Petrified wood sphere
Specifications
- Found:
- Mahajanga, Madagascar
- Genus:
- Araucaria
- Specimen size:
- Diameter 9 cm (3.54")
- Age:
- 201-252 mln years
- Specimen weight:
- 1 kg (2.2 lbs)
- Period:
- Triassic
Description
Would you like to give a loved one the whole world as a present? A planet that fits in the palm of your hand?
You have such a chance. Just look at this petrified wood ball, the surface of which shimmers with orange, brown and ocher colors! It looks like a tiny copy of Jupiter with its storms, whirlwinds and tempests seething in an atmosphere of helium and hydrogen.
The material of which the ball is made is no less interesting than its appearance. This is the fossilized wood of araucaria, one of the oldest coniferous plants on earth. In the Triassic period, at the dawn of the age of dinosaurs, one could see forests of araucaria and ferns everywhere. However, even today these beautiful trees grow in Australia, New Zealand and South America.