Beautiful 8 Inch Araucaria Petrified Wood Slab

Beautiful Inch Araucaria Petrified Wood Slab #3345

This is a beautiful slab of petrified Araucaria (extinct Conifer) wood from Ambilobe, Madagascar. It is 8x7 inches and one side has been polished to a mirror like finish showing off the amazing mineralization of this fossil. It is from the early Triassic period, approximately 220 million years old, close to the time the first dinosaurs appeared on the planet.

Petrified wood is the name given to wood that has been turned into stone (fossilized) through the process of permineralization. In this process, all of the organic matter becomes replaced by minerals, while much of the original structure, such as tree rings, is retained. For this to happen, the wood needs to be buried in an environment low in oxygen to prevent decomposition and with flowing, mineral-laden water, so minerals may replace structures. The coloration is caused by various minerals that present in that water during fossilization. For example, red colors are due to iron compounds, greens due to copper, and so on.