As I was thinking about this week’s blog, I was trying to decide what stone to feature, as the Stone People were asking to speak. As I was thinking about quartz, petrified wood pushed its way into my thoughts. It immediately reminded me of our trip to the Petrified Forest in Holbrook, AZ many years ago.

Petrified wood, Blue Mesa, Petrified Forest National Park

According to their website, over 200 million years ago, during the Triassic Period, the logs washed into the river and were buried quick enough and deep enough by massive amounts of sediment and debris, that oxygen was cut off and decay slowed. Minerals, including silica dissolved from volcanic ash, absorbed into the porous wood over hundreds and thousands of years and crystallized within the cellular structure, replacing the organic material. The wood structure was maintained, but the wood fibers slowly changed into stone. Sometimes the crushing or decay left cracks in the logs. Here large jewel-like crystals of clear quartz, purple amethyst, yellow citrine, and smoky quartz formed. Continue reading →