Orientation of quartz grains in some Indian silicified woods

Abstract

The quartz fabric of some underformed Indian silicified woods has been studied. All the fabric diagrams show girdles - preferred orientation girdling round the longitudinal axis of the tree trunks. The diagrams are of growth fabric determined by the anisotropy of the wood itself. The main principle involved is that the symmetry of the original wood structure should be preserved in the symmetry of the dimensional and the lattice patterns of the quartz fabric. The dissolved silicates enter the original wood through pore solution. They possibly crystallize by some sort of 'mimetic' crystallization.