It is when mineral rich waters enter the void spaces in an organism: plant or animal life. The waters leave mineral deposits behind, which create a cast of the organism or completely permineralize it, meaning it was petrified - turned to stone. For permineralization to occur, the organism has to be rapidly covered in a deep layer of silt shortly after death, or perhaps when it was still alive. This process is extremely rare, as conditions have to be "just right".
 |
| A fossilized tree trunk, still rooted in the ground, in Florisant, Colorado. These fossilzed trees are large and do not share the vibrant colours of those in Arizona's Petrified Forest. Here they are shoring up the fossil with bands of iron to keep it from falling apart, from splitting, like shale or slate, as it is pure "stone". | |
 |
| Some perspective on the size of this one - Florisant, Colorado. |
 |
| New life, a tree, growing out of fossilized tree remains. |
If you have enjoyed reading this short article, please leave your comments or tick one of the boxes below. Thank you.
No comments:
Post a Comment