Petrified deciduous tree, wooden disc, magnolia from Java

A ground and polished fossilized hardwood disc from Indonesia, from a prehistoric magnolia relative. The warm, tropical coloration clearly distinguishes the material from the Triassic Araucaria of Arizona.

Fossil wood from Java originated in Tertiary sediments, approximately 5-25 million years old. The trunks of tropical hardwoods were preserved in swamp sediments under oxygen-poor conditions and then transformed into quartz, chalcedony, or opal through permineralization.

Magnolia wood shows a different cross-sectional habit than softwood: less pronounced growth rings (less strong seasonally in tropical climates), but wider vessels and finer fiber structures. A didactic contrast to the Araucaria trunks.

Indonesian deposits in West and Central Java provide fossil tropical wood of collector quality. The reddish-brown to golden coloration comes from iron and manganese traces during mineralization.

A paleontological collector's item with a tropical Tertiary story.