Petrified wood is a fossil. The petrification occurs when the plant material is slowly replaced with minerals, usually a form of silica like chalcedony, opal, or quartz. As seen with the long petrified wood bowl, crystals can grow in the grooves of the wood, like a geode does in empty cavities underground. Unlike other plant fossils, petrified wood is a three dimensional representation of organic vegetation in the fossil record. The organic cells are slowly, one by one, replaced with minerals- the slow process can allow the petrified wood to retain its tree rings, woodgrain, and bark pattern. In order to petrify, it needs a zero oxygen environment so the wood doesn’t rot away before it can fossilize/petrify, and areas where forests were covered by landslides/flooding thousands of years ago are where specimens can be found

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