FAQ
Information about petrified wood and types of wood
What is petriefied wood?
Petrified wood (also known as fossilized wood) is a type of stone which is created when trees are buried by a very thick layer of volcanic ash. The ash contains various minerals which disolve in underground water. The wood then undergoes decomposition without contact with oxygen. The underground water, laiden with minerals, seaps into the cells of the trees and slowly replaces the biological elements of the tree with minerals from the water. This process is so slow that the structure of the wood is perfectly preserved. This allows for the preservation of the growth rings and experts,with the assistance of a microscope, can even determine the type of tree .
What type of trees are petrified?
Petrified wood from Hungary (Europe), is almost exclusively from giant redwoods (sequoia). This conifer still exists in the United States on the southern border of Oregon and Northern California. Also available are samples of petrified tempsky fern and other petrified wood from the Czech Republic‘s palaeozoic, mesozoic, tertiary and quanternary periods.
There are additional types of petrified wood. However RIMAKON deals exclusively with the forementioned types.
How old is petrified wood?
Hungarian petrified wood comes from the tertiary period. Which means the trees were alive about ten million years ago. The petrified wood from the Czech Republic is much older: up to 350 million years old. The selection of Czech products is quite varied. Ranging from the palaeozoic period through to 20,000 year old wood.
Is petrified wood still wood?
No, petrified wood is comprised of 100% mineral.
Where can petrified wood be found?
Petrified wood can be found worldwide. In many countries petrified wood exists in large quantities, of various sizes and colors. The best examples come from Indonesia, the United States and Brazil. But, also the Czech Republic.
How dense is petrified wood?
The Mohsov scale indicated the hardness of minerals. Soapstone has a hardness of 1 on the scale and diamond is 10. Petrified wood is a very hard material and has an average hardness of 7. Which is the same hardness as marble.
How is petrified wood processed?
Polishing the petrified wood is accomplished with the assistance of various grades of polishing discs. The process brings out the natural colorful beauty of the product. It can also be cut into planks. Currently we can process planks upto 3 meters long. The cutting and polishing is a very time consuming process but, the end result is marvelous.
How large can a section of petrified wood be?
The largest section of petrified wood we have ever seen weighed about 20 tons. The largest piece in our collection in the Czech Republic was installed in the town of Melnik and weighs more than 300kg.
About petrified sequoia wood from Hungary…
The petrified sequoia is available as both cross-cut and length-cut sections. The material is ingrained with materials from the swamp where it was created, including branches, roots and needles. The petrified wood comes from the tertiary period and is estimated to be ten million years old. It was discovered in Hungary at the Zemplen moiuntains in the Tokay region. The petrified wood is beautifully marbled with quartz and iron.
This wood was buried under layers of sediment and ash when a volcano in the Zemplen mountains in the Tokay region exploded. Everything in the region, including the sequioas, were buried by the exploding volcano and over time transformed into a solid quartz cliff. Thanks to various geological processes over millions of years the petrified wood became exposed and discovered. This petrified wood was literally mined from the cliff itself.
