A Petrified Wood Sphere

Only woody plants that are quickly covered in sediment after death are candidates for petrification. Over time, minerals in the anaerobic soil seep into the cells of buried stems and trunks and replace their organic materials with those of the earth in which they're entombed. Because of the wealth of minerals found in Arizona's famed Chinle Formation, natural petrification results in an array of varying colors, earning preserved conifers from this area the nickname "rainbow wood”.

This striking specimen comes from an extinct type of conifer known as Araucarioxylon arizonicum, and represents a chance to own a beautiful and significant piece of a 225 million year old North American ecosystem.