The layman’s definition of this word is simply put, to be frozen in fear. To be in a state of shock, such that one is unable to move.
And this is something we have seen several times over the course of the story. Such as the reaction to the match ups during the Grand Bout.
While it would be fun to make an entire collection of the characters expressions over the course of the story, this post is meant to take a more serious outlook on petrification. Since it is pretty much the crux of the story. It is where everything begins, and similarly, comes to an end, as far as the world of Dr Stone is concerned.
Petrification (Or petrifaction, depending on what word you want to go with) refers to the process through which organic matter exposed to minerals over a long period turns to a stony substance. Organic matter refers to any living organism that contains carbon in it. Containing carbon means that these specimens are capable of decomposing after death, rather than staying durable for a long period of time (For example, plastic). Therefore, both plants and animals count as organic matter.
With petrification, the result can be one of two things:
-The first result is the organic matter remaining.
-The second result is the organic matter disappearing, but the shape of the organism is preserved/retained, in a way.
Several real-world examples fall under any of these two categories. Dating back as far as the Middle Ages, Egyptians practiced the art of mummification. Falling under the first type of result, a deceased body is preserved, becoming a stone-like husk at the end. Though to make sure that this process worked, all the organs inside the body had to be removed. The cavities would then be filled with chemicals, and then the body was covered in salt to desiccate it.
A lesser-known form of body preservation was bog bodies. Here, in contrast to mummies, all the body’s organs were left intact at the time of death. The body collapsed into a bog, where the acidic nature of the bog would prevent the body’s skin from decomposing. The acid in this case is not potent enough to completely dissolve the body (Like with Sulphuric acid and Nitric acid). The Ph is around the same level as vinegar. Therefore, parts of the human body are preserved much like fruits are when you pickle them. The skin and inner organs remain intact, but the bones end up dissolving away. Though of course, this all depends on the bog itself.
For the sake of clarity, think of a bog like a marsh/swamp. A wetland that accumulates deposits of dead plant material.
Fossilization is also another known form of petrification. It might also be the most widely known method, considering the history of dinosaurs. Human fossils have also been discovered in several parts of the world, remains that have further promoted the study of evolution as a scientific concept. Even though none of the original organism is there, they are still ‘frozen in time’ enough that we can study the shape of the fossil.
Compared to both mummification and bog bodies, this is a process that occurs mostly underground. The soft tissue that forms the external parts of the body all degrade away, leaving behind the boney parts (Teeth and bones). Minerals then seep into the gaps where the body originally was, forming a hard cast that ends up keeping the internal body parts intact.
Petrification is not a process exclusive to human bodies. As mentioned earlier in the post, it applies to all organic matter, plants included. More specifically, trees.
As the wood's organic tissues slowly break down, the resulting voids in the tree are filled with minerals such as silica — the stuff of rocks. Over millions of years, these minerals crystallize within the wood's cellular structure forming the stone-like material known as petrified wood. The wood, no longer wood at this point, takes on the hues of the minerals that fill its pores. Compared to mummies where the innards are removed manually, with trees, this process occurs naturally. It is also not a given that this process will work on every tree. But where it works, the result is referred to as petrified wood.
Such a phenomenon has been unearthed in the Arctic. Dating as far back as 2 million years. There have been entire forests that have been discovered, all the trees within petrified.
There are also cases of petrification in the modern world. A lake exists in Tanzania, called Lake Natron. And when you fall into it, well, this happens:
As you can see in the video, some of the petrified creatures are birds. Sound familiar?
An Italian scientist named Girolamo Segato explored the possibility of turning human bodies into stone. His research led him to a point where he was able to create instant fossils. Though he did come up with several methods to preserve the human body.
Within the Dr Stone series, the petrification process takes a slightly different approach. From the several real-world examples we have touched on above, you can see that there is a key element needed for the petrification process to be successful. That is time. This tends to be a long duration usually, ranging from thousands to millions of years. In Dr Stone, the petrification process is instant. It takes no less than a few seconds to happen once your body has been enveloped by the beam.
It is possible to prevent the (initial) petrification from overwhelming your body though. This can be achieved through two methods:
a) Severing the affected body parts and getting away from the beam. This was witnessed in Treasure Island, in the cases of Amaryllis and Matsukaze’s master.
b) Dousing revival fluid on yourself just before the wave fully petrifies you. Senku used this method to outwit Ibara’s island-wide petrification attack.
Senku also suggests jumping into a lake of nitric acid, but this is obviously a suicidal suggestion. Seriously, do not even think of it.
These methods, while proving effective, sadly, were not discovered until quite later in the series. For the very first global petrification wave, there was no evading it. Everyone on the planet was caught unawares, the only survivors being the people who were in space at the time.
The initial petrification wave in Dr Stone was not broken after until 3,700 years. That is a period of 3 millennia. A ridiculously long amount of time.
From this development in the story, we can spot another difference with real world petrification. Normally the process goes:
Time elapses>Product is slowly preserved in stone/mineral casing.
But with Dr Stone, it is:
Product is quickly covered in stone>Time elapses.
Sounds a bit fantastical, but then, we wouldn’t be a fictional story if we were ground in realism, would we be?
Comments