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Petrified wood created rapidly in the lab

2nd February 2005

The BBC website has recently reported that a small piece of wood has been petrified within a few days at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in America. This report went on to repeat the dogma of evolution and stated that the petrification of wood requires millions of years to occur naturally. However, it has been known for sometime that wood can be petrified naturally in a much shorter time frame.

Left: Fossilised wood encased in limestone, found on beach near Lyme Regis Summer 2004.

A team led by Yongsoon Shin has carried out the most recent research, and this has been written up in the journal Advanced Materials.[i] The process to create this petrified wood involved soaking a small 1cm cube of poplar or pine wood in acid for a couple of days, followed by a soaking in silica for two more days. This piece of wood was then placed in a furnace and heated to 1400 degrees Celsius in the presence of argon gas for two hours, and then left to cool.

However, the rapid petrification of wood in the laboratory has been known for some time. Creationist scientist and geologist Dr Andrew Snelling reported on laboratory research in this area in 1995, and also highlighted the fact that naturally occurring petrification can happen within a short period of time.[ii] Snelling reports that Hamilton Hicks of Greenwich, Connecticut, USA patented a process to petrify wood in the laboratory in 1986. This process involved the use of sodium silicate, mineral water enriched in metallic salts, and naturally occurring citric or malic acid.[iii] Another process to petrify wood in the laboratory was written up in 1992, and involved silicon and aluminium compounds.[iv]

Snelling also reports on naturally observed petrification within living memory. Alkaline springs in Yellow Stone National park are reported to petrify wood at rates of up to 4 mm per year.[v] In Queensland, Australia, fence posts are reported to have been petrified within a matter of years, and whole tree trunks within a few decades.[vi] The chapel of Santa Maria de Salute, built in Venice in 1630 on 180,000 wooden piles, today stands on stone piles, petrified by the saturated sand and clay.[vii] Snelling comments that.

‘…most people still think and are led to believe, that fossilised wood buried in rock strata must have taken thousands, if not millions of years, to petrify. Cleary, such thinking is erroneous, since it has been repeatedly demonstrated that petrification of wood can and does occur rapidly.’[viii]

Conclusions

There is clear evidence that natural petrification of wood occurs rapidly with whole tree trunks fossilised within a matter of decades, and fence posts within a few years. Small pieces of wood can be fossilised in the laboratory within a few days under high temperature and pressure. What is clear is that long periods of time are not needed for petrification of wood to occur in nature despite the often repeated ‘millions of years’ mantra of evolution.

Further reading: (Available from shop)

The Young Earth, John Morris, Semi-technical book on radioactive dating, magnetic field decay, oceanic salt and other supposed clocks, with emphasis on geologic evidences for a young Earth.

Evolution: The fossils still say No!, Duane Gish, 391 pp, pb. A most compelling critique of the fossil record. Dr. Gish uses the writings of evolutionary palaeontologists to show the complete absence of intermediate forms. A comprehensive study that is a useful research tool for the serious student of creation, and is a major challenge to those who support the theory of evolution.

References --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[i] As reported on the BBC News Website, ‘Petrified wood created in the lab’, BBC News Website, 25th January 2005. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4206387.stm

[ii] Snelling, A., ‘Instant’ petrified wood, Creation, AiG, 17(4) 38-40, Sept. 1995. http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v17/i4/wood.asp

[iii] Hamilton Hicks, 'Mineralized sodium silicate solutions for artificial petrification of wood', United States Patent Number 4,612,050, September 16,1986, pp. 1-3. As cited by: Steven Austin, CatastroRef--'Catastrophe Reference Database: Catastrophes in Earth History, Geologic Evidence, Speculation and Theory', Institute for Creation Research, San Diego. Entry no. 267. [From: Snelling, A. op.cit.]

[iv] Phil McCafferty, 'Instant petrified wood?', Popular Science, October 1992, pp. 56-57. [From: Snelling, A. op.cit.]

[v] A.C. Sigleo, 'Organic geochemistry of silicified wood, Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona', Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, Vol. 42, 1978, pp. 1397-1405. [From: Snelling, A. op.cit.]

[vi] Roy Piggott, The Australian Lapidary Magazine, January 1970, p. 9. and ; R.C. Pearce, 'Petrified wood', The Australian Lapidary Magazine, June 1970, p. 33. [From: Snelling, A. op.cit.]

[vii] Segment on 'Burke's Backyard', Channel 9 TV, Sydney, June 1995. [From: Snelling, A. op.cit.]

[viii] Snelling, A op.cit.

This message was added on Thursday 4th August 2005