Peanut Wood — Kennedy Range, WA

Peanut wood from the Kennedy Range in Western Australia's Gascoyne region. It's Early Cretaceous driftwood, about 113 million years old, that was bored by shipworms (wood-eating marine clams) while it floated at sea. Once the wood sank, the borings filled with pale, radiolarian-rich sediment, which gives the stone its "peanut" pattern.

The wood was later petrified by silica in the Windalia Radiolarite, the same formation that produces mookaite.

Displayed Wet

50 × 55 mm, 95 g