Polished Petrified Wood Slice

A beautiful piece of petrified wood from South Africa.  Carefully chosen for our collection of rocks and minerals.  

Petrified wood is a mineral that formed through a process known as petrifaction.  The word originates from Ancient Greek and literally means 'wood turned into stone'.

As trees in ancient forests died they fell into riverbeds or floodplains.  After being buried under sediment or ash they were starved of oxygen which prevented decay from immediately setting in.

Dissolved minerals being carried in groundwater then seeped into the organic matter filling any cavities.  Once the water dried up the minerals left behind gradually crystallised mostly as quartz.

The replacement of organic matter with minerals in some petrified wood can be exceptionally precise.  The internal structure and external shape of the original log is known to have been accurately reproduced.  Some material dates back more than 200 million years.

This petrified wood slice has been lightly polished on the back but is highly polished on the front.  There's a very small section missing from the edge which can been seen in our photos.  The indentation has been smoothed and polished.  The third photo is the back of the petrified wood slice.