Lot 6
North America, Southwestern United States, Arizona, Late Triassic, ca. 225 million years ago. A massive and gorgeous slab of fossilized or petrified tree trunk sliced crossways and highly polished on both planar sides to showcase the broad interior rings of the tree - not only beautiful but providing invaluable information about fossilization processes! The exterior bark has also fossilized, replaced by rough stone, while the smooth interior features incredible, colorful structures made of quartz and agate - the minerals that replaced the once organic tree material. The colors are otherworldly and drastically different than what the original wood must have been as this slab is like an interstellar nebula: warm hues of red and maroon, purple, ochre yellow, with creamy white and lilac blue striations and swirls throughout. An incredible piece to display for the sheer splendor of the natural color that formed over millions of years! Size: 21.5" Diameter x 1" W (54.6 cm x 2.5 cm)
Fossilized trees from this time period come from the Chinle Formation of the southwestern USA, and the beautiful colors found in this formation - exemplified by the colors of this fossilized tree - give the Painted Desert of Arizona its name. During the Late Triassic, because of plate tectonics, this area was near the equator on the supercontinent Pangaea, with a humid, sub-tropical climate. It was a floodplain below mountains to its south and a sea to its west; as a result, massive trees washed down from the mountains and came to rest in sediments that preserved them and fossilized them. The petrification process involves the rapid burial of the tree or pieces under sediment which prevents the usual decay. Flooding and volcanic activity are usually responsible for creating the layers of sand, silt, and ash needed to create the right types and amount of sediment. Mineralized water can then permeate through the wood, coating cell walls and filling the intercellular cavities which then fossilizes into stone. The detailed preservation of the wood, including knots, rings, and bark, are possible because the organic wood molecules become coated and surrounded with smaller silica molecules. Nine different species of tree have been identified in the fossilized deposits in the region; this example may be Araucarioxylon arizonicum, an extinct conifer tree (and the state fossil of Arizona), which is often found. Fascinatingly, the Ancestral Puebloan people who lived in the region approximately one thousand years ago used petrified wood for making tools and even building houses!
Provenance: private Berthoud, Colorado, USA collection
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#168933
- Condition: Professionally prepared and polished. One face is highly polished and covered in a clear fixative coating. The other face is covered in a protective sealant and the interior rings are not visible. Amazing coloration throughout.
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