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Mississippi Fossil

Petrified WoodMississippi Fossil - Petrified Wood

(SiO2 - Silicon Dioxide)

Adopted on May 14, 1976.

A Senate Concurrent Resolution, designating petrified wood, SiO2 - Silicon Dioxide, as the state stone, was adopted May 14, 1976. Petrified Wood is real wood that has turned into rock composed of quartz crystals.

Because it is difficult to know exactly which trees these woods came from, they are assigned to paleobotanical form genera with the suffix -oxylon (meaning "looks like") -- hence wood which resembles that of modern palms is called Palmoxylon, but may or may not be from trees closely related to modern palms.

Most of the best petrified wood from Mississippi comes from trees which grew in the state during the Oligocene Epoch, around 30 million years ago. The Gulf of Mexico's shoreline extended further north at that time, which explains why the wood is found in the more northern parts of the state.

This petrified wood formed when a tree was buried by sediment, and its tissues were replaced by silica in the groundwater. A variety of chalcedony, fossil wood replaced by chalcedony (silica), sometimes also by Opal. The material replacing the wood may vary. Most commonly, quartz, in the form of agate, opal, or jasper, will be the replacement material. Occasionally, limonite, carnotite (an uranium mineral), or other minerals will be the replacement material. Trace minerals included within the silica impart a variety of hues, ranging from black to blue to red.

The Mississippi Petrified Forest is a privately operated park and museum located at 124 Forest Park Road, Flora, Mississippi. This site has been known since the mid-19th century, but it was not until 1966 that it was named a Registered National Natural Landmark, and subsequently developed and opened to the public.

General Quartz Information
Chemical Formula SiO2
Composition Molecular Weight = 60.08 gm
 Silicon 46.74 % Si 100.00 % SiO2
 Oxygen  53.26 % O
        ______      
       100.00 %     
Empirical Formula (SiO2)
Environment Sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous rocks.
IMA Status Approved IMA 1962
Locality Found world wide
Name Origin From the German "quarz", of uncertain origin
State Fossils
State Fossils
Most US states have made a state fossil designation, in many cases during the 1980s. It is common to designate one species in which fossilization has occurred, rather than a single specimen, or a category of fossils not limited to a single species.

Some states that lack a "state fossil" have nevertheless singled out a fossil for formal designation such as a state dinosaur, rock, gem or stone.

fossil (fos‧sil)
n.
1. A remnant or trace of an organism of a past geologic age, such as a skeleton or leaf imprint, embedded and preserved in the earth's crust.
2. One, such as a rigid theory, that is outdated or antiquated.

adj.
1. Characteristic of or having the nature of a fossil.
2. Being or similar to a fossil.
3. Belonging to the past; antiquated.

[From Latin fossilis, dug up, from fossus, past participle of fodere, to dig.]
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