6.05" Colorful, Petrified Wood (Araucarioxylon) End Cut - Arizona

Colorful, Petrified Wood (Araucarioxylon) End Cut - Arizona #210840

This is a red, blue, yellow, and orange polished section of Late Triassic petrified wood (Araucarioxylon) from Navajo County, Arizona. One face has been cut flat and polished to a glossy finish while the remainder of the wood was left rough. This specimen is the end of a petrified log and comes with a stand for optional display.

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.