Experts consider petrified wood as a special substance with strong energy. A small piece of petrified wood will teach a person to enjoy life and appreciate what you have. Magicians often use this material in various rituals. Some people claim that it is even able to prolong life.
Description of the mineral
Tree death is a natural process. Over time, their remains turn into fossils. Wood is affected by various minerals, so over time it can change its color to red, yellow, blue and even purple. On the cut, instead of annual rings, amazing patterns are formed. They are visible both in longitudinal and transverse sections. Ancient petrified wood is easy to grind and cut, despite the fact that this material is highly durable and dense.
There are several varieties of petrified wood:
- Homogeneous white structure saturated with opal.
- The combination of opal, chalcedony and iron hydroxide makes the structure mottled or streaky with a brown tint.
- The composition of black fossils contains opal or carbonate and necessarily carbon. Visually, they are very similar to black agate.
- The concentric-zonal fossil is rich in chalcedony with opals. They color the growth rings brown, beige or white. As a result, the structure of the material becomes streaky.
Between the petrified trees found in different places on the planet, there is only one difference - this is an amazing, unique color. Some deposits are recognized as reserves, so the extraction of material in them is prohibited.
A bit of history
The ancient Romans believed that petrified wood helped solve any problem. A person who carries a piece of this mineral with him gets rid of illusions, therefore he quickly finds a way out of any, even the most difficult situation. A stone tree relieves anger, longing, teaches you to enjoy life and welcome any changes. With its help, a person realizes what he needs from life, and achieves his goals. In Assyria and Babylon, such fossils were used as a common ornamental material. They made from it:
- pendants;
- rings;
- countertops;
- candelabra;
- flowerpots.
According to the legend of the Navajo Indians, the petrified tree is the claws of a huge monster that hunted people. Before a long journey, the Indians sacrificed stone wood to their gods, hoping that this would protect them from evil spirits on the way. The Udmurts believed that the fossils were the broken fingers of the evil spirit Wumurt. They called the petrified tree devil's fingers and used its branches to treat various diseases. It also served as a talisman to protect the home from evil people.
Some consider this material as a universal symbol of the universe. Amulets are made from it, which are a symbol of the global connection of times.
Medical and magical properties
Like other minerals, wood stone has numerous medicinal properties. People who wear jewelry made of such material are more resistant to various infections and easily endure any stress. A piece of the mineral will help people suffering from arthritis. Petrified wood is a great helper for those who live in their fantasies and fail financially. It helps to cope with monetary problems and achieve many earthly blessings, but at the same time not become a stingy person.
Modern people they buy petrified wood amulets to attract prosperity and quickly achieve their goals. This stone helps to overcome any obstacles, teaches you to rejoice in achievements and enjoy all the blessings of life, but at the same time not get hung up on the material sphere.
The unique structure and excellent hardness indicators make petrified wood in demand and popular. It looks great in combination with glass and metal. slices big trees can be used for the manufacture of furniture, sinks, various coasters, etc. Such products fit perfectly into a modern interior. Jewelry, carvings and souvenirs are made from the wreckage.
Compound petrified wood - silica SiO2 with impurities. Petrified wood is either a complete pseudomorph opal on wood, and in this case it is often referred to as woody opal, or it is completely replaced chalcedony. The most common are opal-chalcedony varieties with various combinations of both components.
There is also a replacement of wood with crypto-crystalline quartz(Arizona tree). Meets siderite
petrified wood (Kamchatka). As minor minerals in a petrified tree, iron hydroxides, pyrite, carbonates - magnesium and phosphorus (about 1%) are common, in addition, bluish veins of barite-celestine composition are noted. Almost always, petrified wood contains carbonates- salts of carbonic acid H2CO3 - (70-80%), carbonaceous matter (5-30%), iron oxides (up to 10%), apatite, quartz. Layers of carbonaceous matter have a thickness of 0.1 to 3 mm, there are also single secant longitudinal veins. The presence of certain impurities of chemical elements, such as iron, manganese or copper in the water during the petrification process, gives the resulting petrified wood one color or another: Sometimes the color of the stone can even resemble landscape jasper.
- manganese– pink/orange
- manganese oxide - black / yellow
- carbon- black
- oxide gland- red, brown, yellow
- cobalt— green/blue
- chromium— green/blue
- copper— green/blue
Petrified wood is the remains of trees that grew in the Permian (285-250 million years ago) and Carboniferous (360-299 million years ago) period. Although plant fossils are much rarer than animal fossils, many specimens have survived to this day that give a clear picture of the evolution of the plant world.
Petrified wood sample. Indonesia.
Size 3.2cm x 2.5cm x 2.3cm
Issue #45 PETSILIZED WOOD
Minerals - Treasures of the Earth. Publishing house DeAgostini
According to the texture features are distinguished spotted
, concentric-zonal
and indistinctly zonal homogeneous
petrified wood of various colors. Combinations of concentric-zonal and spotted varieties in one sample are not uncommon. Spotted petrified wood - the most common decorative variety - an ornamental stone of opal-chalcedony composition with a significant impurity of iron hydroxides
. Such a three-component composition with a variable ratio of opal, chalcedony and iron hydroxides causes an uneven spotted color and, accordingly, a spotted and banded-spotted texture.
Produced at the Washington Laboratory artificial petrified tree . In the process of petrification, small cubes of pine were soaked in acid for two days and then immersed in a silica solution for another two. Then such a product was cooked at a temperature of 1400 °C in an argon atmosphere for two hours. The result was silicon carbide, which retained the complex cellular structure of wood. Then aged in a solution of tungsten, the resulting tungsten carbide was an artificial petrified tree.
One of the most unusual national parks in the United States is the Petrified Forest, located in the heart of Arizona, not far from the city of Holbrook. This is a magical country where you can see wonderful trees made of ... stone. Dinosaurs lived here 220 million years ago and giant (over 30 meters high) trees grew here, reaching two meters in diameter. Some of them died from old age, others from diseases, fires and floods.
On the faults of giant trunks up to 2 meters in diameter, one can see crystals of pink amethyst, black morion, milky-white quartz, which replaced decayed wood during the crystallization process.
The earth was still young, its landscape constantly changing as a result of frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. The stormy streams carried the dead trees down to the lowlands, where they accumulated in great numbers. They were gradually covered with sand, silt and volcanic ash. Deprived of access to air, the trees began to change: quartz, which is part of the volcanic ash, penetrated into the wood with water and crystallized there, exactly repeating the structure of the logs. As a result of this process, various types of semi-precious stones were formed - agate, jasper, amethyst, onyx, carnelian. Thus, inventive Nature created stone copies of trees buried at great depths.
65 million years ago, as a result of shifts in the earth's crust, the water in this part of Arizona receded, freeing the petrified giants. Today we can see these trees. It must be said that national park in Arizona is not the only place on Earth where such fossils are found, but it is the largest. What you see is simply amazing. Sometimes you can’t even believe that the trees are made of stone. It looks like some giant lumberjack just chopped some wood and left without finishing his job. Logs and logs lie everywhere on the ground, chips and shavings are scattered, but ... they are all made of stone! Probably nowhere else in the world you will be able to walk through the Jasper or Crystal Forest, admire the Agate Bridge and see many more amazing corners. The names speak for themselves - each of them corresponds to the "name" of the mineral that formed the unique fossils.
Most of the trunks are opaque, but almost all of them can be counted with annual rings. When you realize that in front of you are exact copies of the trees between which dinosaurs roamed many millions of years ago, you experience an absolutely extraordinary feeling ... The landscape of the Petrified Forest is constantly changing. Although rains are extremely rare in this area (a little more than 20 cm of precipitation falls a year), but during short and violent thunderstorms, ash flows wash away the upper layers of the soil, exposing more and more exhibits of the park. So next time you visit this place, you may not recognize it.
Here's an uncommon fact:
Scientists believe that most of the sedimentary rock layers on the Earth's surface were deposited slowly over millions of years. Most of these layers contain fossilized remains of plants and animals. But there are problematic facts.
There are many examples on Earth when fossils pass vertically through numerous layers of sedimentary rocks - hence they get their name "polystratic fossils" (from poly - many, strata - layers).
For example, in the Joggins coalfield (Nova Scotia, Canada), you can find many vertically arranged trees scattered in layers with a total thickness of 750 meters. These petrified trees are easy to see.+
Well-preserved, they cut across layers thought to have been deposited over millions of years. The fact is that the trees had to be buried faster than they would rot. In other words, there is NO WAY that these layers could have been deposited slowly over millions of years.
The trees would have decayed long before that and thus would not have petrified. Derek Ager, emeritus professor of geology at Swansea University College and educated in the spirit of strict Lyellian uniformitarianism, describes these fossils as: years, and assuming a constant rate of sedimentation, then the burial of a tree 10 meters high took place over 100,000 years, which is really just ridiculous.”
How long does it take for layers of sedimentary rocks to form? Take a look at this ten meter petrified tree, one of hundreds discovered in the coal mines of Cookeville, Tennessee, USA. This tree starts in one coal bed, goes up through numerous layers, and finally ends in another coal seam. Consider this: what would happen to the top of the tree in the thousands of years it takes (according to evolution) to form sedimentary layers and angle layers? Obviously, the formation of sedimentary layers and seams of coal had to be catastrophic (rapid) to bury the tree in an upright position before it rots and falls. Such " standing trees are found in numerous places on earth and at different levels. Despite the evidence, long periods of time (required for evolution) are squeezed between the layers, for which there is no evidence.
“On the other hand, if a tree 10 meters high was buried for 10 years, this would mean that layers 1000 km thick would be deposited in a million years, or 10,000 km in 10 million years. This is also ludicrous and we have no choice but to conclude that the deposition of sedimentary rocks at times happened very quickly, and there were times when the deposition process was interrupted and stopped for a while, despite the fact that the layers look continuous and uniform.
Here are some more examples of what should not exist in the world of modern science (petrified tree trunks):
8
Geopark in Greece: Petrified Forest of Lesvos
10
On the banks of the Yellowstone River
11
Hungarian scientists reported an interesting discovery: in the northeast of the country, the remains of a small forest dating back 8 million years were found. According to Alfred Dulai, a geologist at the Hungarian Museum of Natural History (Magyar Természettudományi Múzeum), it is unusual that parts of most of the trees were preserved in an upright position. The find is a kind of stump 4 to 6 meters high and 1.5 up to 3 meters. They are parts of swamp cypresses, preserved from ancient times in open deposits of brown coal.
Age as usual - estimated by eye, otherwise how to explain given fact. The older the better...
13 This rarest 23.5-carat opal, sprouted from a petrified piece of wood, sells for $2,350.
The most unusual forest is located in the Chinese province of Yunnan, it is called Shilin, which in Chinese means "Stone Forest".
Shilin - a lot of karst formations that have tall and thin shapes, so they look like petrified trees, there are so many of them that it all looks like a stone forest.
According to scientists, this unusual forest is more than 250 million years old. At that distant time, there was a sea at this place, which then dried up and huge limestone stones from its bottom remained on the surface. Wind and time have turned it into stone pillars resembling the shapes of trees, animals, birds and people.
14 Stone forest in China
Andrew Snelling
This was the title of the article in the magazine Popular Science, in the October 1992 issue. The same was demonstrated by a study conducted at the University of Washington High Quality Ceramics Laboratory in Seattle (USA).
The researchers created a wood-ceramic composite that was 20 to 120 percent harder than regular wood, yet looked like wood. The process of creating this mixture is surprisingly simple: the wood is impregnated with a solution containing a mixture of silicon and aluminum. The solution fills the pores in the wood, after which it is placed in an oven at a temperature of 44°C. According to the head of the research laboratory, Daniel Dobbs, in the course of such experiments, the wood is impregnated with a solution to a depth of approximately 5 mm. Moreover, deeper penetration into wood under pressure and more high temperature, produced a stone-hard composition of wood and ceramics that looked very much like petrified wood.
The original "recipe" for petrification
However, the discovery of the "recipe" for wood petrification belongs to Hamilton Hicks of Greenwich, Connecticut (USA), who received US patent number 4612050 on September 16, 1986. According to Hicks, his chemical "cocktail" of sodium silicate (known as " liquid glass"), natural spring or volcanic mineral water containing a high percentage of calcium, magnesium, manganese and other metal salts, and citric or malic acid can quickly turn wood into stone. But if you want to use this "recipe", you need to know what is used for artificial petrification special technology for mixing these components in the correct proportions in order to obtain the "initial" solidifying state.
Hicks wrote:
“When the solution is applied to the wood, it penetrates into it. Mineral water and sodium silicate are contained in the solution in relatively equal proportions, so that the solution is a liquid with a stable viscosity and oxidizes to the initial thickening condition, to the extent that solidification occurs after penetration into the wood, and not before. Those. the solution can be stored and transported, but after it is applied to the wood, it hardens in it. When the content of the solution in the wood is high enough, the wood impregnated with the solution takes on the characteristics of petrified wood. In this state, the tree can no longer be burned, even if it is exposed to high humidity or wet for a long time. The observed petrification occurs rapidly by the drying of the wood.”
The patent states that the amount of acid in the solution appears to play an important role in the solidification phase within the cellular structure of the tree, although evaporation also plays a significant role in this process. The wood is thoroughly impregnated, if necessary, even treated several times or immersed in a solution. And after drying, it clearly has all the characteristics of petrified wood, including the appearance.
Both Hicks and researchers at the University of Washington lab talk about the potential applications of such "instant" petrified wood:
Fire-resistant wooden structures, such as houses and stables (then horses wouldn't chew petrified wood either!).
Durable coatings, floors and furniture.
Wood with increased strength for use in construction.
Wood protected from insects, decay and salt water for the construction of buildings, etc.
Fast natural petrification
The chemical components used to artificially petrify wood can be found in nature and within sedimentary rocks. In that case, is it possible that natural petrification occurs quickly under the influence of these processes? Certainly! Sigleo reported that the rate of silica deposition in wood blocks in alkaline springs located in Yellowstone National Park(USA) is between 0.1 and 4.0 mm per year.
Some startling reports have come from Australia. Pigott, who writes for the Australian magazine Lapidary, recounts what he saw in southwest Queensland:
". . from Mrs. McMurray of Blekola I heard a story that shocked me and seems to have destroyed many ideas about the age of petrified wood. Mrs. MacMurray has a piece of wood that has been turned to stone and has obvious ax marks. She says that the tree from which this piece was cut grew on her father's farm in Eutella, located near Rome, and was cut down by her father about 70 years ago. The tree was partly buried underground, and when it was dug up, it was petrified. At the end of her story, Mrs. McMurray told that another resident of her town had a piece of a petrified wire fence post with holes made for the wire and with a piece of wire.
“Petrified wood, thousands of years old? Interesting, or is it so?
A few months later, Peirce added to these amazing stories about wood that quickly petrified in the ground of sparsely populated Queensland:
". . . Piggott writes about a petrified tree with traces of an axe, as well as a petrified fence post.
“Such finds, of course, are common. In Hagenden County, North Queensland... Parkinson's trees near a ranch were flooded and covered with sediment in a 1918 flood. Later in 1950, the sediment was washed away by a flood. Parts of the tree trunk turned into a pleasingly colored stone. but most of the trunk and its branches have completely disappeared.”
“At Zara Ranch, located about 48 km from Hughenden (North Queensland), I was repairing a fence. The old posts of this fence in some places passed through the black earth into the slate clay. The acacia wood in this black ground was still perfect. Then it broke off as straight as if it had been sawn off and the few inches of the pillar in the slate clay were pure stone. Every ax mark could be clearly seen on this post, and the wood retained its color as it had on the day it was cut down. . . ."
“I know that in the dunes near Bowlia [southwest Queensland], where the fences are often almost completely covered by moving sands, it is not uncommon for the sand to slide away after a few years, leaving the fence posts standing upright.”
A message was received from the other side of the world about the church of Santa Maria della Salute, built in 1630 in Venice, Italy, to celebrate the end of the plague. Since Venice is built on water-soaked clay and sand, the church was built on 180,000 wooden piles to reinforce its foundation. Even despite the fact that the church is a massive stone structure, it has remained stable from the day it was founded. How did the wooden piles remain strong for 360 years? They are petrified! Now the church stands on "stone" piles!
Experimental confirmation
Of course, none of these reports should surprise us, since the processes of wood petrification have long been known, as well as the fact that this process can happen and happened quickly. For example, Skerfield and Segnit reported that the process of wood petrification can be seen as five steps:
- The entry of quartz in solution or as a colloid into wood.
- Penetration of quartz into the cell walls of the wood structure.
- Gradual disintegration of the cell walls, which at the same time are replaced by quartz, so that the dimensional stability of the wood is maintained.
- Filling voids with quartz inside the framework of cell walls.
- Final hardening (lithification) as a result of drying.
Conclusion
Data that has been obtained by scientists in laboratories as well as in God's natural laboratory shows that, under the right chemical conditions, wood can be quickly petrified by silicification, even at ordinary temperature and pressure. The process of wood petrification is now so well known and understood that if desired, scientists can quickly petrify wood in their laboratories.
Unfortunately, most people continue to think, and are forced into this thinking, that the petrification of petrified wood buried in rock strata must have taken thousands, if not millions, of years. This thinking is clearly wrong, as it has been demonstrated time and again that petrification of wood can and does occur rapidly. Thus, the time interval for the formation of petrified wood within the geological record is fully consistent with the Biblical time scale of the recent creation and the subsequent devastating Global Flood.
Links and notes
petrified tree
By its nature, petrified wood is a biomorphosis - an object obtained as a result of the development of minerals from organic remains. This is the wood of ancient trees, replaced by minerals of the silica family (opal, chalcedony or quartz) over thousands and millions of years. Limonite, hematite, pyrite, manganese oxides, and sometimes even celestite may be present as minor minerals. These impurities also affect the color. In the process of petrification, the structure of a tree can be very well preserved - for example, growth rings or the structure of leaves. Sometimes the degree of preservation is such that it is possible to identify the plant with an accuracy of species.
Petrified wood is distinguished by interesting colors and patterns on the surface, so it is a valuable material - both ornamental and collectible. The saw cuts of such a tree are beautiful in themselves, and often occupy a worthy place in a personal collection, as well as small colorful pieces. Cabochons, beads, figurines are also cut from it; longitudinal saw cuts of trunks can serve as picturesque countertops. In combination with metal and glass, petrified wood looks very original and unexpected, and is a wonderful decoration and addition to the interior.
Geological referenceBasically, after the completion of life cycle ancient tree one road was waiting - to turn into coal, and the larger the forest was, the more powerful the coal seam located in its place becomes. However, sometimes such conditions were created under which the tree was not coalified, but petrified. The most ideal set of such conditions was formed during volcanic processes - when a tree or forest was buried under volcanic sediments in conditions of lack of oxygen. This excluded rotting and the transformation of wood into coal. The presence of mineralized solutions in these sediments helped to replace wood polymers (cellulose and lignin) with stone - with the complete preservation of the structure and structure of wood!
Petrified wood can take on different colors depending on the impurities in the composition - gray light and dark, brown, red and yellowish; there are many colorful samples of wood. The composition of the tree - mainly SiO 2.
Hardness on the Mohs scale - 5.5-6.5.
One of the most famous deposits is the "petrified forest" in Holbrook (USA, Arizona). This area has been declared a National Park since 1906. Fossils from this area are considered the best in the world in terms of color and pattern quality, they are very dense and represent araucaria trunks without branches and twigs. Smaller, but also developed deposits are in the states of Washington and Oregon. On the Continent South America a rather interesting deposit is also known - Cerro Cuadrado (Patagonia, Argentina). 160 million years ago, a whole forest was buried in this place under a volcanic eruption, and now this place is known as a deposit of cones and pieces of araucaria tree (Araucaria mirabilis) of excellent quality and very clear pattern.
In Greece, in the west of the island of Lesvos, there is also an extensive petrified forest (150 km2), and since 1985 it has had the status of a natural monument.
The Godzer deposit (Georgia) and the Sariar deposit (Armenia) are characterized by jet-like fossils. A siderite (ironized) petrified tree from Kamchatka is known. Finds of petrified trees are also known in Ukraine, South Kazakhstan, in Russia - the Volga region, Central Siberia, Chukotka and Primorsky Krai. Less prevalence is present in other countries.
Medicinal propertiesPetrified wood has long been known in folk medicine. For example, the Mongols applied slabs of wood to the joints for arthritis and other diseases of a similar spectrum. Modern lithotherapists believe that beads made of petrified wood will help relieve nervous tension and normalize blood pressure, relieve stress. Also, petrified wood will increase the vitality of the body.
magical propertiesIt is believed that this fossil will help "ground" those who are in the clouds, teach them to appreciate what is happening at the moment, as well as achieve success in the material sphere and not dwell on it. A petrified tree is able to strengthen family ties in the family, settle some kind of contention, and also enhance a person’s creative activity.
By Feng Shui petrified wood symbolizes the energy of growth, spiritual strength and strength. It promotes digestion, improves tissue tone. Belongs to the elements of the Tree, weakens the influence of the elements of the Earth. A piece of stone wood in the southeastern sector of the house will help to arrange financial well-being, to master monetary luck.
Wood energy is receptive Yin. Good for chakra Muladhara.
Stone tree is favorable for all signs of the zodiac. However, it suits Gemini one hundred percent!
Amulets and talismansAmulets were made from petrified wood in the form of figurines of gods, helper spirits or animals. These amulets were designed to protect the house from fire, floods and other natural Disasters. It worked like this: a man, leaving the house, promised the figurine to return, and ordered her to keep order in the house in her absence; and it was believed that the talisman was obliged to guard the house until the arrival of the owner.
Jewelry is made from petrified wood - beads, bracelets, rings. According to some reports, the beads are able to extend the life of the representatives of the Zodiac of the Earth (Capricorn, Taurus, Virgo). Rings and bracelets were worn to ward off the evil eye and long arms.
It is believed that petrified wood coexists equally with all minerals, but sometimes it is not recommended to combine it with serpentine and selenite.
In the USA, due to the presence of especially large deposits, petrified wood is very successful in interior decoration. Tabletops, mantelpieces, vases and candelabra are made from it. In Russia, smaller things are mainly made from such wood - souvenirs, figurines, "cabinet" products (ashtrays, watch stands and fountain pens). A petrified tree can also be a valuable piece of your personal collection.
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