Don’t be fooled by its perfectly preserved wood structure; petrified wood is not wood, but a fully fossilized form that inherited the shape of its former shell. The former trees, sealed from oxygen, did not have a chance to decompose. Instead, minerals contained within the soil replace the water within the tree’s cells creating a preserved version of the once living tree. This is why you'll see stunning, wood-like striations within the piece that appear to be wood, when in fact they are cold to the touch minerals, and HEAVY! As opposed to solid wood, picking up a similar sized petrified wood piece is no easy feat!
So how did it get here? This “wood” is often harvested from what is called a petrified forest: forests that once stood over 225 million years ago and have since been flooded with water and soil, creating the perfect environment for petrified wood to eventually come to be.
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The beauty of petrified wood is in its unique pattern; no two slices can ever be exactly alike. These fossilized pieces are found in many different shades – all representative of the mineral which took the cell’s place. For example, black = carbon, red/brown/yellow = iron oxides and pink/orange = manganese.
Here at Urbia, we are absolutely in love with the ancient material. Having a pre-historic piece in the home is just so special! Petrified wood makes for the perfect coffee or end table, stool or console. Keeping that raw edge while creating a level, polished top offers practicality while exposing the stunning natural "bark" edge.
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