Geologists: What Do I Have Here? Odd Stones Found In Virginia That Were Once Wood. But It's Not Petrified.

March 4, 2020

#363

Gentle reader,

I was born in Arizona, but never visited the Petrified Forrest, but I know about it and what was involved in petrifying fallen trees from millions of years ago.

Firstly, I know the two pieces in front are petrified wood. My wife found the small piece somewhere and bought it. I found the large one at an antiques store here in Virginia.

The other two we found fallen from a cliff on the Potomac River. 

Below are multiple shots made in direct daylight of the large piece from all angles, with no changes made to the photos other than cropping and file size.

Multiple colors seen in it.

Look at the photo below, near the top at the right is clearly a branch and another branch seems to be to the left of the larger one.

Above, that is or was, obviously a piece of bark. It resembles pine bark. It will be more obvious in later photos.

One can see above where twig branches once grew in spots seen in this photo.

No indication of tree rings or other things, from the bottom, it is just a rock.

Here, the piece of bark is more obvious. And, I now see what appears to be a branch or another piece of bark to the right.

This shot shows the piece in the colors I see, mostly they are quite reddish. Also, the stone weighs three pounds 13.6 ounces.

Below are shots I made today under bright daylight balanced LED lightbulbs with diffusers over ten inch reflectors. And, I was using a different camera than the shots above.

Just look at all the colors that show up. I will have links at the bottom of the article, which among much other information, explain what the colors were caused by.

The smaller piece's corner points at what may have been a branch.

Even the gray bottom has colors not seen above.

This is the cliff beneath which we found what at first appeared to be interesting looking rocks. Only upon closer examination, did I conclude they had to have been parts of a tree.
As you can see, the river has been eroding the cliff for MANY years. This is a film image I shot sometime last Century. So no doubt, those trees may have since fallen. 

Take a close look at both of these objects, in all of the photos. The one on the left has obvious branches, one can see obvious centers and the rings in them.

From this side, they just look like layers of silt built up over a very long time. I have learned those lines are called rays.

Above and below, are more branches in both pieces. Clearly rings are seen in both. 

These shots clearly show rings, and the one on the right is clearly the center of what was once a tree trunk or branch.

See the dust beneath them? They feel and crumble like sandstone.

So they are not petrified, but clearly stones and to me, obviously were once parts of a tree, LONG ago.

I did a search and came up with these articles in Wikipedia:

Petrified wood - Wikipedia 

Fossil wood - Wikipedia 

Submerged forest - Wikipedia  

This article helps one determine what various colors mean in petrified wood:

Simple Ways to Identify Petrified Wood: 8 Steps (with Pictures) 

Yet, of all of these articles did not reveal anything to help me identify whether this sandstone-like rock is some form of petrified wood. What do you think? Leave your comments below. 

Thanks for taking the time to read my blog. It is your kind words and comments that keep me writing.

Scott
March 4, 2020