3.2" Permineralized Wood Covered In Sparkling Quartz - Germany

Permineralized Wood Covered In Sparkling Quartz - Germany #301991

This is a 3.2" wide section of permineralized wood from Zwenkau, Germany. This resulted in very detailed preservation that makes this petrified wood specimen look as if it's ready to be thrown on the fire. The sparkles that can be seen in the photos are a result of druzy quartz that encrusts much of the wood.

This permineralized wood was collected from a coal mine deposit in the city of Zwenkau in eastern Germany. It is Upper Eocene in age, or roughly 35 million years old.

Permineralization is only the first step in petrification: this means that while this wood is tens of millions of years old, it has not completely petrified. In fact, some pieces contain sections of "mummified wood", which is still soft and will still burn! The exterior of most of the fossilized wood from this location is also covered in sparkly, druzy quartz crystals.

Unfortunately, the mine these specimens came from is now flooded and no new material has been found in some time.