7.8" Stromatolite Covered Petrified Wood Round - California

Stromatolite Covered Petrified Wood Round - California #184785

This is a limb section of Miocene aged petrified wood algal casts from San Bernadino County, California. One face of this round has been polished to show off the inner wood detail. This is an example of a fresh water "tree hugging" stromatolite. In cyclical environments, as the climate shifts from arid to humid, the trunks and roots of flooded trees serve as a temporary habitable zone for ancient bacterial species. As the expanding lake flooded the surrounding area, these stromatolites encrusted the trunks and exposed roots of the drowned vegetation. Analysis of the Barstow stromatolites suggests that the bacteria that forms this coating may have also been involved in uranium mineralization.

Based upon the location of collection, we estimate this wood may come from a Cycad tree, though further analysis is needed to confirm this.

This specimen comes with an acrylic display stand.

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.