Petrified Wood Slab

Petrified Wood SlabPerhaps the most well known fossil material in the world, petrified wood is not wood at all but rather the fossilized remnants of trees from millions of years ago. Tree trunks, limbs, and branches that died under conditions that favor fossilization gradually become replaced with minerals until what remains is a replica of the original piece of wood consisting entirely of mineral material. Like the trees they capture the form of, each is unique and

These large

these individual “grapes” can range in color from turquoise to deep purple

from the middle Miocene around 12-16 million years ago

especially due to its highly fluorescent or UV reactive nature

the mineral contains arsenic and silicate and historically has been used in pyrotechnics as well as a cosmetic since ancient Egyptian times until the safety issues with arsenic in makeup became known

One of the most widely recognized and unmistakable minerals

Calcite is clear naturally but it can be found in a variety of brilliant colors due to the presence of chemical impurities during formation

copper has been used by humans as ornamentation

it is largely mined as an industrial ore across the globe

instantly eye catching and distinctive

These unique

it is instead formally known as botryoidal purple chalcedony