinks and reds are due to hematite, a form of oxidized iron. This is similar petrified would which is found in the Petrified Forest National Park. The petrified forest encompasses nearly 100k acres and this wood comes from land outside of the park. It from the extinct conifer Araucarioxylon arizonicum which happens to be the state fossil of Arizona. The petrified wood of this tree is frequently referred to as “Rainbow wood” because of the large variety of colors some specimens exhibit. The red and yellow are produced by large particulate forms of iron oxide, the yellow being limonite and the red being hematite. The purple hue comes from extremely fine spherules of hematite distributed throughout the quartz matrix. Araucarioxylon arizonicum is estimated to have grown more than 150 feet high and dominated the tropical forests in what is now Arizona nearly 250 million years ago.

An absolutely stunning slab of Araucarioxylon arizonicum petrified wood from Arizona with brilliant red, orange and purple coloration. The solid slab is 17.5x12.5" and ¾" thick. One side has been highly polished to a mirror like finish by one of the top petrified wood polishers around. There are dull areas or scuff marks. The vibrant coloration is due to the contaminating minerals in the silica which replaced the original wood structure. For example pinks and reds are due to hematite, a form of oxidized iron. This is similar petrified would which is found in the Petrified Forest National Park. The petrified forest encompasses nearly 100k acres and this wood comes from land outside of the park. 

A log from a 250 million year old, primitive conifer, Woodworthia.  It comes from the Molteno Formation in Zimbabwe.  The exterior is covering in preserved spine scars and one end has been polished to reveal the beautiful interior wood structure that has been agatized.  

It’s amazing all the coloration you can get in petrified wood from a single locality.  This is a polished sphere of Triassic aged petrified wood from near Ambilobe, Madagascar.  The beautiful coloration is due to the contaminating minerals in the silica which replaced the original wood structure.  For example pinks and reads are due to hematite, a form of oxidized iron (Fe2O3)