6.7" Petrified Wood Bookends - Oregon

This is a pair of large bookends made from Late Triassic aged, unidentified petrified wood from McDermitt, Oregon. The bookends have been polished on the outer face to highlight the details. The flat edges have been lined with felt.

Each bookend varies slightly in size, one measures 6.7" tall, 4.0" wide and 1.8" thick, the other 6.7" tall, 3.9" wide and 1.8" thick.

This wood is similar to petrified wood found in the Petrified Forest National Park near Holbrook, Arizona. Its petrified forest encompasses nearly 100,000 acres, and is almost entirely represented by the extinct conifer Araucarioxylon arizonicum.

The petrified wood from Araucarioxylon arizonicum happens to be the state fossil of Arizona. It 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 extremely fine hematite spherules.

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.

Petrified wood is the name given to wood that has been turned into stone (fossilized) through the process of permineralization. In this process, all of the organic matter becomes replaced by minerals, while much of the original structure, such as tree rings, is retained. For this to happen, the wood needs to be buried in an environment low in oxygen to prevent decomposition and with flowing, mineral-laden water, so minerals may replace structures. The coloration is caused by various minerals that present in that water during fossilization. For example, red colors are due to iron compounds, greens due to copper, and so on.
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DETAILS
SPECIES
Unidentified
LOCATION
McDermitt, Oregon
SIZE
6.7 x 4.0 x 1.8"
CATEGORY
ITEM
#117227
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