2.3" Colorful Petrified Wood Sphere

This is a very colorful polished sphere of petrified wood from Ambilobe, Madagascar. It is from the Araucaria tree, a type of conifer. The petrified wood is from the early Triassic period, approximately 220 million years old, close to the time the first dinosaurs appeared on the planet. It displays well on the included stand.

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