During a long, hot day mining for opals in the Nevada mountains, we managed to find two very nice specimens of petrified wood in a large pile of tailings. After a good four hours or so digging through multiple feet of overburden in the opal wall, we took a break to sift through tailings while having a bite to eat. To our surprise, there were many interesting rocks we wanted to add to our collection, but it was the petrified wood which really put the age of the site into perspective.
Finding gemstones is exhilarating, no doubt, and finding ancient wood gives an entirely different type of feeling. Holding a gemstone dug from the Earth feels like discovering a fraction of timeless crystalline beauty. Holding a piece of petrified wood however, feels as though you're actually touching an ancient piece of vegetation that once lived and breathed on the Earth's surface, a very different kind of beauty.
The first specimen is a decent size, measures half a foot long, and contains a chalky white ash similar bands found around or near opal
deposits in the wall. Although this specimen is old, petrified, and looks quite stable, it is actually very fragile to handle. Fragments of the wood broke off even when carefully transported. There's a possibility the ash deposit runs well into the wood, creating an unstable void, but we have refrained from prying the piece apart for a better view so far.
The, much smaller, second specimen possibly was petrified for a longer period of time. This one feels more like holding a stone than a piece of very old wood when compared to the first. Each end is smoothed-off and encrusted. A small dotted void runs nearly the entire width and resembles a series of cavities where tiny opals may have once been embedded.
On the opposite side of the second petrified wood specimen is a larger void with a little thicker crust covering the end. Both sides have darkened areas that look distinctly like char marks. This is exciting to us, not only holding part of a tree from a long time ago, but also one subjected to fire before becoming preserved in sandstone and clay.
The day's finds also included several small opals in early stage
development though nothing for cutting or noteworthiness; Most were about an inch long by a quarter inch in diameter with fractures. Despite that,
we still learned about the formation of opals and how to delicately follow white bands to deposits. Locating those bands certainly is a patient process even when vertical layers of sandstone are quickly and easily removed.
