Petrified Flame
Petrified wood with preserved bark with a base of Columbia River Basalt. Collected near Biggs Junction, Oregon. This petrified wood is from a tree that grew during a short break between two of the enormous lava flows that comprise the Columbia River Basalt. After the underlying flow, a 300-foot-thick giant called the Basalt of Sand Hollow had cooled, patches of soil began to accumulate on the the bare lava surface, and trees began to grow. Over the course of a few thousands or tens of thousands of years, this branch became buried in the soil. The next flow, the Basalt of Sentinel Gap, buried the soil under another hundred feet of hot lava. The heat of the overlying flow caused hot mineral rich groundwater to circulate through the soil now sandwiched between two lava layers, permeating and preserving this branch.
Height 12".
Sold $500
Height 12".
Sold $500
