petrified wood 8: Europe (Germany)                                                

 

16. Germany
Petrified wood is found in Germany in several places. The petrified forest of Chemnitz  (Sate of Saxony) is world-famous. This location is well known for wonderful Psaronius, Medullosa, horsetail and petrified wood with fluorite. The fluorite in the wood petrified wood (Dadoxylon- a early gymnosperm) is a speciality found only at this site and nowhere else. Fluorite solutions were able to seep into cracks of the petrified wood. The fluorite crystallized in cavities within the petrified wood creating purple areas within the silified wood. The wood from Chemnitz is very old (Permian, in the layer "Unterrotliegendes- about 280 million years).  Petrified wood from Chemnitz is very rare and very expensive.
There are some more interesting areas for petrified wood. Some very nice petrified logs are found at the region between the rivers Saar and Nahe (Rhineland Palatinate). But most of the places are exigent for collecting petrified wood

 

Dadoxylon with Fluorite Chemnitz (ca. 70 x 50 mm)

Dadoxylon Winnweiler (ca. 110 x 100 mm)

 

Dadoxylon Nohen (ca. 160 x 120 mm)

Dadoxylon Schalodenbach (ca. 140 x 150 mm)

Dadoxylon Lebach (ca. 110 x 100 mm)

 

Dadoxylon Schalodenbach (ca. 410 x 400 mm)

 

Steinhardt (Germany)

A small area at the small town “Steinhardt” is known for some special kind of petrified wood. The wood is found in round balls of barites sandstone (called Steinhardter-Erbsen). Some persons say that this is one of the only places worldwide were wood petrified to barite. It's also possible to find some very good preserved cones of different genius.

The wood dates to the middle Oligocene (local formation of “unterer Meeressand”). The barite surrounds the fossils" completely. The “peas” were formed in a thermal area near a geological fault producing barium chloride. As the plants started to rot, the sulphur and barium chloride formed barite. Sand was enclosed around the fossil. The organic material was changed into barite. The preservation of the fossils is very good.

twig ca.  80 mm long

cone ca. 110 mm long