Petrified forest. Fossilised remains of tree trunks dating from the Palaeocene epoch (around to 56 million years ago). Petrification is a term us
Petrified forest. Fossilised remains of tree trunks dating from the Palaeocene epoch (around to 56 million years ago). Petrification is a term used to describe the fossilisation of wood. It occurs when pieces of wood fall into sediments and are rapidly covered, preventing normal decay. Over long periods of time the wood decays. As it decays, the wood is replaced by minerals which are deposited from solution in ground water. This forms an exact replica of the original, preserving the texture of the bark and even the growth rings. Photographed at the Jose Ormachea Petrified Forest, Sarmiento, Patagonia, Argentina.
Size: 3425px × 2569px
Photo credit: © JAVIER TRUEBA/MSF/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: america, american, argentina, argentinian, biological, biology, botanical, botany, flora, forest, fossil, fossilisation, fossilised, fossilization, fossilized, fossils, historical, history, jose, jungle, landscape, nature, ormachea, palaeocene, palaeontological, palaeontology, paleocene, paleontological, paleontology, patagonia, patagonian, petrification, petrified, plant, plants, prehistoric, prehistory, sarmiento, south, tree, trees, tropical, tropics, trunk, trunks, valley, wood
