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GeoPicture of the week: Tree fossil with opal growth rings

Mihai AndreibyMihai Andrei
November 12, 2013 - Updated on December 8, 2022
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This is a part of an opalized tree, and the rings you see are actually tree rings; or at least they were.

opal tree

This is an very rare sample: opal can be fairly common in petrified wood, but this is a fire opal, which makes it so much more valuable. Fire opals are transparent to translucent opals with warm body colors of yellow, orange, orange-yellow or red – basically, it often has pretty colors.

So how did this magnificent opalized tree came to be? Initially, water filled the cracks and empty spaces of the source fossil, and the silica content in the water hardened and turned into opal or chalcedony.

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Mihai Andrei

Mihai Andrei

Dr. Andrei Mihai is a geophysicist and founder of ZME Science. He has a Ph.D. in geophysics and archaeology and has completed courses from prestigious universities (with programs ranging from climate and astronomy to chemistry and geology). He is passionate about making research more accessible to everyone and communicating news and features to a broad audience.

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