SOUTHWEST TRIP
2000
Petrified Forest

We visited the Petrified Forest National Monument. Petrified trees occur when the tree (either standing or fallen) is covered with mud and then ash (typically volcanic). Over a long period of time the cellulose is replaced by silica in the form of quartz, essentially molecule by molecule. Hence, the petrified logs (and trees) we see are essentially quartz, but in the exact form and shape of the tree itself. Here are two pages of photos from the Petrified Forest National Monument.

These remnants of petrified trees are a few hundred million years old.

This was a rather large tree.
This log appears similar to a Sequoia or Redwood.

The colors in the quartz are caused by other elements and are actually quite beautiful.
When polished these logs are like jewels.

The trees must have been quite brittle - they always seem to break up into the log-like segments.
As an aside, we saw this tour bus (used by Europeans to tour the USA) in the parking lot. It sleeps 25 in the small capsule-like rooms.

NEXT: Petrified Forest - Page 2
(There are 2 pages of pictures from Petrified Forest)
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You can jump to other pages of this trip with the links below:

Yosemite	Bristlecone Pine	Zion	Lake Havasu	Monument Valley
Valley of Gods	Natural Bridges	Mexican Hat	Hovensweep	Durango
Taos Pueblo	Taos	Rancho de Taos	Santa Fe	Hubbell
Canyon de Chelly	Petrified Forest	Sedona	Montezuma	Tuzigoot

RETURN to Steve's Airstream Travels Page

This was a rather large tree.	This log appears similar to a Sequoia or Redwood.
The colors in the quartz are caused by other elements and are actually quite beautiful.	When polished these logs are like jewels.
The trees must have been quite brittle - they always seem to break up into the log-like segments.	As an aside, we saw this tour bus (used by Europeans to tour the USA) in the parking lot. It sleeps 25 in the small capsule-like rooms.

SOUTHWEST TRIP2000Petrified Forest

SOUTHWEST TRIP
2000
Petrified Forest