Permineralisation

Fossilisation in which mineral-laden groundwater fills the pores of bone, wood or shell and precipitates minerals (silica, calcite, pyrite) inside them, preserving the original structure. Petrified wood is the classic case.

Sources

Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology — glossaries (KU Paleontological Institute, CC BY 4.0)
Earle, S. (2019). Physical Geology, 2nd ed., Chapter 8: Fossils (CC BY 4.0)

Cite this article

Stratum Strata. "Permineralisation" (Glossary). Stratum Strata pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-16. https://stratum.black/strata/glossary/permineralisation. Accessed 2026-09-21.

BibTeX · CSL-JSON

@misc{stratum-permineralisation,
  title        = {Permineralisation},
  author       = {{Stratum Strata}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://stratum.black/strata/glossary/permineralisation}},
  year         = {2026},
  note         = {Glossary article, Stratum Strata pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-16; sources: stratum. Accessed 2026-09-21.}
}

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