Petrified Wood

The fossilised result of ancient plants, trees, and organic materials that have turned to stone over millions of years.

It is often sold rough, as it is found – or sometimes polished, which does show off the wood grain really nicely.

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Appearance, Uses and History

Petrified Wood is a fossilised form of wood in which the original organic material has been replaced by minerals – including chalcedony, agate, opal, coal, pyrite… the list is quite extensive. The majority of the fossilised wood on the market will be Silica based, though.

The process begins when a piece of wood or woody material is rapidly buried by mud or another wet sediment – this could be silt, volcanic ash, etc. The lack of oxygen slows the rotting of the wood, which allows various minerals to replace the wood over time. Volcanic ash is particularly known for producing petrified wood due to the large amounts of silica released.

Locales

Petrified Wood is found in a huge amount of locations worldwide; it occurs from the Devonian, when ‘woody’ plants first evolved, to almost the present day. I have found pieces of petrified wood in streams all over the country; it is often found in the form of Stigmaria, coal, or Jet, too.

Particularly large deposits of fossilised wood are found in numerous places – most sold online comes from Africa and Australia. Excellent quality specimens of Opalised wood can be found from Australia and Indonesia.

I would say it is fair to assume that some petrified or fossilised wood can be found in almost every country on Earth. A rarer phenomenon is a petrified forest – an area with a large amount of more complete wood in one area; sometimes this can be in the form of largely complete trees or standing logs.

There are numerous petrified forests in the USA, including the Petrified Forest National Park, the Ginkgo Petrified Forest State Park, the Gilboa Fossil Forest, the Mississippi Petrified Forest, the Yellowstone Petrified Forest, the Escalante Petrified Forest State Park, and the California Petrified Forest. However, there are fossilised forests in other countries too – Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Ecuador, Egypt, Germany, Georgia, Greece, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Libya, Namibia, New Zealand, Thailand, Turkey, and the United Kingdom.

If you’re interested in visiting a local one and you’re a UK reader (most of you are!) – unfortunately, we don’t have anything quite as visually impressive as the American national parks. However, smaller areas can be visited around the UK at certain times. Some are on beaches and only visible with favourable conditions when a storm rips parts of the beach away, some are on private land.

Glasgow, Scotland
Lulworth, Dorset
Whitby, Yorkshire (deposits of ‘Whitby Jet’ rather than a distinct forest)
Wrexham, Wales

The UK also has numerous ‘submerged forests’; forests that have been buried under peat, sediment and water and well preserved for thousands of years. They are typically only visible from time to time when storms clear sand and peat from the beaches. These are often considered to be ‘sub-fossils’, partially fossilised specimens which either have not fully completed the fossilisation process or were buried in sub-optimal conditions.

Bigbury Bay, Devon
Borth, Ceredigion, Mid Wales
Cleveleys, Lancashire
Cley, Norfolk
Daymer Bay, Cornwall
Low Hauxley, Northumberland
Penzance, Cornwall
Portreath, Cornwall
Redcar, Yorkshire
Tywyn, Wales
Ynyslas, Ceredigion, Mid Wales

Mineralogy

Chemistry

Petrified Wood is a catch-all term for permineralised woods, which may have been replaced by a range of minerals. Most commonly the bulk of the material is silica in the form of Chalcedony, Agate, or Opal – referred to as silicified wood. However, some Petrified Wood is replaced by calcite, coal, pyrite, or other minerals.

Colours and Variations

Will vary based on location and mineral makeup. Browns, reds, greys and creams are common, but I have seen vivid blues and greens in certain specimens.

Streak