Re: petrified wood

[NEIL CLARK <NCLARK@museum.gla.ac.uk>]

Mesozoic Matt asked:-

Is there a scientific name for petrified wood?
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I guess it depends on what form the petrification took.  Silicified 
wood is the best known (popular), however, the petrifaction may be 
the result of other mineralisations such as calcite, dolomite, barite 
etc.  The species names depend on the tree, or plant that has been 
petrified.  My favourite is _Protocupressonexylon purbeckensis_ 
(spelling?) from the south of England.

Neil








Neil Clark
Curator of Palaeontology
Hunterian Museum
University of Glasgow
GLASGOW
G12 8QQ
Scotland/UK
email: NCLARK@museum.gla.ac.uk

'Man must surely have become an immensely worse animal 
than his teeth show him to have been designed for'
Hugh Miller (Cruise of the Betsey - 1858)