11.9" Brown, Petrified Wood (Araucarioxylon) Stand-up - Arizona

Brown, Petrified Wood (Araucarioxylon) Stand-up - Arizona #172121

This is an unusually colored, 11.9" tall polished petrified wood (Araucarioxylon) stand-up from Northern Arizona. Most people are used to seeing the vibrantly colored version of this petrified wood but this round has orange, beige, brown and brown coloration to it. Both sides have been cut flat and one has been polished to a glossy finish. One edge has been cut flat for presentation.

The vibrant coloration is due to the contaminating minerals in the silica which replaced the original wood structure. For example pinks and reds are due to hematite, a form of oxidized iron. This is similar to petrified wood which is found in the Petrified Forest National Park. The petrified forest encompasses nearly 100k acres and this wood comes from land outside of the park.

The petrified wood from the extinct conifer Araucarioxylon arizonicum which happens to be the state fossil of Arizona. The petrified wood of this tree is frequently referred to as "Rainbow wood" because of the large variety of colors some specimens exhibit. The reds and oranges come from hematite inclusions within the silica, the yellows from limonite and the purples from magnesium based minerals.

Araucarioxylon arizonicum is estimated to have grown more than 150 feet high and dominated the tropical forests in what is now Arizona nearly 225 million years ago.