sedimentary
Petrified Wood
Silicified Wood (SiO2)
AI-generated identification · may be incorrectHardness of 7 on the Mohs scale; displays multicolored or brown hues with a vitreous to waxy luster; retains the original cellular wood structure.
Identified More sedimentary →
Explore Petrified Wood in the encyclopedia →Identify your own rocks.
Get a report just like this from any photo, free.
Physical properties
Hardness of 7 on the Mohs scale; displays multicolored or brown hues with a vitreous to waxy luster; retains the original cellular wood structure.
Formation & geological history
Formed over millions of years when buried organic wood is slowly replaced by silica-rich groundwater in anoxic sedimentary environments.
Uses & applications
Used in decorative items, lapidary art, jewelry, and prized by fossil and mineral collectors.
Geological facts
The Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona contains one of the world's largest and most colorful concentrations of petrified wood.
Field identification & locations
Identify by its distinct wood-like grain coupled with an unusually heavy weight and stone-like hardness. Common in arid regions and ancient riverbeds.
More like this
Other sedimentary specimens
Fossil-bearing concretion, possibly containing a fossil shell or other organic inclusion
Calcareous concretion; exact fossil and host-rock composition are not identifiable from the image
fossil
Fossiliferous Sedimentary Rock
Sedimentary limestone with invertebrate fossil imprint
fossil
Sandstone or Siltstone
Arenite (if sandstone)
Sedimentary
Sandstone
Arenite
sedimentary
Shale
Shale (clastic sedimentary rock)
sedimentary
Shale (or Mudstone/Siltstone)
Sedimentary Mudrock (SiO2, Al2O3 base with clay minerals)
sedimentary