Petrified Wood Slab W/ Stand

A unique way to enhance your home's décor, petrified wood is the result of a tree's trunk or limbs having turned into stone by the process of permineralization. This means that more-or-less all of the original organic materials have been replaced with minerals. The petrification process occurs when wood becomes buried under sediment, such as volcanic ash (most petrified wood is associated with volcanic activity), and is preserved due to a lack of oxygen, inhibiting aerobic decomposition.

Over millions of years, water bearing silica trickles down through the sediment and the silica forms crystals in the cells and hollows of the wood. Eventually the wood is completely mineralized, often preserving minute structural detail. The different minerals in groundwater are what give petrified wood its variety of colors. What's old is new again!

This specimen is from the Araucarioxylon arizonicum species and was found in Arizona. Approximately 200 million years old (Triassic Period), the slab has been cut and polished to prominently display the colors, markings, and patterns that are unique to this piece. It is placed atop a natural driftwood base.