Petrified Wood

Object/Artifact

-

Crater Rock Museum

Name/Title

Petrified Wood

Entry/Object ID

78.58.208

Description

Assemblage Zone: sandstone, mudstone Chemical Composition: Si O2 Crystal System: Hexagonal Description: Family: Protopinaceae Genus: Woodworthia Arizonica Common name: Woodworthia Age: Middle-Eocene Location data: Central Arizona Description: A piece of petrified wood from Central Arizona. Polished side shows wood in greys, black, and some brown. Multiple grey silicate cracks in various widths are seen. Size: 15.500"x 14.750"x 6.500" Type of Fossils Present: Plants Fracture: conchoidal Grain Size: Fine Hardness: 7 Quartz Luster: Glassy Occurrence: Silicified wood, which is the fossilization and/or 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 volcanic related mudflow. The organic material in the wood is then replaced by silica, other minerals determined the colors of the petrified wood. 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: microcrystaline Variety: Petrified wood is hydrous microcrystalline variety of quartz that can be defined in general term of chalcedony or opalized

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: 78.58.208

Dimensions

Width

14-3/4 in

Depth

6-1/2 in

Length

15-1/2 in

Dimension Notes

Dimension taken at widest points

Location

Location

Shelf

Bottom

Cabinet

Case #107(a)

Wall

North

Building

Mentzer Hall - Petrified Wood Room

Category

Permanent