Trio of 3 different species from Bruneau Woodpile, ID - polished petrified wood

Description

Up for your consideration is a trio of smaller limbs from the Bruneau Woodpile, near Bruneau, Idaho.  This collection includes the following three species:
1.  Willow - 1/2" diameter pm polished face and 2" long (main photo shows specimen on the left)
2.  White Oak -  3/4" diameter on polished face and 2" long (main photo shows specimen in the center)
3.  Black Locust - 5/8" x 1/2" on polished face and 1.75" long  (main photo shows specimen on the right)
Our pictures of each individual after the main photo are in the order of Willow (3 pictures), White Oak (4 photos) and Black Locust (4 photos).  These photographs show the face, the exterior length and a close up photomicrograph for each specimen.
These unique limb sections have immediately
obvious
woody character on both the polished face and the exterior length.  They are specimens that will be instantly recognized as petrified wood by even the most novice of observers but they are also special from a mineralization perspective because they are permineralized by the mineral
francolite
.
The so-called "Bruneau Wood Pile" has been a favorite collecting spot for fossil collectors for over three quarters of a century.  It was long assumed that the limbs were permineralized by calcium carbonate but a recent paper in the on-line free access publication
Geosciences
indicated that an XRD, SEM & EDS analysis determined that the mineralizing agent is actually the fluorapatite mineral
francolite
(see Geosciences 2017, 7, 82; doi:10.3390/geosciences7030082).  The paper is
The Bruneau Woodpile: A Miocene Phosphatized Fossil Wood Locality in Southwestern Idaho, USA
by Viney, Mustoe, Dillhoff and Link.  Permineralization by any of the Apatite Supergroup mineral species is quite rare and a good contrast to permineralization by silicon dioxide - the mineral quartz variety chalcedony which is the typical petrified wood specimen.
These limb sections are cut and polished on one end so that you can see the anatomical preservation
-
check out our photomicrographs of the polished faces and note the differences between the vascular structure (vessels) of the three angiosperm dicot genera.  Vessels are the anatomical structures of these woods that carry
the water and nutrients up to the leaves where the life sustaining sugars are produced by photosynthesis.  Their size, density and pattern help in the identification of the species.
We specialize in petrified wood and plant fossils which are accurately identified as to locality of origin and family, genus or species. We don't guess and when we don't know, we say so! Your specimen will come with a label identifying the specimen, the locality where it was collected, the formation and age of the material and any other pertinent information we have gleaned from our literature search.
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