= Petrification
{wiki}
<Petrification> is preservation of biological material in a stone-like form through mineral deposition and/or replacement. In <permineralization>, dissolved material precipitates within pores and spaces; replacement instead substitutes mineral material for some original substance. The processes can occur together, so a detailed <fossil> can retain structural information even when much of its chemistry has changed.
Silicified wood supplies a motivating experiment. <Hisatada Akahane> and colleagues studied wood in silica-rich hot-spring water, where <silica> spheres accumulated on split surfaces and <cell walls>. The observed textures resembled some naturally silicified wood in the <fossil record>.<Rapid wood silicification in hot spring water: an explanation of silicification of wood during the Earth's history by Hisatada Akahane and others>[2004, abstract: hot-spring observations, silica precipitation and tissue textures]{ref}
The result shows that appreciable mineral deposition can proceed rapidly under suitable chemical conditions. It does not assign one universal duration to <petrification>, prove complete replacement of all organic matter, or determine the age of the surrounding rock.
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