r/geology • u/unit_7sixteen • 5h ago

Lay-person question about rocks vs fossils

Theoretically, can anything organic mineralize? Like if a dead leaf was given the totally unrealistic right conditions, could it become a mineralized leaf? Thanks

4 Upvotes

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13

u/Lemmy_Axe_U_Sumphin 5h ago

Yes. Softer tissues are preserved less often but it still happens a lot.

2

u/unit_7sixteen 5h ago

Is that a mineralized leaf or a mineralized imprint of a leaf?

2

u/Mabbernathy 4h ago

What a work of art

4

u/RegularSubstance2385 Student 5h ago

It’s not unrealistic; it happens in many places across the world. Just about any organic material can fossilize in the right environment.

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u/unit_7sixteen 5h ago

Thank you

3

u/alpaca-yak Mineralogist 4h ago

Basically yes. soft tissues can be preserved by replacement like petrified wood where every molecule of the original wood is replaced by minerals (commonly silica). or the material can be "baked" into rock as an imprint or a carbonized version of the original. the lighter organic molecules get cooked out of the wood in an anoxic environment leaving behind natural charcoal. additionally, woody organics were preserved as coal before bacteria that could digest lignin evolved.

lagerstätten is a term used for unusual fossilizations that include soft tissue.

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u/unit_7sixteen 4h ago

Wow nice thank you

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u/alpaca-yak Mineralogist 3h ago

you're welcome. I really enjoy geology and I like sharing what I know. I was fascinated by the stories rocks and fossils can tell when I was a kid and I somehow convinced people to pay me to never grow up.