
Stop 1: How Wood Becomes Petrified
A log is petrified when all its original plant material is infilled or replaced by minerals.
Approximately 216 million years ago, these trees died and fell into a river. They were buried beneath layers of silt, mud, sand, and volcanic ash, which protected them from decay. Mineral-laden ground water percolated through the layers, carrying silica from the volcanic ash and other trace minerals. The absorbent dead wood became saturated with these minerals. The silica, or quartz, crystals slowly bonded with the cells of the tree replicating the organic material in perfect detail. Eventually, silica replaced the wood material.
Now this petrified forest is not made of trees, but of stone.
A log is petrified when all its original plant material is infilled or replaced by minerals.
Approximately 216 million years ago, these trees died and fell into a river. They were buried beneath layers of silt, mud, sand, and volcanic ash, which protected them from decay. Mineral-laden ground water percolated through the layers, carrying silica from the volcanic ash and other trace minerals. The absorbent dead wood became saturated with these minerals. The silica, or quartz, crystals slowly bonded with the cells of the tree replicating the organic material in perfect detail. Eventually, silica replaced the wood material.
Now this petrified forest is not made of trees, but of stone.
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Itineraries across USA

Acadia

Arches National Park

Badlands

Big Bend

Biscayne

Black Canyon Of The Gunnison

Bryce Canyon

Canyonlands

Capitol Reef

Carlsbad Caverns

Channel Islands

Congaree

Crater Lake

Cuyahoga Valley

Death Valley

Dry Tortugas

Everglades

Gateway Arch

Glacier

Grand Canyon

Grand Teton

Great Basin

Great Smoky Mountains

Guadalupe Mountains

Haleakalā

Hawaiʻi Volcanoes

Hot Springs

Indiana Dunes

Isle Royale

Joshua Tree

Kenai Fjords

Kobuk Valley

Lassen Volcanic

Mammoth Cave

Mesa Verde

Mount Rainier

North Cascades

Olympic

Petrified Forest

Pinnacles

Rocky Mountain

Saguaro

Shenandoah

Theodore Roosevelt

Virgin Islands

Voyageurs

White Sands

Wind Cave

Yellowstone

Yosemite

Zion