Home / Preservation & Taphonomy /

! University of Aberdeen: The Rhynie Chert Flora. See also The Biota of Early Terrestrial Ecosystems: The Rhynie Chert. A learning resource website.

N.F. Adams et al. (2016): X-rays and virtual taphonomy resolve the first Cissus (Vitaceae) macrofossils from Africa as early-diverging members of the genus. Free access, American Journal of Botany, 103: 1657–1677.
"... Virtual taphonomy explained how complex mineral infill processes concealed key seed features, causing the previous taxonomic misidentification. ..."

A. Ali et al. (2024): A new permineralized Corypha-type coryphoid palm stem from K-Pg of India: Anatomy, systematics, saprophytic fungi, and paleoecology. Free access, Turkish Journal of Botany, 48: 105-119. doi:10.55730/1300-008X.2799.

! J. Alleon et al. (2016): Early entombment within silica minimizes the molecular degradation of microorganisms during advanced diagenesis. In PDF, Chemical Geology, 437: 98–108. See also here.

L.I. Anderson and M. Taylor (2008): Charles W. Peach, Palaeobotany and Scotland (in PDF). The Geological Curator. Thin sections of Devonian plants!

! Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona (U.S. Department of the Interior). Go to: Fossils. Plant and animal fossils representing the Late Triassic. See also: W.G. Parker and Sid Ash: Linnaean taxonomy of Late Triassic Plants of Petrified Forest National Park, and Late Triassic Pollen found in Petrified Forest National Park. By W.G. Parker, data compiled from Dunay and Fisher (1984), Litwin (1986), and Litwin et al., (1991).

L.E. Babcock et al. (2006): The "Preservation Paradox": Microbes as a Key to Exceptional Fossil Preservation in the Kirkpatrick Basalt (Jurassic), Antarctica. PDF file, The Sedimentary Record, 4. See also here.
Silica-rich hydrothermal water apparently worked to fossilize organic remains rapidly and produce a "freeze-frame" of macroscopic and microscopic life forms. Microbes seem to have played a vital role in this processes.

! C. Ballhaus et al. (2012): The silicification of trees in volcanic ash - An experimental study. Abstract, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 84. See also here (in PDF).

! M. Bardet and A. Pournou (2017): NMR Studies of Fossilized Wood. Abstract, Annual Reports on NMR Spectroscopy, 90: 41–83. See also here and there (Google books).

Henry Barwood, Mineral Resources Section, Indiana Geological Survey, Bloomington, Indiana: The mineralogy and origin of coal balls.
Now available via Internet Archive Wayback Machine.

S. Bengtson et al. (2017): Three-dimensional preservation of cellular and subcellular structures suggests 1.6 billion-year-old crown-group red algae. Open Access, PLoS Biol., 15: e2000735.

J.A. Bergene (2012): Dordrechtites arcanus, an anatomically preserved gymnospermous reproductive structure from the Middle Triassic of Antarctica. In PDF, thesis, University of Kansas.

The University of California Museum of Paleontology, Berkeley: Localities of the Devonian: Rhynie Chert, Scotland. Section through a fossilized stem of Aglaophyton major.

A.C. Bippus et al. (2019): Fossil fern rhizomes as a model system for exploring epiphyte community structure across geologic time: evidence from Patagonia. Open access, PeerJ., 7: e8244.
Note figure 2E: Coprolite-filled gallery in osmundaceous leaf base.

! R.T. Bolzon et al. (2004): Fossildiagênese de lenhos do Mesozóico do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil. PDF file, in Portuguese. Revista Brasileira de Paleontologia, 7: 103-110.
About wood fossil diagenesis, e.g. the preservation of the cells of fossil wood, the form of wood mineralization, especially the silicification of wood.

B. Bomfleur et al. (2015): Osmunda pulchella sp. nov. from the Jurassic of Sweden - reconciling molecular and fossil evidence in the phylogeny of modern royal ferns (Osmundaceae). Free access, BMC Evolutionary Biology, 15.

! M. Brasier et al. (2006): A fresh look at the fossil evidence for early Archaean cellular life. In PDF, Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B, Biol Sci., 361: 887–902. See also here.

Mariana Brea et al. (2009): Darwin forest at agua de la zorra: the first in situ forest discovered in South America by Darwin in 1835. PDF file, Revista de la Asociación Geológica Argentina, 64: 21-31. Fossil tree stumps in growth position.

Mariana Brea et al. (2008): Ecological reconstruction of a mixed Middle Triassic forest from Argentina. PDF file, Alcheringa, 32: 365-393. See also here.-The Darwin Forest consists of 120 stumps in life position!

! D.E.G. Briggs (2003): The role of decay and mineralization in the preservation of soft-bodied fossils. Abstract, Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences, 31: 275-301.

MSc Palaeobiology Students, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, (the author´s name appears on the title page for each section):
Fossil Lagerstätten. A catalogue of sites of exceptional fossil preservation. Go to: The Flora of the Rhynie Chert.
Diagrammatic reconstructions of Rhynia, Aglaophyton, Horneophyton.
Some reconstruction images here.
Websites still available via Internet Archive Wayback Machine.

H. Brunner and K.-P. Kelber (1988): Eisenerzkonkretionen im württembergisch-fränkischen Unterkeuper - Bemerkungen zum fossilen Environment. PDF file, in German. In: Hagdorn, H. (ed.): Neue Forschungen zur Erdgeschichte von Crailsheim. Sonderbände d. Ges. f. Naturk. in Württemberg, 1: 185-205.
Anatomical views of the Triassic horsetail Neocalamites merianii in pyrite/goethite preservation.

! S.H. Butts and D.E.G. Briggs (2011): Silicification Through Time. PDF file, pp 411–434, in: Allison, P.A., Bottjer, D.J. (eds.): Taphonomy. Aims & Scope Topics in Geobiology Book Series, vol 32. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-8643-3_11.
See also here.
Note figure 3: Secular variation in non-skeletal carbonate mineralogy in seawater and associated climatic episodes.

The Petrified Forest, Calistoga, California.

K.A. Campbell et al. (2015): Geyserite in Hot-Spring Siliceous Sinter: Window on Earth's Hottest Terrestrial (Paleo)environment and its Extreme Life. In PDF, Astrobiology, 15: 858-882. See also here (abstract).

E.T. Casselman (2024): Characterizing new plant fossils with woody growth from the Battery Point Formation of Quebec (Canada). In PDF. Thesis, Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects, 744. https://digitalcommons.humboldt.edu/etd/744. See also here.

A. Channing (2018): A review of active hot-spring analogues of Rhynie: environments, habitats and ecosystems. In PDF, Transactions of the Royal Society, B, 373: 20160490.
See also here.
"... Comparison with Yellowstone suggests the Rhynie plants were preadapted to their environment by life in more common and widespread environments with elevated salinity and pH such as coastal marshes, salt lakes, estuaries and saline seeps. ..."

! A. Channing and D. Edwards (2013): Wetland megabias: ecological and ecophysiological filtering dominates the fossil record of hot spring floras. In PDF, Palaeontology, 56: 523–556. See also here (abstract).

! A. Channing and D. Edwards (2004): Experimental taphonomy: silicification of plants in Yellowstone hot-spring environments. In PDF, Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh: Earth Sciences, 94, 503-521. Snapshot taken by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

B. Chauviré et al. (2020): Arthropod entombment in weathering-formed opal: new horizons for recording life in rocks. Open access, Scientific Reports, 10.

! Museum of Natural History Chemnitz, Germany. Go to: Paläontologische Sammlung. Palaeobotany and petrified wood collection (in German).

Don Chesnut, Geology Department, University of Kentucky: Geology and fossils in Kentucky and adjacent states. Scroll to: "Upper Path Fork coal balls, 1980". Worth checking out: Cordaite with growth rings (peel made by Tom Phillips).

M.E. Chrpa et al. (2023): A marine origin of coal balls in the Midland and Illinois basins, USA. Open access, Communications Earth & Environment, 4.
"... Despite their importance to paleobotany, the salinity of coal-ball peat remains controversial. Pennsylvanian coal balls from the Midland and Illinois basins contain echinoderms and early high-magnesium calcite cement
[...] Coal balls likely formed in the marine-freshwater mixing zone ..."

! A.J. Cole and G.E. Mustoe: The SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY of GEORGE MUSTOE. In PDF.

E. Couradeau et al.(2013): Cyanobacterial calcification in modern microbialites at the submicrometer scale. In PDF.

Stadtmuseum im Spital, Crailsheim, Germany:
Exhibition about petrified Triassic wood: "Aus Holz wird Stein Kieselhölzer aus dem Keuper Frankens" June 28 - September 20, 2009. (In German).
This expired link is still available through the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine. See also here (Amazon book announcement), and there (book announcement, in German).

G.T. Creber & S.R. Ash (2004): The Late Triassic Schilderia adamanica and Woodworthia arizonica Trees of the Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona, USA. Abstract, Palaeontology Volume 47: 21. See also here (in PDF).

A. Crisafulli and A. Lutz (2008): Un nuevo tallo permineralizado de Equisetales de la Formación Los Rastros (Triásico Medio - Superior), provincia de San Juan, Argentina.
A new permineralized Equisetalean stem from Los Rastros Formation (Middle-Upper Triassic) from San Juan province, Argentina. . In PDF, Revista del Museo Argentino de Ciencias, 10: 71-79.

John D. Curtis, Biology Department, University of Wisconsin; Nels R. Lersten, Department of Botany, Iowa State University, and Michael D. Nowak, Biology Department, University of Wisconsin: Photographic Atlas of Plant Anatomy. Go to: Curtis, Lersten, and Nowak 2002, Petrified Wood.

A.-L. Decombeix et al. (2011): Root suckering in a Triassic conifer from Antarctica: Paleoecological and evolutionary implications. In PDF, American Journal of Botany, 98: 1222-1225. See also here (abstract).

! G. De Lafontaine et al. (2011): Permineralization process promotes preservation of Holocene macrofossil charcoal in soils. Abstract, Journal of Quaternary Science, 26. See also here (in PDF).

G.M. Del Fueyo et al. (2019): Permineralized conifer-like leaves from the Jurassic of Patagonia (Argentina) and its paleoenvironmental implications. Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências (Annals of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences), 91: (Suppl. 2): e20180363.

D. Dietrich et al. (2015): Petrifactions and wood-templated ceramics: Comparisons between natural and artificial silicification. Abstract IAWA Journal, 36. See also here (in PDF).

! D. Dietrich et al. (2013): A microstructure study on silicified wood from the Permian Petrified Forest of Chemnitz. In PDF, Paläontologische Zeitschrift. See also here.

D. Dietrich et al. (2000): Analytical X-Ray Microscopy on Psaronius sp.: A Contribution to Permineralization Process Studies. In PDF, Mikrochim. Acta, 133: 279-283.
See also here.

Thomas A. Dillhoff, Pasco, Washington (article hosted by Evolving Earth Foundation Issaquah, WA).
Fossil Forests of Eastern Washington.
Still available via Internet Archive Wayback Machine.

N. Dotzler et al. (2011): Sphenophyllum (Sphenophyllales) leaves colonized by fungi from the Upper Pennsylvanian Grand-Croix cherts of central France. Zitteliana 51. Go to PDF page 3.

! C. Dupraz et al. (2009): Processes of carbonate precipitation in modern microbial mats. In PDF, Earth-Science Reviews, 96: 141-162. See also here.
Note figure 1: The microbially-mediated carbon cycle.
! Figure 2: Classification of mineralization terms and processes showing the different types of mineralization as they relate to living (biotic) and non-living (abiotic) organic matter.
"... Preservation of microbial mats in the fossil record can be enhanced through carbonate precipitation, resulting in the formation of lithified mats, or microbialites.
[...] we review the specific role of microbes and the EPS matrix in various mineralization processes and discuss examples of modern aquatic (freshwater, marine and hypersaline) and terrestrial microbialites ..."

I.H. Escapa et al. (2013): Pararaucaria delfueyoi sp. nov. from the Late Jurassic Cañadón Calcáreo Formation, Chubut, Argentina: insights into the evolution of the Cheirolepidiaceae. In PDF, Int. J. Plant Sci., 174: 458-470.
The link is to a version archived by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.
See also here.

I.H. Escapa et al. (2011): Seed cone anatomy of Cheirolepidiaceae (Coniferales): Reinterpreting Pararaucaria patagonica Wieland. Free access, Am. J. Bot., 99: 1058-1068.

EurekAlert: Want to petrify wood without waiting a few million years? Try this. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory scientists can mineralize wood in record time. Wood that was artificially petrified in days.

M. Farahimanesh et al. (2014): The fern Stauropteris oldhamia Binney: New data on branch development and adaptive significance of the hypodermal aerenchyma. In PDF, C. R. Palevol., 13: 473–481.

M. Frese et al. (2017): Imaging of Jurassic fossils from the Talbragar Fish Bed using fluorescence, photoluminescence, and elemental and mineralogical mapping. PLoS ONE 12(6): e0179029.
"... Closer inspection of a plant leaf (Pentoxylon australicum White, 1981) establishes fluorescence as a useful tool for the visualisation of anatomical details that are difficult to see under normal light conditions".

J. Galtier et al. (1992): Anatomically preserved conifer-like stems from the upper Carboniferous of England. In PDF, Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological sciences, 247. See also here.

Greb, S.F., Eble, C.F., Chesnut, D.R., Jr., Phillips, T.L., and Hower, J.C.: An in situ occurrence of coal balls in the Amburgy coal bed, Pikeville Formation (Duckmantian), Central Appalachian Basin, U.S.A. Palaios, v. 14, p. 433-451; 1999. See also here (via wayback).

Michael J. Everhart, Sternberg Museum of Natural History, Fort Hays State University: OCEANS OF KANSAS - A Natural History of the Western Interior Sea (Indiana University Press, 2005), Shipworm borings (teredo) in wood.
Website saved by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

J. Farmer (1999): Articel starts on page 94, PDF page 110: Taphonomic Modes in Microbial Fossilization. In PDF; In: Proceedings of the Workshop on Size Limits of Very Small Organisms, Space Studies Board, National Research Council, National Academies Press, Washington, DC.
Snapshot taken by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

Giraud Foster & Norman Barker, Ancient Microworld: Photo Gallery. Some petrified plants. Click on an image to view an enlarged version. See also: Photography Techniques.
Snapshots provided by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

! J. Garcia-Guinea et al. (1998): Cell-Hosted Pyrite Framboids in Fossil Woods. In PDF, Naturwissenschaften 85, 78–81.

! J. García Massini et al. (2012): First report of fungi and fungus-like organisms from Mesozoic hot springs. In PDF, Palaios, 27: 55–62.

Geology.com. This is one of the internet´s leading websites for earth science news and information. Go to:
What is Petrified Wood? How Does it Form?

J. Götze et al. (2013): Optical microscope-cathodoluminescence (OM–CL) imaging as a powerful tool to reveal internal textures of minerals. In PDF, Mineralogy and Petrology, 106.
See also here.

! J. Götze et al. (2008): Silicification of wood in the laboratory. In PDF, Ceramics, 52: 268-277.

Stephen Jay Gould (findarticles): The sharp-eyed lynx, outfoxed by nature. (Part 2) (observations of fossil wood by Francesco Stelluti). Natural History, June, 1998.

David R. Greenwood, Zoology Dept., Brandon University, Manitoba, Canada: Mummified tree stumps on Axel Heiberg Island, Canada (PDF file). In low grade lignite preserved tree stumps.
The link is to a version archived by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

D.M. Guido et al. (2010): Jurassic geothermal landscapes and fossil ecosystems at San Agustín, Patagonia, Argentina. In PDF, Journal of the Geological Society, 167: 11-20.

E.L. Gulbranson et al. (2012): Permian polar forests: deciduousness and environmental variation. In PDF, Geobiology, 10: 479-495.
See also here.
Note upright permineralized stumps in figure 3 and 6.

Calvin & Rosanna Hamilton, ScienceViews.com: Petrified Wood Colors and Petrification

D.G. Harbowo et al. (2024): Microanalytical approaches on the silicification process of wood fossil from Jasinga, West Java, Indonesia. In PDF, Scientific Reports, 14.
See likewise here.
"... our aim was to characterize the composition of silicified wood using comprehensive microanalysis. The methods utilized were XRF, ICP-MS, XRD, FTIR, and FE-EPMA ..."

C.J. Harper et al. (2018): Fungal sporulation in a Permian plant fragment from Antarctica. In PDF, Bulletin of Geosciences, 93: 13–26. Czech Geological Survey, Prague.

Xiaoyuan He et al. (2010): Anatomically Preserved Marattialean Plants from the Upper Permian of Southwestern China: The Trunk of Psaronius laowujiensis sp. nov. PDF file, Int. J. Plant Sci., 171: 662-678.

A.B. Heckert and S.G. Lucas (2002): Revised Upper Triassic stratigraphy of the Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona, USA. In PDF, NM Mus. Nat. Hist. Sci. Bull.

Paul V. Heinrich, Louisiana Fossil Page: Common Animal and Plant Fossils of Louisiana, Louisiana Petrified Wood, and Petrified Palm Wood.

! J. Hellawell et al. (2015): Incipient silicification of recent conifer wood at a Yellowstone hot spring. In PDF, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 149: 79-87. See also here (abstract).

R. Herbst and A. Crisafulli (2016): Buckya austroamericana nov. gen. et sp. (Bennettitales) from the Upper Triassic Laguna Colorada Formation (El Tranquilo Group), Santa Cruz province, Argentina. In PDF, Serie Correlación Geológica, 32: 85-100. See also here.

E. Hermsen et al. (2007): Cycads from the Triassic of Antarctica: Permineralized cycad leaves. PDF file, Int. J. Plant Sci., 168: 1099-1112.
See also here.

! E.J. Hermsen et al. (2006): Cataphylls of the Middle Triassic cycad Antarcticycas schopfii and new insights into cycad evolution. Open access, American Journal of Botany, 93: 724-738.

F. Herrera et al. (2022): A permineralized Early Cretaceous lycopsid from China and the evolution of crown clubmosses. In PDF, New Phytologist, 233: 2310-2322. See also here.

A.J. Hetherington (2024): The role of fossils for reconstructing the evolution of plant development. Free access, The Company of Biologists, 151.
Note figure 1: Fossils indicate that roots and leaves evolved independently in vascular plants.
"... The focus of this Spotlight is to showcase the rich plant fossil record open for developmental interpretation and to cement the role that fossils play at a time when increases in genome sequencing and new model species make tackling major questions in the area of plant evolution and development tractable for the first time ..."

A.J. Hetherington et al. (2021): An evidence-based 3D reconstruction of Asteroxylon mackiei the most complex plant preserved from the Rhynie chert. Free access, eLife. See also here, and there. Worth checking out:
Zu den Wurzeln der pflanzlichen Evolution (ORF.at, in German).
Forscher rekonstruieren, wie die ersten Wurzeln Fuß fassten (Der Standard, in German).

T.J. Hieger et al. (2015): Cheirolepidiaceous diversity: An anatomically preserved pollen cone from the Lower Jurassic of southern Victoria Land, Antarctica. In PDF, Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 220: 78–87. See also here.

L.A. Hoffman and A.M.F. Tomescu (2013): An early origin of secondary growth: Franhueberia gerriennei gen. et sp. nov. from the Lower Devonian of Gaspé (Quebec, Canada). OPen access, American Journal of Botany, 100: 754-763.

G. Holzhüter et al. (2003): Structure of silica in Equisetum arvense. In PDF, Anal. Bioanal. Chem., 376: 512-517.
Provided by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

Houston Gem and Mineral Society: Petrified Wood Articles by HGMS Authors and Others. P> Hunterian Museum, University of Glasgow: Scottish Geology, Rhynie.
This expired link is now available through the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

August Ilg, Alfred Selmeier and Madelaine Böhme: The fossil wood database (FWDS). Fossil wood from Central Europe, Triassic to the Pleistocene. Specimen chiefly from the Bayerische Staatssammlung für Paläontologie und historische Geologie München, the Naturmuseum Augsburg and the private collection P. Holleis.

International Journal of Coal Geology (Elsevier).
The International Journal of Coal Geology deals with fundamental and applied aspects of the geology, petrology, geochemistry and mineralogy of coal, oil/gas source rocks, and shales.
The scope of the journal encompasses basic research, computational and laboratory studies, technology development, and field studies.

E.C. Jeffrey (1917): Petrified Coals and Their Bearing on the Problem of the Origin of Coals. PDF file, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 3: 206–211.

N.A. Jud et al. (2024): Anatomy of a fossil liana from the Upper Cretaceous of British Columbia, Canada. IAWA Journal.
See here as well.

! K.-P. Kelber, Würzburg (2007): Die Erhaltung und paläobiologische Bedeutung der fossilen Hölzer aus dem süddeutschen Keuper (Trias, Ladinium bis Rhätium).- In German. PDF file, 33 MB! pp. 37-100; In: Schüßler, H. & Simon, T. (eds.): Aus Holz wird Stein. Kieselhölzer aus dem Keuper Frankens.

D.W. Kellogg and E.L. Taylor (2004): Evidence of oribatid mite detritivory in Antarctica during the late Paleozoic and Mesozoic. In PDF, J. Paleont., 78: 1146-1153.

P. Kenrick et al. (1991): Novel ultrastructure in water-conducting cells of the Lower Devonian plant Sennicaulis hippocrepiformis. PDF file, Palaeontology.

! H. Kerp and M. Krings (2023): The Early Devonian Rhynie chert–The world's oldest and most complete terrestrial ecosystem. PDF file, starting on PDF page 45. In: J. Reitner, M. Reich, J.-P. Duda (eds.): Abstracts, Symposium Fossillagerstätten and Taphonomy.

! H. Kerp (2017): Organs and tissues of Rhynie chert plants. Open access, Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B, 373: 20160495.

! Hans Kerp, Palaeobotanical Research Group, Westfälische Wilhelms University, Münster. Click: "Rhynie Chert" (The Rhynie Chert and its Flora). A depiction of the silica permineralized fossil flora of Rhynie (Scotland), a 400 Million year old flora, which contains a wide diversity of taxa varying from unicellular fungi to the earliest anatomically preserved higher land plants and animal remains. Breathtaking thin section micro-photographs, e.g. in " V. The alternation of generations in early land plants": The male gametophyte with antheridia, the release of sperm from antheridium, etc. Including "The life cycle of Aglaophyton - Lyonophyton", modified after Taylor, Kerp & Hass, 2005, PNAS, v. 102, p. 5892-5897.

Hans Kerp, Forschungsstelle für Paläobotanik, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Germany: The Rhynie Chert and its Flora, Fungi and non-vascular Plants and Vesicular Arbuscular Mycorrhizae.
These expired links are now available through the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

! S.D. Klavins et al. (2002): Anatomy of Umkomasia (Corystospermales) from the Triassic of Antarctica. Free access, American Journal of Botany, 89: 664-676.

A.A. Klymiuk et al. (2016): Mesozoic and Cenozoic plant evolution and biotic change: Introduction and dedication. In PDF, Botany, 94. See also here and there (table of contents).

! M. Krings and H. Kerp (2023): The fidelity of microbial preservation in the Lower Devonian Rhynie cherts of Scotland. PDF file, starting on PDF page 54. In: J. Reitner, M. Reich, J.-P. Duda (eds.): Abstracts, Symposium Fossillagerstätten and Taphonomy.

! M. Krings, LMU München: Mikroorganismen aus den Cherts von Esnost und Combres/Lay (Unterkarbon, Frankreich) sowie Rhynie (Unterdevon, Schottland). Scientific project report (in German).
Website outdated. The link is to a version archived by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

A. Kuczumow et al. (2001): Structural investigations of a series of petrified woods of different origin. In PDF, Spectrochimica Acta Part B: Atomic Spectroscopy, 56: 339-350.
See also here.

A. Kuczumow et al. (2000): Investigation of petrified wood by synchrotron X-ray fluorescence and diffraction methods. In PDF, Spectrochimica Acta Part B: Atomic Spectroscopy, Volume 55, Number 10, 2 October 2000, pp. 1623-1633. See also here (PDF file).

S. Läbe et al. (2012): Experimental silicification of the tree fern Dicksonia antarctica at high temperature with silica-enriched H₂O vapor. Abstract, Palaios.

! M.A.K. Lalica (2024): Evolutionary origins of secondary growth-the periderm perspective: Integrating evidence from fossils and living plants. Free access, Thesis, California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt.
Note figure 7: A model for the developmental sequence of wound-response periderm in early euphyllophytes.
Figure 15: Wound periderm in fossil plants.
"... Knowledge of periderm occurrences in the fossil record and living lineages outside the seed plants is limited and its evolutionary origins remain poorly explored
[...] I add new observations and experiments on living plant lineages and new occurrences from the fossil record. One of the latter, documented in the new early euphyllophyte species Nebuloxyla mikmaqiana, joins the oldest known periderm occurrences (Early Devonian), which allow me to construct a model for the development of wound-response periderm in early tracheophytes ..."

M.A.K. Lalica and A.M.F. Tomescu (2023): Complex wound response mechanisms and phellogen evolution–insights from Early Devonian euphyllophytes. Abstract, New Phytologist, 239: 388-398.
"... The earliest occurrences of wound periderm pre-date the oldest known periderm produced systemically as a regular ontogenetic stage (canonical periderm), suggesting that periderm evolved initially as a wound-response mechanism. We hypothesize that canonical periderm evolved by exaptation of this wound sealing mechanism..."

! M.A.K. Lalica and A.M.F. Tomescu (2021): The early fossil record of glomeromycete fungi: New data on spores associated with early tracheophytes in the Lower Devonian (Emsian; c. 400 Ma) of Gaspé (Quebec, Canada). In PDF, Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology. See also here.
"... occurrence in fluvial-coastal environments and their putative mycorrhizal role suggest that glomeromycetes were relatively ubiquitous symbionts of tracheophytes, ..."

! D.R. Landenberger (1980): Silicification of Pleistocene plants and associated silica diagenesis. PDF file (slow download), Thesis, Texas Tech University. Conclusions starting on PDF page 50, literature on PDF page 51.

F. Lang: Erntezeit für Kieselhölzer. PDF file, in German. Permineralized wood mainly from the Upper Triassic of Germany.

! R.F. Leo and E.S. Barghoorn (1976): Silicification of wood Botanical Museum Leaflets, Harvard University.

! K. Lepot (2020): Signatures of early microbial life from the Archean (4 to 2.5 Ga) eon. Free access, Earth-Science Reviews, 209. See also here.

J. Lies and R. Rößler (2024): Der Hornstein von Priefel - Ein Fossilvorkommen aus dem Perm bei Altenburg. PDF file, in German. Veröffentlichungen Museum für Naturkunde Chemnitz, 47: 15-58.
Note figure 4: Historic reconstruction of the Carboniferous vegetation (by Joseph Kuwassegs, 1850).

S.A. Little et al. (2004): Duabanga-like leaves from the Middle Eocene Princeton chert and comparative leaf histology of Lythraceae sensu lato. Open access, American Journal of Botany, 91: 1126-1139.

F. Löcse and R. Rößler (2022): Paul Geipel’s palaeobotanical collection – one of the largest and most important former private collections of the Petrified Forest of Chemnitz. In PDF, Geologica Saxonica, 68: 11–20.
See also here. "... Our study contributes to the history of European natural science in the early 20^th century by elucidating a Europe-wide network of local collectors like Zacharias, Güldner and Geipel and geologists/palaeobotanists, such as Rudolph, Beck, Nötzold, Sterzel and Wehrli. ..."

! F. Löcse et al. (2021): Paläobotanische Kostbarkeiten aus den Versteinerten Wäldern von Nová Paka (Tschechien) und Chemnitz (Deutschland)&xnbsp;– Originale zu Stenzel (1889, 1906) und Rudolph (1906) in der paläobotanischen Sammlung der Geologischen Bundesanstalt in Wien. PDF file, in German. Jb. Geol. B.-A., 159: 289–313. See also here.
About old findings of Psaronius tree ferns and Medullosa seed ferns: Ankyropteris brongniartii, Asterochlaena laxa, Asterochlaena ramosa.

! F. Löcse and R. Rößler (2018): Paul Geipel's palaeobotanical collection–one of the largest and most important former private collections of the Petrified Forest of Chemnitz. PDF file, in German. Veröff. Museum für Naturkunde Chemnitz, 41: 5-54.
See likewise here.

F. Löcse et al. (2013): Neue Florenfunde in einem Vulkanit des Oberkarbons von Flöha – Querschnitt durch eine ignimbritische Abkühlungseinheit. PDF file, in German. Veröff. Museum für Naturkunde Chemnitz, 36: 85-142.

Joachim Lorenz, Karlstein a. Main: Fossiles oder "versteinertes" Holz &xnbsp;aus und um den Spessart. In German.

S.G. Lucas (2001), go to PDF page 52: Restoration of Late Triassic landscapes at the Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona. In PDF, Proceedings of the 6th Fossil Resource Conference. See also here.

J.A. Luczaj et al. (2019): Comment on “Non-Mineralized Fossil Wood” by George E. Mustoe (Geosciences, 2018). Free access, Geosciences, 8.

! L. Luthardt et al. (2023): Cycadodendron galtieri gen. nov. et sp. nov.: An Early Permian Gymnosperm Stem with Cycadalean Affinity. Free access, International Journal of Plant Sciences, 184.
Note figure 10: Details of cycad-specific stem-anatomical features.
"... Cycadodendron galtieri gen. nov. et sp. nov. represents a petrified cycad stem of early Permian age providing the oldest-known evidence of cycad anatomy.
[...] The broad anatomical similarities of C. galtieri with other fossil and extant cycads demonstrate the early evolution of various cycad-specific anatomical features in the lower Permian ..."

! L. Luthardt et al. (2022): Upside-down in volcanic ash: crown reconstruction of the early Permian seed fern Medullosa stellata with attached foliated fronds. Open access, PeerJ, 10: e13051.
"... The upper part of a Medullosa stellata var. typica individual broke at its top resulting from the overload of volcanic ash and was buried upside-down in the basal pyroclastics. The tree crown consists of the anatomically preserved apical stem, ten attached Alethopteris schneideri foliated fronds with Myeloxylon-type petioles and rachises. ..."

! L. Luthardt et al. (2021): Medullosan seed ferns of seasonally-dry habitats: old and new perspectives on enigmatic elements of Late Pennsylvanian–early Permian intramontane basinal vegetation. In PDF, Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 288.
See also here.
Note figure 1: Stratigraphy and fossil record of the Medullosales in the context of palaeogeographic and palaeoclimatic developments in the late Paleozoic.
Figure 2: Transverse sections of stem taxa of medullosans with information on their stratigraphy, (palaeo-) geographic origin, taphonomy and palaeo-environment.
Also of interest in this context:
Pflanzliche Botschaften aus der Urzeit (by Tamara Worzewski, November 08, 2022, Spektrum.de, in German).

L. Luthardt et al. (2018): Severe growth disturbances in an early Permian calamitalean – traces of a lightning strike? In PDF, Palaeontographica Abteilung B, 298: 1-22.
See also here.
! "... The special injury of the calamitalean described herein [...] exhibits an elongated to triangular shape, a central furrow, a scar-associated event ring of collapsed to distorted tracheids, and was ultimately overgrown by callus parenchyma. We suggest that this scar most likely was caused by a lightning strike ..."

M. Malekhosseini (2023): Fossil record and new aspects of evolutionary history of Calcium biomineralization and plant waxes in fossil leaves. In PDF, Thesis, Rheinischen Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, Germany.

M. Malekhosseini et al. (2022): Traces of calcium oxalate biomineralization in fossil leaves from late Oligocene maar deposits from Germany. Open access, Scientific Reports, 12.
Note figure 6: Model of the fossilization processes that lead to the formation of globular and serrate replications of CaOx crystals and druses.

Steven R. Manchester, Department of Natural Sciences, Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainsville: PETRIFIED WOODS IN FLORIDA. This article was a contribution to Papers In Florida Paleontology, No. 8, November 1996, published by the Florida Paleontological Society.

Y.I. Mandang and N. Kagemori (2004): A fossil wood of Dipterocarpaceae from Pliocene deposit in the west region of Java Island, Indonesia. In PDF, Biodiversitas, 5: 28-35.
! "The fossil trunk 28 m in length and 105 cm in diameter was buried in a tuffaceous sandstone layer".

L.C.A. Martínez et al. (2012): A new cycad stem from the Cretaceous in Argentina and its phylogenetic relationships with other Cycadales. Free access, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 3: 436–458.

L. Marynowski et al. (2007): Biomolecules preserved in ca. 168 million year old fossil conifer wood. PDF file, Naturwissenschaften, 94: 228-236.

K.K.S. Matsunaga et al. (2021): Ovulate Cones of Schizolepidopsis ediae sp. nov. Provide Insights into the Evolution of Pinaceae. Free access, Int. J. Plant Sci., 182: 490–507.

P. Matysová (2016): Study of fossil wood by modern analytical methods: case studies. Doctoral Thesis, Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Science, Institute of Geology and Palaeontology. Please take notice:
Fig. 6 (PDF page 39): Artistic reconstruction of wood deposition and silicification in river sediments.
Fig. 7 (PDF page 39): Artistic reconstruction of plant burial by volcanic fall-out.

! P. Matysová et al. (2010): Alluvial and volcanic pathways to silicified plant stems (Upper Carboniferous-Triassic) and their taphonomic and palaeoenvironmental meaning. PDF file, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 292: 127-143.

! C.L. May and R.E. Gresswell (2003): Processes and rates of sediment and wood accumulation in the headwater streams of the Oregon Coast Range, U.S.A. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 28: 409-424. See also here.
! Note figure 5: Conceptual illustration of the changes in channel morphology based on the time since the previous debris flow.

! S. McLoughlin et al. (2024): Evidence for saprotrophic digestion of glossopterid pollen from Permian silicified peats of Antarctica. Free access, taphonomy.htmlGrana. https://doi.org/10.1080/00173134.2024.2312610.
"... we describe translucent bodies referable either to fungi (Chytridiomycota) or water moulds (Oomycetes) within the pollen of glossopterid gymnosperms and cordaitaleans, and fern spores from silicified Permian (Guadalupian–Lopingian) peats
[...] Our study reveals that the extensive recapture of spore/pollen-derived nutrients via saprotrophic digestion was already at play in the high-latitude ecosystems of the late Palaeozoic ..."

S. McLoughlin et al. (2018): Pachytestopsis tayloriorum gen. et sp. nov., an anatomically preserved glossopterid seed from the Lopingian of Queensland, Australia. Chapter 9, in PDF, in: M. Krings, C.J. Harper, N.R. Cuneo and G.W. Rothwell (eds.): Transformative Paleobotany Papers to Commemorate the Life and Legacy of Thomas N. Taylor.

S. McLoughlin and C. Strullu-Derrien (2015): Biota and palaeoenvironment of a high middle-latitude Late Triassic peat-forming ecosystem from Hopen, Svalbard archipelago. PDF file, in: Kear B.P. et al. (eds): Mesozoic Biotas of Scandinavia and its Arctic Territories. Geol. Soc. London Spec. Pub., 434: 87–112.
See also here.

S. McLoughlin et al. (2015): Paurodendron stellatum: A new Permian permineralized herbaceous lycopsid from the Prince Charles Mountains, Antarctica. In PDF, Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 220: 1-15. Reconstruction on PDF page 11.
See also here.

V. Mencl et al. (2013): First anatomical description of silicified calamitalean stems from the upper Carboniferous of the Bohemian Massif (Nová Paka and Rakovník areas, Czech Republic). In PDF, Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 197: 70-77. See also here (abstract).

B. Meyer-Berthaud et al. (1993): Petrified Stems Bearing Dicroidium Leaves from the Triassic of Antarctica. Palaeontology, 36.

B. Meyer-Berthaud and T.N. Taylor (1992). Permineralized Conifer Axes from the Triassic of Antarctica. In PDF.

! Jim Mills, Mills Geological: Museums of Interest. An annotated link list especially of museums with petrified wood collections in the United States.

J.D. Moreau et al. (2015): Study of the Histology of Leafy Axes and Male Cones of Glenrosa carentonensis sp. nov. (Cenomanian Flints of Charente-Maritime, France) Using Synchrotron Microtomography Linked with Palaeoecology. PloS one, 10.
Plant fossils embedded inside flint nodules.

Palaeobotanical Research Group, Münster, Westfälische Wilhelms University, Münster, Germany. History of Palaeozoic Forests, MODES OF PRESERVATION. Link list page with picture rankings. The links give the most direct connections to pictures available on the web.
Website outdated. The link is to a version archived by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

A.D. Muscente et al. (2015): Fossil preservation through phosphatization and silicification in the Ediacaran Doushantuo Formation (South China): a comparative synthesis. Abstract, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 434: 46–62. See also here (in PDF).

! G.E. Mustoe (2023): Silicification of Wood: An Overview. Open access, Minerals, 13. https://doi.org/10.3390/min13020206.
Note figure 13: In situ preservation of a Sequioxylon stump, upright trunk in Eocene volcaniclastic sediment, and Late Pleistocene trunk in alluvial fan deposits.
"... Rates of silicification are primarily related to dissolved silica levels and permeability of sediment that encloses buried wood. Rapid silica deposition takes place on wood in modern hot springs, but these occurrences have dissimilar physical and chemical conditions compared to those that exist in most geologic environments. The times required for silicification are variable, and cannot be described by any generalization. ..."

G.E. Mustoe and G. Beard (2021): Calcite-Mineralized Fossil Wood from Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. Open access, Geosciences, Geosciences, 2021, 11, 38.

G.E. Mustoe (2020): Uranium Mineralization of Fossil Wood. Open access, Geosciences,10.

G.E. Mustoe et al. (2019): Mineralogy of Eocene Fossil Wood from the “Blue Forest” Locality, Southwestern Wyoming, United States. Free access, Geosciences 2019, 9(1), 35; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences9010035

G.E. Mustoe et al. (2020): Neogene Tree Trunk Fossils from the Meshgin Shahr Area, Northwest Iran. In PDF, Geosciences, 10.
"... Mineralogic variations occur among different fossil trees and within a single trunk. These silica polymorphs resulted from a combination of processes: silica minerals precipitated in multiple episodes under differing geochemical conditions and the diagenetic transformation of an opaline parent material. ..."

! G. Mustoe (2018): Mineralogy of non-silicified fossil wood. Open access, Geosciences, 8.

G.E. Mustoe (2018): Non-Mineralized Fossil Wood. Open access, Geosciences, 8.
Note fig. 23: Silification of charred wood.

G.E. Mustoe (2017): Wood Petrifaction: A New View of Permineralization and Replacement. Abstract, Geosciences, 7. See also here (in PDF).
"... New analytical evidence suggests that for most petrified wood, permineralization and replacement are not independent processes; instead, both processes may occur contemporaneously during diagenesis. Infiltration of mineral-bearing groundwater may initially cause permineralization of cellular tissues, but the wood is undergoing gradual degradation. ..."

G.E. Mustoe and M. Viney (2017): Mineralogy of Paleocene Petrified Wood from Cherokee Ranch Fossil Forest, Central Colorado, USA. Geosciences, 7.

! G. Mustoe and M. Acosta (2016): Origin of Petrified Wood Color. Geosciences, 6.

! G.E. Mustoe (2015): Late Tertiary Petrified Wood from Nevada, USA: Evidence of Multiple Silicification Pathways. Geosciences, 5: 286-309.

National Computational Science Education Consortium (NCSEC): Module The Petrification Process of Wood. This website (NCSEC served as a national educational computational science clearinghouse) offers math and science teachers an array of online educational tools. Some parts are a bit confusing.
Snapshot taken by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine. Go to:
How Does Wood Petrify? "When minerals seep into fossils".

Neues Jahrbuch für Mineralogie, Geognosie, Geologie und Petrefakten-Kunde 1860. By Karl Cäsar von Leonhard, Heinrich Georg Bronn (E. Schweizerbart's Verlagshandlung), digitized by Google Book Search. Go to: K. Fr. W Braun: Über das Bayreuther versteinte Holz.

R. Neregato and J. Hilton (2019): Reinvestigation of the Enigmatic Carboniferous Sphenophyte Strobilus Cheirostrobus Scott and Implications of In Situ Retusotriletes Spores. In PDF, Int. J. Plant Sci., 180: 811–833. See also here.

R. Neregato et al. (2017): New petrified calamitaleans from the Permian of the Parnaíba Basin, central-north Brazil, part II, and phytogeographic implications for late Paleozoic floras. In PDF, Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 237: 37–61. See also here.
Note fig. 2 (on PDF page 16): The proposed reconstruction of Arthropitys tocantinensis sp. nov., drawn by F. Spindler, Freiberg).

R Neregato et al. (2015): New petrified calamitaleans from the Permian of the Parnaíba Basin, central-north Brazil. Part I. In PDF, Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 215: 23-45. See also here.
Note fig. 3 (on PDF page 15): The proposed reconstruction of Arthropitys isoramis sp. nov., drawn by F. Spindler, Freiberg).

! Sandra Niemirowska, Warsaw: Petrified Wood. Various species of fossilized wood taken under the microscope and shown in tomograms.
Worth checking out:
! Anatomical details under the stereoscopic optical microscope and scanning electron microscope.
Gallery of petrified wood. A collection of petrified wood arranged in order of locations.

F. Nies (1893): Ueber die verkieselten Baumstämme aus dem württembergischen Keuper und über den Verkieselungsprocess (Nies). PDF file, in German. Jahreshefte des Vereins für Vaterländische Naturkunde in Württemberg, 39.
See also here and there.

F. Orange et al. (2013): Experimental Simulation of Evaporation-Driven Silica Sinter Formation and Microbial Silicification in Hot Spring Systems. In PDF, Astrobiology, 13. https://doi.org/10.1089/ast.2012.0887.
See likewise here.

J.M. Osborn and T.N. Taylor (1989): Structurally Preserved Sphenophytes from the Triassic of Antarctica: Vegetative Remains of Spaciinodum, gen. nov. PDF file, American Journal of Botany, 76: 1594-1601.
See also here.

Geobiology, Department of Earth Sciences, Oxford University: Questioning the evidence for Earth's oldest fossils,

J. Parnell et al. (2022): Trace element geochemistry in the earliest terrestrial ecosystem, the Rhynie Chert. Open access, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 23: e2022GC010647.
Note figure 2: Schematic cross-section showing contribution of elements to Devonian chert-forming environment.
Figure 8: Contrast between plant-bearing chert and layers of phytodebris.
"... The Lower Devonian Rhynie Chert shows evidence for extensive phosphorus mobilization in plant debris that was pervasively colonized by fungi. Sandy sediment entrapped with fungi-rich phytodebris contains grains of the phosphate mineral monazite [...]
Abundant pyrite framboids in the Rhynie Chert indicate that plant decomposition included microbial sulphate reduction. ..."

A. Pérez-Huerta et al. (2018): Understanding biomineralization in the fossil record. In PDF, Earth-Science Reviews, 179: 95-122.
Note here as well.

K.C. Pfeiler and A.M.F. Tomescu (2018): An Early Devonian permineralized rhyniopsid from the Battery Point Formation of Gaspé (Canada). Free access, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 187: 292–302.

! T.L. Phillips et al. (1976): Fossil peat of the Illinois basin: a guide to the study of coal balls of Pennsylvanian age. In PDF, Geoscience education, 11.

K.B. Pigg and M.L. DeVore (2016): A review of the plants of the Princeton chert (Eocene, British Columbia, Canada). In PDF, Botany, 94: 661–681.

Etiene F. Pires & Margot Guerra-Sommer (Departamento de Paleontologia e Estratigrafia, Instituto de Geociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brasil): Sommerxylon spiralosus from Upper Triassic in southernmost Paraná Basin (Brazil): a new taxon with taxacean affinity. An. Acad. Bras. Ciênc. vol.76 no.3 Rio de Janeiro; 2004. Download this article (PDF file).

Imogen Poole, Department of Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Utrecht University: TAPHONOMY & PRESERVATION OF WOOD. Research projects.
This expired link is now available through the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

I. Poole (2000): Fossil angiosperm wood anatomy: its role in the reconstruction of biodiversity and palaeoenvironment. Free access, Botanical journal of the Linnean Society, 134: 361-381.

L. Bruce Railsback, Department of Geology, University of Georgia, Athens: An Atlas of Speleothem Microfabrics. Stalagmites, stalactites, and other mineral deposits known as speleothems contain chemical and mineralogical clues to past rainfall and temperatures.

! J. Ramezani et al. (2011): High-precision U-Pb zircon geochronology of the Late Triassic Chinle Formation, Petrified Forest National Park (Arizona, USA): Temporal constraints on the early evolution of dinosaurs. Abstract.

Authored by the The Rhynie Chert Research Group, University of Aberdeen, with contributions and support by the Palaeobotanical Research Group, University of Münster, Germany, the Centre for Palynology, University of Sheffield, The Natural History Museum, London, and The Royal Museum, National Museums of Scotland: The Biota of Early Terrestrial Ecosystems, The Rhynie Chert. A resource site for students and teachers covering many aspects of the present knowledge of this unique geological deposit (including a glossary and bibliography pages). Go to: Taphonomy of the Rhynie Chert, and Silicification and the Conversion of Sinter to Chert.

N. Robin et al. (2015): Calcification and Diagenesis of Bacterial Colonies. In PDF, Minerals, 5: 488-506.

R. Rößler (2019): Der Wald aus Stein unter Chemnitz – einzigartiges „Pompeji des Erdaltertums“. In German, PDF file. Kalenderblatt April 2019, Online-Plattform der Professur Geschichte Europas im Mittelalter und in der Frühen Neuzeit an der Technischen Universität Chemnitz.
See also here.

R. Rößler et al. (2015): Der Versteinerte Wald Chemnitz - Momentaufnahme eines vulkanisch konservierten Ökosystems aus dem Perm (Exkursion L am 11. April 2015). PDF file, in German. The petrified forest of Chemnitz - A snapshot of an early Permian ecosystem preserved by volcanism. Jber. Mitt. oberrhein. geol. Ver., N.F. 97.

R. Rößler (2014): Die Bewurzelung permischer Calamiten: Aussage eines Schlüsselfundes zur Existenz freistehender baumförmiger Schachtelhalmgewächse innerhalb der Paläofloren des äquatornahen Gondwana. PDF file, in German. The roots of Permian calamitaleans - a key find suggests the existence of free-stemmed arborescent sphenopsids among the low latitude palaeofloras of Gondwana. Freiberger Forschungshefte, C 548.

R. Rößler (2014): Das Museum für Naturkunde Chemnitz - eine Erfolgsgeschichte (in German). PDF file, go to PDF page 47. Mitteilungen und Berichte aus dem Institut für Museumsforschung, 52.

R. Rößler et al. 2012:
! Start on PDF page 213: Field trip 2: Petrified Forest of Chemnitz – A Snapshot of an Early Permian Ecosystem Preserved by Explosive Volcanism. In PDF, Centenary Meeting of the Paläontologische Gesellschaft, Terra Nostra.
Note fig. 4 (on PDF page 218): The interpretative drawing of the excavation Chemnitz-Hilbersdorf.

! R. Rößler et al. (2012): The largest calamite and its growth architecture - Arthropitys bistriata from the Early Permian Petrified Forest of Chemnitz. In PDF, Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 185: 64-78.
The link is to a version archived by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

! R. Rößler et al. (2008): Auf Schatzsuche in Chemnitz – Wissenschaftliche Grabungen `08. PDF file, in German. Veröffentlichungen des Museums für Naturkunde Chemnitz, 31: 05-44.
"... This contribution provides an overview and first results of the Natural History Museum’s scientific excavation,
[...] The whole tuff section provided plenty of fossil finds; some of the trunks still remained standing upright (in-situ) in growth position. The set of Permian age plants evidenced at this excavation belongs to a diverse mainly hygrophilous community made of cordaitaleans, medullosan seed ferns, calamitaleans and tree ferns. Of special scientific interest is a cordaitalean gymnosperm trunk showing branching in different height levels and some Arthropitys specimens one of these showing for the first time the diverse branched top of a calamitalean trunk ..."

! R. Rößler (2000): The late Palaeozoic tree fern Psaronius - an ecosystem unto itself. In PDF, Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 108: 55-74. See also here.

Ronny Rößler, Museum of Natural History, Chemnitz (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.): Das Perm - Farnwälder, Glutwolken und Salzwüsten. In German. Full article available here (PDF file).

R. Rößler (1999): Sächsische und thüringische Kieselhölzer - Funde und Sammlungen an der Wiege der Geowissenschaften PDF file, in German.

R. Rößler and M. Barthel(1998): Rotliegend taphocoenoses preservation favoured by rhyolitic explosive volcanism. In PDF, Freiberger Forschungshefte C, 474: 59–101. See also here.

G.W. Rothwell and R.A. Stockey (2024): Toward an understanding of gleicheniaceous fern evolution; organismal concept for an Eocene species from western North America. Open access, Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 320.
See here as well.
"... Anatomically preserved fossil gleicheniaceous fern remains in carbonate marine concretions from Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada support the development of a whole plant concept for an Eocene species of Gleichenia, and provide data to develop the first organismal concept for an extinct species of Gleichenia from the Cenozoic fossil record ..."

! G.W. Rothwell And R. Stockey (2023): Anatomically preserved early Cretaceous lycophyte shoots; enriching the paleontological record of Lycopodiales and Selaginellales. In PDF, Acta Palaeobotanica, 63: 119–128.
See also here.
"... The Selaginella specimens represent the first anatomically preserved Selaginellales with excellent internal cellular preservation in the fossil record
[...] These fossils document that species with diagnostic internal anatomy of modern Lycopodiales and Selaginellales evolved no later than the Valanginian of the early Cretaceous ..."

G.W. Rothwell et al. (2022): Large Permineralized Seeds in the Jurassic of Haida Gwaii, Western Canada: Exploring the Mode and Tempo of Cycad Evolution. Abstract, International Journal of Plant Sciences.
"... Fossil seed specimens are studied from external morphology and serially sectioned by the classic cellulose acetate peel technique ..."
! "... Results suggest that modern pollination and postpollination biology and the two contrasting modes of cycad seed germination evolved during the Mesozoic but that crown group cycad species may not have appeared until the Cenozoic. ..."

G.W. Rothwell and T. Ohana (2016): Stockeystrobus gen. nov. (Cupressaceae), and the evolutionary diversification of sequoioid conifer seed cones. Abstract, Botany, 94: 847-861. See also here (in PDF).

G.W. Rothwell et al. (2013): Diversity of ancient conifers: The Jurassic seed cone Bancroftiastrobus digitata gen. et sp. nov. (Coniferales). In PDF, Int. J. Plant Sci., 174: 937-946.

G.W. Rothwell and R.A. Stockey (2002): Anatomically preserved Cycadeoidea (Cycadeoidaceae), with a reevaluation of systematic characters for the seed cones of Bennettitales. Free access, American Journal of Botany, 89: 1447–1458.

Gar W. Rothwell, Department of Environmental and Plant Biology Ohio University, Athens: Cutting a Coal Ball and Coal Ball Peel Technique. Part of the Paleobotany course.

G.W. Rothwell et al. (2002): Ashicaulis woolfei n. sp.: additional evidence for the antiquity of osmundaceous ferns from the Triassic of Antarctica. Open access, American Journal of Botany, 89: 352-361.

A.C. Rozefelds et al. (2024): Born of fire, borne by water – Review of paleo-environmental conditions, floristic assemblages and modes of preservation as evidence of distinct silicification pathways for silcrete floras in Australia Gondwana Research, 130: 234–249.
See also here.
Note figure 3: Schematic diagram showing the stages involved in preservation of a mould of a branch of Proteaceae or Casuarinaceae wood and leaves.
Figure 6: Schematic diagram comparing pathways of silicification of plant tissues in sub-basaltic and fluvial silcretes.

Patricia E. Ryberg et al. (2008): Development and ecological implications of dormant buds in the high-Paleolaltitude Triassic sphenophyte Spaciinodum (Equisetaceae). PDF file, Am. J. Bot., 95: 1443-1453. See also here.

J. Sakala (2023): Fossil Wood Analyses: Several Examples from Five Case Studies in the Area of Central and NW Bohemia, Czech Republic. Anstract, Xylem, pp 89–104.

S. Saminpanya et al. (2023): Mineralogy, geochemistry, and petrogenesis of the world's longest petrified wood. In PDF. International Journal of Geoheritage and Parks. See likewise here.

! R.A. Savidge (2007): Wood anatomy of Late Triassic trees in Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona, USA, in relation to Araucarioxylon arizonicum Knowlton, 1889. PDF file, Bulletin of Geosciences, Vol. 82: 301-328.

A. Savoretti et al. (2018): Grimmiaceae in the Early Cretaceous: Tricarinella crassiphylla gen. et sp. nov. and the value of anatomically preserved bryophytes. Free access, Annals of Botany, 121: 1275–1286. See also here.
"... One fossil moss gametophyte preserved in a carbonate concretion was studied in serial sections prepared using the cellulose acetate peel technique. ..."

J. Schneider et al. (2008): Excursion No. A5 The Late Carboniferous and Early Permian Rotliegend in Saxony and Thuringia. In PDF, 12th International Palynological Congress IPC-XII 2008 8th International Organisation of Palaeobotany Conference IOPC-VIII 2008 August 30 - September 5, 2008, Bonn, Germany.

J.W. Schopf (1999), article starts on PDF page 105: Fossils and Pseudofossils: Lessons from the Hunt for Early Life on Earth. In PDF; In: Proceedings of the Workshop on Size Limits of Very Small Organisms, Space Studies Board, National Research Council, National Academies Press, Washington, DC. See also here.

! F.H. Schweingruber and A. Börner (2018): Fossilization, permineralization, coalification, carbonization and wet wood conservation. PDF file, pp. 183-192.
In: F.H. Schweingruber and A. Börner:
! The Plant Stem. A Microscopic Aspect. Open access!

! A.B. Schwendemann et al. (2010): Organization, anatomy, and fungal endophytes of a Triassic conifer embryo. Open access, American Journal of Botany, 97: 1873-1883.

A.C. Scott (2024): Carboniferous wildfire revisited: Wildfire, post-fire erosion and deposition in a Mississippian crater lake. In PDF, Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, 135: 416-437.
See likewiswe here.
Note figure 6c–e. Scanning electron micrographs of charred Metaclepsydropsis.
! Figure 13f-h: Scanning electron micrograph of charcoalified pteridosperm leaf dissolved from Pettycur Limestone block.

! A.C. Scott and M.E. Collinson (2003): Non-destructive multiple approaches to interpret the preservation of plant fossils: implications for calcium-rich permineralisations. PDF file, Journal of the Geological Society, 160: 857-862. See also here.
"Specimens were observed using transmitted light, polarized light, reflected light under oil, and cathodoluminescence. Selected areas were studied using a variable pressure SEM in backscattered electron mode. [...] Results reveal that anatomical interpretations based merely on observations of thin sections in transmitted light can be very misleading ..."

! A.C. Scott and G. Rex (1985): The formation and significance of Carboniferous coal balls. PDF file, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society London, B, 311: 123-137.
See also here, and there.

! A.C. Scott and M.E. Collinson (2003): Non-destructive multiple approaches to interpret the preservation of plant fossils: implications for calcium-rich permineralizations. Journal of the Geological Society, 160: 857-862.

! A. Scott and M. Collinson (1982): Investigating fossil plant beds. Part 1: The origin of fossil plants and their sediments. PDF file, Geology Teaching, 7: 114-122.
! Note fig. 3: Sketch of in situ silicified tree stumps and lignitic roots, partly with siliceous core.

! R. Serbet et al. (2013): Cunninghamia taylorii sp. nov., a Structurally Preserved Cupressaceous Conifer from the Upper Cretaceous (Campanian) Horseshoe Canyon Formation of Western North America. In PDF, International Journal of Plant Sciences, 174: 471-488. See also here.

G.W.K. Shelton et al. (2015): Exploring the fossil history of pleurocarpous mosses: Tricostaceae fam. nov. from the Cretaceous of Vancouver Island, Canada. In PDF, American Journal of Botany.

G. Shi et al. (2021): Mesozoic cupules and the origin of the angiosperm second integument, Abstract, Nature, 594: 23–226. See also here (in PDF).

! C.S. Shi et al. (2013): Characterization of the stem anatomy of the Eocene fern Dennstaedtiopsis aerenchymata (Dennstaedtiaceae) by use of confocal laser scanning microscopy. Free access, American Journal of Botany, 100: 1626–1640.

K.C. Shunn and C.T. Gee (2023): Cross-sectioning to the core of conifers: pith anatomy of living Araucariaceae and Podocarpaceae, with comparisons to fossil pith. Open access, IAWA Journal.
"... In addition to a general paucity in pith descriptions [...] we focus here on the pith of 16 conifer species [...] as well as comparing pith anatomy in regard to branch age, genus, and family. Furthermore, comparisons are made to fossil conifer pith to elucidate common features shared by living conifers and their ancient relatives ..."

F.D. Siewers and T.L. Phillips (2015): Petrography and microanalysis of Pennsylvanian coal-ball concretions (Herrin Coal, Illinois Basin, USA): Bearing on fossil plant preservation and coal-ball origins. Abstract, Sedimentary Geology, 329.

! A.C. Sigleo (1979): Geochemistry of silicified wood and associated sediments, Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona. Abstract, Chemical Geology, 26: 151-163.

B.J. Slater et al. (2015): A high-latitude Gondwanan lagerstätte: The Permian permineralised peat biota of the Prince Charles Mountains, Antarctica. In PDF, Gondwana Research, 27: 1446-1473. See also here (abstract).

M.K.A. Smith et al. (2015): Mesozoic Diversity of Osmundaceae: Osmundacaulis whittlesii sp. nov. in the Early Cretaceous of Western Canada. Abstract, Journal of Plant Sciences, 176: 245-258. See also here (in PDF).

! Hans Steur, Ellecom, The Netherlands: Hans´ Paleobotany Pages. Plant life from the Silurian to the Cretaceous. Go to:
Prototaxites,
Wood of the horsetail tree Calamites,
The tree fern Psaronius,
The tree fernTempskya
The gymnospermous tree Cordaites,
Fossil gymnosperm wood, and
Fossil palm wood or Palmoxylon.

! R.A. Stockey and G.W. Rothwell (2020): Diversification of crown group Araucaria: the role of Araucaria famii sp. nov. in the Late Cretaceous (Campanian) radiation of Araucariaceae in the Northern Hemisphere. Abstract, American Journal of Botany, 107: 1–22. See also here (in PDF).

R.A. Stockey (1977): Reproductive biology of the Cerro Cuadrado (Jurassic) fossil conifers: Pararaucaria patagonica. In PDF, American Journal of Botany, 64: 733-744. See also here.

Ed Strauss, Washington (article hosted by Evolving Earth Foundation Issaquah, WA). The Evolving Earth Foundation is committed to encouraging research and building community related to the earth sciences.
How to Identify Conifers. Conifer micro photographs.
Websites still available via Internet Archive Wayback Machine.

C. Strullu-Derrien et al. (2023): A fungal plant pathogen discovered in the Devonian Rhynie Chert. Open access, Nature Communications, 14.
"... The fungus forms a stroma-like structure with conidiophores arising in tufts outside the cuticle on aerial axes and leaf-like appendages of the lycopsid plant Asteroxylon mackiei. It causes a reaction in the plant that gives rise to dome-shaped surface projections. This suite of features in the fungus together with the plant reaction tissues provides evidence of it being a plant pathogenic fungus ..."

C. Strullu-Derrien et al. (2019): The Rhynie chert. Open access, Current Biology 29: R1211–R1223.

C. Strullu-Derrien et al. (2011): Evidence of parasitic Oomycetes (Peronosporomycetes) infecting the stem cortex of the Carboniferous seed fern Lyginopteris oldhamia. IN PDF, Proc. R. Soc. B, 278: 675-680.

H. Süss et al. (2009): Drei neue fossile Hölzer der Morphogattung Primoginkgoxylon gen. nov. aus der Trias von Kenia. PDF file (in German), Feddes Repertorium, 120: 273 - 292. See also here (Abstract).

! L. Tapanila and E.M. Roberts (2012): The Earliest Evidence of Holometabolan Insect Pupation in Conifer Wood. In PDF. See also here.

E.L. Taylor (1996): Enigmatic gymnosperms? Structurally preserved Permian and Triassic seed ferns from Antarctica. PDF file, Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology.
Still available through the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.
See also here (abstract).

! T.N. Taylor and M. Krings (2005): Fossil microorganisms and land plants: Associations and interactions. PDF file, Symbiosis, 40: 119-135.
This expired link is now available through the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.
See also here.

E.L. Taylor et al. (1989): Depositional setting and paleobotany of Permian and Triassic permineralized peat from the central Transantarctic Mountains, Antarctica. Abstract, international Journal of Coal Geology. See also here (in PDF).

! E.L. Taylor and T.N. Taylor: Structurally Preserved Permian and Triassic Floras from Antarctica. PDF file.
Snapshoot from the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.
See also here.

! Marian Timpe, Rostock, Germany:
Versteinerte Pflanzen (in German). A well organized website showing permineralized wood from all over the world. Including location descriptions.

A.M.F.M. Tomescu (2018): Exquisitely preserved tiny fossils are key for understanding moss evolution. Botany One.

A.M.F. Tomescu (2016): The Early Cretaceous Apple Bay flora of Vancouver Island: a hotspot of fossil bryophyte diversity. In PDF, Botany, 9. See also here.

Treasures of the Earth, Ltd., Hollsopple, PA., U.S.A.: Petrified Wood. Images of petrified wood slabs, chiefly from the Chinle Formation, Utah, USA.
Now available through the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

E. Trembath-Reichert et al. (2015): Four hundred million years of silica biomineralization in land plants. Free Access, Proc. National Academy of Sciences USA, 112: 5449–5454.

Nigel H. Trewin, Stephen R. Fayers & Lyall I. Anderson, University of Aberdeen: The Biota of Early Terrestrial Ecosystems: The Rhynie Chert. The "Learning Resource" (updated 08/09/04) is primarily a resource site for students and teachers covering many aspects of the present knowledge of the unique Rhynie Chert deposit and its scientific significance (including a glossary and bibliography pages). The "Suggestions For Tutors" provides guidance for teachers (password protected). This part is primarily aimed at a university Honours degree level. The content is primarily of value in geology teaching, but has relevance to botany, zoology, ecology and history of science.

M.L. Trivett and G.W. Rothwell (1991): Diversity among Paleozoic Cordaitales. In PDF, Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen, 183: 289-305.

M.L. Trivett and G.W. Rothwell (1985): Morphology, systematics, and paleoecology of Paleozoic fossil plants: Mesoxylon priapi, sp. nov.(Cordaitales). In PDF, Systematic Botany, 10: 205-223.
See also here.

! Kyle Trostle (2009), Franklin and Marshall College, Earth and Environment Department, Lancaster, PA: Diagenetic History of Fossil Wood from the Paleocene Chickaloon Formation, Matanuska Valley, Alaska. Snapshot taken by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

! S. Trümper et al. (2020): Late Palaeozoic red beds elucidate fluvial architectures preserving large woody debris in the seasonal tropics of central Pangaea. In PDF, Sedimentology. Please take notice:
! The taphonomy and depositional environment of fossil wood, starting on PDF page 15: "Lithofacies associations containing abundant large woody debris".

! S. Trümper et al. (2018): Deciphering silicification pathways of fossil forests: Case studies from the late Paleozoic of Central Europe. Open access, Minerals, 8.
Note figure 10a (PDF page 15): Cross-cut of a log horizontally embedded in medium-grained sandstones.
Note figure 12b (PDF page 17): Permineralized Agathoxylon-type stem, encrusted completely by a stromatolite.

UntraveledRoad, Paris, ID: Petrified Forest National Park Information Center. The Photographic Virtual Tour Website. Go to: Triassic Landscape.

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS): U.S. Geological Survey Photographic Archive. This on-line system provides access to over 19,000 photographs and original sketches, dating from 1868 to the present. Go to: NATIONAL PARKS-MONUMENTS-SEASHORE. Choose: "Petrified National Park".

J. Vance, University of Dayton: Rhynie Chert. Powerpoint presentation.

M. Viney et al. (2019): A Silicified Carboniferous Lycopsid Forest in the Colorado Rocky Mountains, USA. Open access, Geosciences,9. doi:10.3390/geosciences9120510

! M. Viney et al. (2017): The Bruneau Woodpile: A Miocene Phosphatized Fossil Wood Locality in Southwestern Idaho, USA. Open access, Geosciences, 7.
Note fig. 14: Streambank exposure reveals three successive lahar wood mats containing rough-surfaced fragments of mummified wood.

! M. Viney et al. (2016): Multi-Stage Silicification of Pliocene Wood: Re-Examination of an 1895 Discovery from Idaho, USA. Geosciences, 6.

Mike Viney, The Virtual Petrified Wood Museum: Fossils. In PDF.

Mike Viney, Ft. Collins, Colorado: The Virtual Petrified Wood Museum. Images of fossil wood and other fossils sorted by geological age. See especially:
! Petrified Wood: The Silicification of Wood by Permineralization (PDF file).
See also: Anatomy. The anatomy of arborescent plants through time.

P.B. Vixseboxse et al. (2024): Taphonomic experiments fixed and conserved with Paraloid B72 resin via solvent replacement. Open access, Lethaia, 57.
"... Taphonomic experiments offer a powerful tool with which to interpret the influence of decay and mineralization on the quality and completeness of Earth’s fossil record
[...] we propose a novel method of soft sediment fixation that permits the stabilization of entire decay experiments for sectioning and microanalysis
[...] Application of this method to a wide range of substrates demonstrates that this methodology can produce effective stabilization of samples, including unconsolidated sands and organic-rich substrates, with a chemically inert polymer ..."

S.-J. Wang et al. (2017): Anatomically preserved "strobili" and leaves from the Permian of China (Dorsalistachyaceae, fam. nov.) broaden knowledge of Noeggerathiales and constrain their possible taxonomic affinities. Free access, Am. J. Bot., 104: 127-149.

Shi-Jun Wang et al. (2011): Cycad Wood from the Lopingian (Late Permian) of Southern China: Shuichengoxylon tianii gen. et sp. nov. PDF file, Int. J. Plant Sci., 172: 725-734.

S.J. Wang et al. (2006): A large anatomically preserved calamitean stem from the Upper Permian of southwest China and its implications for calamitean development and functional anatomy. In PDF, Pl. Syst. Evol., 261: 229–244. See also here.

! X. Wang et al. (2009): The Triassic Guanling fossil Group - A key GeoPark from Barren Mountain, Guizhou Province, China. PDF file.
! Note figure 29: A colony of Traumatocrinus sp. attached by root cirri to an agatized piece of driftwood!
PDF still available via Internet Archive Wayback Machine.

WAYNE'S WORD, Escondido, CA (A nonprofit quarterly journal published by WOLFFIA INC.): Fossils Of Ancient Plants. This websites are dedicated to little-known facts and trivia about natural history subjects.
The link is to a version archived by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

Michael Wegner, Köln, Germany: Versteinertes Holz.de (in German).

Hans-J. Weiss, Rabenau, Germany: Chert News. You can also navigate from the Site map.

! Ian West, Southampton University: The Fossil Forest - East of Lulworth Cove, Dorset.

Ian West, Southampton Oceanography Centre, School of Ocean and Earth Science, Southampton University: The Fossil Forest, west of Lulworth Cove, Dorset, southern England. This is a classic geological locality with the remains and moulds of late Jurassic or early Cretaceous coniferous trees rooted in a palaeosol (ancient soil), the Great Dirt Bed. Above the trees is stromatolitic limestone and over this the unusual Broken Beds, a limestone breccia that was originally evaporitic. Let´s have a look at the Purbeck Trees.

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
! Petrified wood.
Petrified Forest National Park.
Rhynie chert.
Coal ball.

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
Geopark,
Global Geoparks Network,
Protected areas.
Fossil trade.

C.J. Williams et al. (2010): Fossil wood in coal-forming environments of the late Paleocene-early Eocene Chickaloon Formation. PDF file, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 295: 363-375. Now provided by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

J.P. Wilson et al. (2023): Physiological selectivity and plant–environment feedbacks during Middle and Late Pennsylvanian plant community transitions. Open access, Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 535: 361-382.
Note figure 1: Images of Late Carboniferous plant stems permineralized in coal balls.
"... we examine the vascular anatomy and physiology of key lineages of Pennsylvanian plants: the sphenopsids, tree ferns, cordaitaleans, medullosans, lycophytes and extrabasinal stem group coniferophytes. Using scanning electron and light microscopy of fossilized anatomy, we provide new data on these plants’ vascular systems, quantifying their physiological capacity and drought resistance ..."

M.M. Windell (2024): A Permian permineralised peat reveals high spatial and temporal variation in plant assemblage. In PDF. Degree Project in Physical Geography and Quaternary Geography, Stockholm University.
See here as well.
Note figure 10: Reconstruction of the rift-valley-bound mid-Permian forest swamp ecosystem of East Antarctica, at the beginning of autumn.

! www.kieseltorf.de. Permineralized plant fossils from Germany (in German).

! H.-H. Xu et al. (2017): Unique growth strategy in the Earth´s first trees revealed in silicified fossil trunks from China. Abstract, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 114: 12009–12014. See also:
! D. Yuhas (2018): Ancient Tree Structure Is Like a Forest unto Itself. Arboreal fossils reveal an unusual and complex structure. Scientific American. See further: Paläobotaniker lüften das Geheimnis der Urbäume (Spektrum.de, in German).

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