Issue 52 of the online magazine Tasmanian Geographic alerted me to another enlightening story. The Apple Isle Prospector presented a pictorial explanation of the Tasmanian natures.

Apparently our state’s petrified wood comes from Tertiary forests which grew between 66 and 2 million years ago, and can be found in basalt flows from that period. I was fascinated to learn it is the silica from the lava flows which gradually replaces the wood. You can read more here.

As a result of reading this article, I now know there are two types of petrified wood, so when I visit some of the listed areas I will become more vigilant and hope to understand what I am seeing – should I stumble across some petrified wood.

If you go to the author’s website here and dig down, when you read that version of the article a great deal more information becomes available. For example, the Lune River fossicking options are laid out. Please let me know if you come across some patches of petrified wood and whether you can decide if they are of the opalised or the chalcedonic types. Good luck!