Petrified Wood: Short Course

Trees, water, and silica rich mud are the 3 ingredients needed for wood to petrify.

The trees were buried in mineral rich sediment. Water percolated through the sediment carrying the minerals with it through the wood. The silica in the water was the foundation for the petrification process while trace minerals created the colors. Hundreds of feet of sediment accumulated on top of the wood burying it deeply underground.

Millions of years later, with the petrification process complete, the earth’s movement uplifted the deeply buried trees and brought them closer to the surface. Over more millions of years, natural erosion forces removed hundreds of feet of sediment and, totally transformed, the trees once again saw the light of the sun.