The Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference on Creationism (2018)

Lee, N., S. Mun, M.F. Horstemeyer, S.J. Horstemeyer, and D.J. Lang 2018. A characterization of petrified and mummified wood from an Eocene deposit in Mississippi. In Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference on Creationism , ed. J.H. Whitmore, pp. 238–247. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Creation Science Fellowship. A CHARACTERIZATION OF PETRIFIED AND MUMMIFIED WOOD FROM AN EOCENE DEPOSIT IN MISSISSIPPI Nayeon Lee , Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS 39762, USA nayeon@cavs.msstate.edu Sungkwang Mun , Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS 39762, USA Mark F. Horstemeyer , Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS 39762, USA S.J. Horstemeyer , Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS 39762, USA David J. Lang , Department of Plants and Soil Sciences, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS 39762, USA ABSTRACT This study experimentally investigates pieces of fossilized wood that include both mummified and petrified portions within the same pieces collected from the Red Hills Lignite Mine in Mississippi, USA. To the authors’ knowledge, having petrified and mummified regions within the same piece of wood has not been previously reported. Our study analyzes the chemical compositions, microstructures, and nanohardness to characterize the fossilized wood. The chemical analysis revealed that the composition of the mummified regions included mainly carbon, oxygen, and small amount of minerals indicating these regions were similar to currently growing wood, and the petrified regions included silicon and oxygen indicating these regions were petrified–in the same piece of wood! This chemical analysis verified the mummified/petrified wood regions in multiple pieces of wood. Micrographs showed that the mummified regions retained well-preserved wood cell structures, and the petrified regions retained recognizable plant structures. Based on the wood cell structures, we confirmed that the wood originated from a species of conifer. Nano-indentation results showed the nanohardness of the petrified region to be 4.57 ± 3.11 GPa and the mummified region to be 0.71 ± 0.39 GPa. These hardness results also confirm that the petrified regions and mummified regions were clearly different materials as the silicate region is known to be much harder than the carbon regions. With respect to the environmental condition that enabled petrification and mummification within the same pieces of wood, this evidence suggests that a heavy flood buried wood that was then covered by sediment resulting in anoxic conditions within a short time. Water from heavy rain receded to make xeric conditions while some remained causing petrification. KEY WORDS petrified wood, mummified wood, Mississippi embayment, Paleocene, Eocene Copyright 2018 Creation Science Fellowship, Inc., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA www.creationicc.org 238 INTRODUCTION Fossilized wood can provide opportunities for insight into geological history. Climatic changes can cause wood to petrify or mummify depending on the environmental conditions. Although petrification has been thoroughly investigated for years, the process is still not well understood. In theory, petrification occurs in two geological conditions: (1) when trees are buried by volcanic ash and (2) when trees are buried in fluvial sediments or floodplains with fine-grained mud (Mustoe 2003). In modern hot-springs, like those found in Japan and Yellow Stone National Park, wood specimens recently exposed to silica-laden water exhibited the beginning stages of petrification, confirming rapid mineralization ((Akahane et al. 2004; Leo and Barghoorn 1976). Many pieces of petrified wood discovered recently at the site of Mount St. Helens after its volcanic eruption in 1980 were mineralized rapidly thus petrifying the wood and was a similar process to the modern hot springs scenario where volcanic ash brought an elevated temperature Figure 1. The location where the specimens were collected in the Red Hills Lignite Mine, MS, USA (33 o N latitude). Left: The samples were from the ‘E seam,’ which is one of the available lignite seams in Mississippi. Right: A schematic of the stratigraphic profile (Jardine and Harrington, 2008) showing the E seam is 30 meters below the current surface as a part of what is called the Nanafalia formation of the Wilcox Group.