Description

Petrified Wood is a fossil ranging in age from 40 million years old to more than 200 million years old. It forms when plant material is buried by sediment and protected from decay due to oxygen and organisms. Ground water, rich in dissolved minerals, flows through the sediment and slowly replaces the original plant material with inorganic materials (most often a silicate such as quartz but may also contain calcite, pyrite, and even opal.) Most specimens exhibit clearly recognizable bark and woody structures. Can you find them in these samples?