Petrified Wood

Object/Artifact

-

Crater Rock Museum

Name/Title

Petrified Wood

Entry/Object ID

78.58.449

Description

Assemblage Zone: Sedimentary Chemical Composition: Si O2 Crystal System: Hexagonal Description: Family: Palmae Genus: Rhizopalmoxyon Common name: Palm Root Age: Mid-Miocene Location data: Yermo, California Description: A piece of petrified palm root from Yermo, California. Polished sides shows multiple (plant bundles) in greys, browns, tans and beiges. Size: 3.875"x 5.500"x .500" Type of Fossils Present: Plants Fracture: conchoidal Grain Size: Fine Hardness: 7 Quartz Luster: Glassy Occurrence: Silicified wood, which is the fossilization and opalization of organic woody matter by the deposition of SiO2 in a anaerobic environment to prevent decay. This means that the wood must somehow be buried in an oxygen free enviroment, possibly in the silt-laden river or the bottom of a lake or buried by volcanic ash or related volcanic mudflow. The organic material in the wood is then replaced by silica (SiO2), other minerals determined its colors. Pressure: Low-Moderate Rock Color: Medium Rock Origin: Post-depositional Rock Type: Sedimentary Specific Gravity: 2.6 Surface Process: Not apparent Streak: white Temperature: Low Texture: Mircrocrystalline Variety: Petrified woods here are hydrous microcrystalline variety of quartz that can be generally termed as chalcedony.

Collection

Petrified Wood Collection

Acquisition

Accession

78.58

Source or Donor

Delmar Smith Petrified Wood Collection

Acquisition Method

Donation

Other Names and Numbers

Other Number

Other Number: 78.58.449

Dimensions

Width

8-1/2 in

Depth

1/2 in

Length

9-1/2 in

Dimension Notes

Dimension taken at widest points

Location

Location

Container

Left

Drawer

2nd Shelf

Shelf

Right

Cabinet

Case #112

Wall

North Wall

Building

Mentzer Hall - Petrified Wood Room

Category

Permanent