WOOD STAMPS
Characteristics of the mineral.
Sometimes during the formation of sedimentary rocks conditions are created in which the wood of dead trees does not completely collapse. Its elements are gradually replaced by mineral components, including quartz and opal with chalcedony. So an amazing mineral of organogenic origin is born - fossilized wood. Often, it retains annual rings and even a fine structure of cellulose, which is noticeable under a microscope.
Sometimes there is a secondary bizarre pattern, reminiscent of the stains on the surface of jasper or agate. Usually fossilized wood has a gray and brown color and is quite unattractive, but there are reddish, brown, yellow and even blue samples.
The largest fossil tree deposit is known in Arizona near Holbrooke (USA). The length of the stone trunks found there, whose age is estimated at a minimum of 200 million years, reaches 65 m with a diameter of about 3 m. In 1962 this area was declared a national park Petrifield Forest. The deposits of the petrified tree exist also on the territory of the CIS in Primorsky Krai of Russia, Ukraine, Georgia and Armenia. It is used mainly as an ornamental material and much less often as exotic inserts in jewelry (especially handicraft and folk craftsmen's works).
Annually in nature a large number of trees die naturally. Wood residues gradually decay and are processed by microorganisms, thus the heat accumulated by plants in the process of photosynthesis during life is released. Microorganisms almost completely decompose the organic matter into gases, water and mineral salts. If air access to the dead tree is difficult, complete oxidation of plant residues, decay and carbonization does not take place and they remain permanently or gradually mineralize, become petrified. They can be under the water column or be catastrophically quickly covered with volcanic ash, a landslide or a landslide, a glacial moraine or the advancing dune sands.
The tree that once perished can turn into a real stone. For this, in addition to the appropriate conditions, time is required, calculated not by hundreds and thousands, but by many millions of years. Mineral substances can completely replace the entire organic part of the wood, the anatomical structure of which is sometimes completely preserved.
Below is a photo of the fossilized wood found in the form of a single trunk and its large fragments by paleontologists in the Lugansk region of Ukraine - the tree is partially replaced with opal and therefore retained the smallest details of its structure, it has clearly visible gnawed passages of prehistoric insects filled with silicified host rock. Due to the fine-grained structure of the substituting chalcedony and opal, the tree almost completely preserved not only the appearance, but also all the features and nuances of the structure of the wood.
This is the most beautiful and original fossilized wood that I saw and held in my hands - it has a jewelry and ornamental quality and serves as a unique material that does not have analogues in the world for the work of Ukrainian folk artists. In the vicinity of the site of his discovery, a nature protection zone should be created and limited wood extraction by diligent methods for the work of Ukrainian folk craftsmen - for the production of inserts in the decorations of folk craftsmen and exclusive desktop instruments, from this wood Krivoy Rog craftsmen created table-balls of unique beauty and decorative qualities.
Magic properties of stones.
Already in Assyria, Babylon and Ancient Rome the fossilized tree was used simply as an ordinary ornamental stone. From it made beads, inserts in rings, pendants and pendants. From the Arizona petrified tree at the turn of the XIX-XX centuries. Made countertops, vases, candelabra. Nevertheless, some people are inclined to consider the tree that joins heaven and earth as one of the universal symbols of the universe. In their hands, pieces of the petrified wood become peculiar amulets, carriers of ancient symbols and a global connection of times. It is believed that pieces of petrified wood extend the life of its owner. Perhaps this belief is associated with the image of a powerful tree, which opposes the destructive forces of nature.
Jasper is a fossilized tree. Kalinovskoye deposit, Yu. Ural, Russia. More than 50 cm. Photo: © A. Evseev.
Petrified wood. It is replaced by opal, jasper and chalcedony. Madagascar
Petrified tree, Druzhkovka, Donbass (Donetsk region), Ukraine (CIS).
Poisonous and radioactive dangerous stones and minerals
** - poisonous stones and minerals (mandatory check in the chemical laboratory + explicit indication of toxicity).
** - radioactive stones and minerals (mandatory check on the standard dosimeter + ban on open sales in the case of radioactivity over 24 milli / g / h + additional measures of population protection).
All rare stones are subject to mandatory inspection at the standard dosimeter for the permissible level of radiation and in the chemical laboratory for the absence of poisonous and evaporating components that are dangerous to humans and the environment.
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