Petrified Wood
Other Silicates & Gemstones
Petrified wood is a three-dimensional plant fossil, not a wood-like mineral species. Mineral-rich water filled pores and replaced much of the buried wood, commonly with opal, chalcedony, or quartz, while preserving growth rings and microscopic tissue patterns.
Identity
- Material or variety
- Chalcedony
- Scientific or material identity
- Silicified wood fossil
- Classification
- Fossil material
- Aliases or trade names
- Fossilized wood · Silicified wood
- Composition or formula
- Primarily SiO₂ replacing original wood tissue
- Crystal system or structure
- Aggregate or composite structure
- Geological or manufacturing origin
- Preserved or mineral-replaced through fossilization.
- Mohs hardness
- 6.5 to 7
Origins
Argentina · Australia · Egypt · Germany · Greece · Indonesia · Madagascar · Namibia · Thailand · USA
Appearance & optical properties
silicified wood with brown growth rings and wood grain.
History & discovery
The word petrified comes from Greek petra, meaning rock or stone. Famous fossil forests record different burial settings: volcanic ash preserved successive forests at Yellowstone, while river sediments accumulated the logs now exposed in Arizona’s Petrified Forest National Park. Both sites became important records of ancient landscapes.
Uses & care
- Common uses
- Petrified wood is studied as a plant fossil and polished for jewelry, bookends, tabletops, clock faces, carvings, and other decorative objects.
- Handling and cleaning
- Clean polished pieces with warm soapy water and a soft cloth. Avoid hard blows, abrasive cleaners, and sudden temperature changes, especially where fractures or several replacement minerals meet.
Jewellery
5 pieces of Petrified Wood jewellery. Learners earn each one in DigMyGem by learning words; until then it shows as a silhouette.
Ancient Grove Ring
Ring
A gold ring set with a polished cabochon of petrified wood, its brown and grey grain the record of a tree that turned to stone. The stone is cut to show the growth rings.
Forest Throne Pendant
Pendant
A rough silver pendant holding a slice of petrified wood the shape of a small shield, its bark still visible at the edge. It is a piece for those who like fossils on a cord.
Silica Grove Bracelet
Bracelet
A cuff of dark silver set with three cabochons of petrified wood, each a different tree and a different age. The metal is left rough to match the fossil.
Tree Ring Brooch
Brooch
An imagined brooch made from a thin round slice of petrified wood, its growth rings turned to stone in ochre, red and brown.
Stone Forest Tiara
Tiara
An imagined gold tiara of branches set with slices of petrified wood, growth rings turned to stone.