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Home Other Fossil Friday

#FossilFriday: A fossilized log

Mihai Andrei by Mihai Andrei
November 7, 2014
in Fossil Friday

wood1

It’s not just animals that get fossilized, trees can become amazing fossils as well, and here we have a great example. Log fossilization  is the result of a tree or tree-like plants having completely transitioned to stone by the process of permineralization. All the organic materials have been replaced with minerals (mostly a silicate, such as quartz), while retaining the original structure of the stem tissue. This process occurs underground.

If you think about it, the phenomenon is actually… very romantic. The organic matter needs to become petrified before it decomposes completely; also, sometimes entire forests can suffer this process, in which case the result is called a “petrified forest”. Petrified wood can preserve the original structure of the stem in all its detail, down to the microscopic level. Structures such as tree rings and the various tissues are often observed features.

wood2

(Image via Wiki Commons)

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Mihai Andrei

Mihai Andrei

Andrei's background is in geophysics, and he's been fascinated by it ever since he was a child. Feeling that there is a gap between scientists and the general audience, he started ZME Science -- and the results are what you see today.

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