Mother Nature is extremely fascinating and often offers us works of rare beauty. Reddit user adymma90 recently came across a piece of petrified wood in Queensland, Australia. But that’s not all: inside the wood was a structure of rare turquoise opal. This image, which has spread virally on social networks, has petrified thousands of people with its beauty.
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image credit: adymma90 reddit
The petrified wood is a fossil which organic matter has been replaced by mineral during the long permineralization process. All organic matter is replaced by minerals, but the original structure of the wood remains intact, or almost. When an opal forms in wood, it produces an opalescent sheen which in some cases can completely replace the wood itself. Opals are often the basis of gemstones and are used in jewelry making. The process by which the opal is formed is natural but extremely time consuming.
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image credit: Kate_McCredie/Pinterest
The word “opal” comes from the Greek word ” Opallios “, which translates to “precious stone”. When you light up an opal, it changes color. In some parts of Australia, opal is much less rare than in the rest of the world, and this person has been lucky enough to see one with their own eyes. The most fascinating thing is that the opal, inside the trunk, took the shape of a real tree.
source used: NewsBreak