Recent silicified woods in the Tateyama hot spring (Shin-yu), Toyama Prefecture

Abstract

Pieces of wood found petrified in the stream of the hot spring water were examined by means of SEM- and EPMA-observations, chemical analyses, X-ray analyses and measurements of radiometric ages. The silicification occurred by the deposition of amorphous silica particles in the texture of the wood. These were silicified by up to about 10-40% of their weight within 40 years. The same silicified structures have been found in petrified wood samples in strata of geological age. These might have been found by the same mechanism reported in this paper. -from English summary