Petrified wood is the result of minerals replacing some or all of the plant's organic material.
According to the Virtual Fossil Museum, fossils are the remainders and traces of organisms that were alive in the past. Some types of fossils are formed when the organic materials in bones or tissues are gradually replaced by inorganic minerals deposited by groundwater, oceans or lakes.
Permineralization
Substances such as bone and wood contain many tiny pores where water can seep in and dissolve the organic matter, replacing it with minerals such as silica, which crystallizes when the water evaporates. This process is called permineralization. According to science educator Mike Viney of the Virtual Petrified Wood Museum, some of the natural structure of the bone or wood may remain and become part of the matrix of the fossil.
Silica
According to the University of California Museum of Paleontology, the mineral silica is capable of permeating and replacing soft tissue. Fossils made of silica often retain the structural integrity of the original plant or animal material right down to the cell structure, giving scientists much information about the characteristics of the organism.
Pyrite Fossils
Pyrite is a mineral made of iron sulfite, which is often present in marine environments. The University of California Museum of Paleontology says that plant fossils made of pyrite indicate that they were formed in or near a marine environment.
Carbonate Fossils
Carbonate fossils can occur in either marine or nonmarine environments but are often found in acidic peat bogs. According to Viney, balls of fossilized swamp plants composed of calcium carbonate have been found in areas around the world where coal formed. These coal balls are unique because they preserve different types of plants that lived and grew together. As with silica, carbonate fossils preserve detailed information about the original organism.
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