How to tell petrified wood from rock?

Petrified wood is a fossilized form of wood created by Silurian Period plants from the Ordovician and Silurian periods (approximately 445 to 420 million years ago). Silurian Period plants are represented by horsetails, club mosses, ferns, and tree ferns. They were the first complex, multi-tissue plants to appear on the earth.

How to tell petrified wood from granite?

Petrified wood is often confused with granite as both are often a dark gray color, with a rough surface. Granite is formed from molten magma that crystallizes into large rock masses. Granite is naturally harder than petrified wood. Granite is also much more likely to have distinctive crystalline structures that petrified wood does not have. Granite also varies in color from light gray to deep black.

How to tell petrified wood from basalt?

Petrified wood has been used for making tools, jewelry, furniture, and crafts for thousands of years. It's made from the silica-rich organic matter of trees that were buried in acidic lakes and swamps during the Carboniferous period. While petrified wood is very similar to other types of rock, it can sometimes be difficult to tell the difference between the two.

How to tell petrified wood from quartz?

Petrified wood is created when silica-rich sand is deposited in an anoxic environment. The sand contains organic matter that can undergo chemical reactions, often with minerals in the rock it is in. Over time, the silica can form deposits of rock, creating petrified wood. In some cases, the organic matter can form an amber-like resin, which gives the wood a beautiful iridescent color.

How to tell petrified wood from shale?

Shale is a sedimentary rock made of minerals and organic matter. It forms from the accumulation of sand, clay, and mud as well as decaying plant matter.