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Here are some specimens of petrified wood I picked up from gravel banks of a river that flows through an area of extinct volcanoes. It might be that this kind of petrified wood is rare in Australia. If it is not directly related to the volcanoes in the area then it seems a bit of a coincidence and I have never found petrified wood so abundantly as I have here. I would think that fact that it has carnelian/agate growing over it/through it suggests thermal activity was a factor in the petrification process. Elsewhere in Australia, this may not have been the case.
Two bits with orange chalcedony on the outside and the cabbed pieces has blue agate with tiny quartz crystals in the middle.
As you can see, this piece is a petrified branch stub broken off a main trunk. There are very clear growth rings across the broken off section but I thought that it can be very clearly seen what this is without that.
Here is some of the material that typically accompanies the petrified wood, though most pieces are less interesting. It's a real shame that only the tiniest fraction of it has that vivid orange-red right through, usually it's just a thin skin with colourless material inside. Some rather unusual botryoidal chalcedonic growths as well, like a bunch of fish eggs. I have a few others that look like short columns.
If you're in/heading to the Rockhampton area in Central QLD and you want to grab some, just let me know and I will give directions. But you'd better get in quick - the Rookwood weir is on the cards and once it's built, these gravel banks will be drowned 8.(
Two bits with orange chalcedony on the outside and the cabbed pieces has blue agate with tiny quartz crystals in the middle.
As you can see, this piece is a petrified branch stub broken off a main trunk. There are very clear growth rings across the broken off section but I thought that it can be very clearly seen what this is without that.
Here is some of the material that typically accompanies the petrified wood, though most pieces are less interesting. It's a real shame that only the tiniest fraction of it has that vivid orange-red right through, usually it's just a thin skin with colourless material inside. Some rather unusual botryoidal chalcedonic growths as well, like a bunch of fish eggs. I have a few others that look like short columns.
If you're in/heading to the Rockhampton area in Central QLD and you want to grab some, just let me know and I will give directions. But you'd better get in quick - the Rookwood weir is on the cards and once it's built, these gravel banks will be drowned 8.(