16.5" Sparkling, Cretaceous, Petrified "Wetumpka Wood" - Alabama

Sparkling, Cretaceous, Petrified Wetumpka Wood - Alabama #191805

Here we have an absolutely stunning piece of Wetumpka wood from Elmore County, Alabama. The beast measures a whopping 16.5" long and every inch is thickly encrusted in druzy quartz crystals. This specimen offers excitement from every angle: a quartz crust, stratified layers when viewed from the side, and a peek at the preserved gymnosperm bark on the reverse side.

We have included a display stand so you can pick the perfect position for maximum viewing pleasure.

This petrified wood is something special, to be sure. Forged in the wake of a meteor impact and bathed in tsunami waves, Wetumpka wood is a world-class stunner. Both petrified wood and crystal fans agree that this is the epitome of "the best of both worlds." This is truly a specimen that's for the masses; you can't go wrong with Wetumpka wood!

This variety of petrified wood is thought to be the product of a meteor impact off the coast of what is now Alabama. Those that choose to believe this theory suggest that the wood was super-heated by the blast then slowly cooled by the following tsunami waves that deposited the minerals that formed the quartz crystals lining the wood's cavities. Others are more convinced that the petrified wood had been present before aggressive floodwaters deposited silica and other minerals to produce the quartz/smoky quartz druze.

Most of these specimens are coated in druzy quartz crystals but may also present elongated, double terminations. The quartz may be clear or smoky: the smoky crystals are thought to have lignite inclusions. Lignite is also often found in association with the quartz on the the wood. This carbon-based mineral is thought to be further proof of the petrified wood's supposed meteoric origins.

This wood is primarily collected in Elmore County, Alabama, but can also be found in other areas up and down the Coker Member of the Tuscaloosa Formation.