Photo Courtesy of www.firststryke.com

Related Links:

Instant Petrified Wood?

http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v17/i4/wood.asp

Petrified Wood Animation:

http://www.yourgemologist.com/Kids/petrifiedwood/petrifiedwood.html

Buy Petrified Wood Online:

http://www.universaltreasures.com/wood.htm

http://www.madagascarminerals.com/cat_petrified.cfm

http://www.petrifiedwood.com/

Petrified Wood Facts:

Photo Courtesy of www.firststryke.com

Photo Courtesy of www.firststryke.com

Literature Cited

McCafferty, Paul. “Instant petrified wood?” Popular Science. (1992):56-57.

Snelling, Andrew. “Rapid Petrifaction of Wood: An Unexpected Confirmation of Creationist Research” Impact. 379 (2005)

Snelling, Andrew. “‘Instant’ Petrified Wood.” Creation Magazine. 17 (1995):38–40

http://www.apologeticspress.org/modules.php?name=Read&cat=1&itemid=501

http://www.desertusa.com/mag00/jan/papr/rock.html

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=Petrify

http://www.firststryke.com/Petrified%20Forest%20pix.htm

http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Campground/5660/palette.html

http://www.ncsec.org/cadre2/team2_2/bginfo.htm

http://www.universaltreasures.com/wood.htm

http://www.yourgemologist.com/Kids/petrifiedwood/petrifiedwood.html

Petrified Wood: To Become Stony

Introduction

The dictionary defines petrifaction simply as, “To become stony.” (http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=Petrify) Petrifaction, also called permineralization, of wood allows wood to change its composition by chemical reactions and be preserved as a collection of minerals. Petrified wood can be found in abundance all over the world. The process of petrifaction is fairy simple, and it has been theorized that the petrifaction process can take only a few hundred years. Petrified wood can display a rainbow of colors depending on the chemistry of the petrifying groundwater

What Is Petrifaction?

The process of petrifaction begins when a tree dies and is buried by either mud, sand or, most commonly, volcanic ash. The wood being buried is necessary because it protects the wood from oxygen, which causes decay. Burying the wood in sediment also allows the cellulose that composes the plant’s cell walls to survive. Over time the tree’s cells become hollow which allows the tree to become saturated by mineral rich water. Eventually the water evaporates, but the minerals stay in the cells turning the tree into chert. Chert is a mineral composed of crypto crystalline quartz.

Photo Courtesy of www.DesertUSA.com

How Long Does It Take Wood To Petrify?

In the past it was widely accepted that the process of petrifaction takes millions of years. Today it has been suggested that like most geological phenomena, the actual process of petrifaction has very little to do with the amount of time available, but instead the conditions. Factors that determine the time if takes for petrifaction to occur include pH level and temperature. If the water that saturates the tree includes calcite the tree will petrify faster than if the water included less soluble petrifying minerals like silica. Under ideal chemical conditions, petrifaction is possible in a few hundred years. Other evidence supporting the theory that petrifaction can occur in a few hundred years was found by examining the petrified logs at the Petrified Forest National Park, “By examining the petrified logs at Petrified Forest National Park, it is noted that most of the logs are nearly round in cross-section just as they were in life. This indicates that the process took place quite rapidly, geologically speaking. The water-logged trunks had not been crushed by the weight of the overlying sediments. As the deposition of river sediments takes place rather quickly in normal circumstances, the possibility that the petrifaction process occurred in only a few centuries or even less has been theorized.”

http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Campground/5660/palette.html

What Makes Petrified Wood Colorful?

One of the most fascinating things about petrified wood is its often brilliant variety of colors. The color of petrified wood does not depend on the color of the wood but the minerals that are present in the water that saturates the wood during petrifaction. Quartz crystal, the mineral that makes up petrified wood is colorless, so it is the other minerals that give petrified wood its color. Following is a list of minerals and related color hues:

• Copper - green/blue
• Cobalt - green/blue
• Chromium - green/blue
• Manganese –blue, black, purple, pink
• Carbon - black
• Iron Oxides - red, brown, yellow, rust
• Manganese Oxides - black
• Silica-White, Gray

http://www.desertusa.com/mag00/jan/papr/rock.html

Link to other Student Webpages for 2005 Earlham Physical Geology

Copyright © 2005 Earlham College. Revised April 13, 2005 . Send corrections or comments to tinkeem@earlham.edu