Day Trip: Petrified Forest National Park, AZ

SOUTHWESTERN USA
RS ROAD TRIP


August 26, 2017 (Day 19)
Day Trip: Petrified Forest National Park
Day Trip Miles: 67 / Total Trip Miles: 2,938

Today's Route

(Click on map to enlarge)

Petrified Forest National Park covers about 230 square miles encompassing semi-desert shrub steppe as well as highly eroded and colorful badlands. Averaging about 5,400 feet in elevation, the park has a dry windy climate with temperatures that vary from summer highs of about 100 °F. to winter lows well below freezing. The area now known as Petrified Forest National Park once consisted of a large river system with trees along the waterways. As the trees died naturally over many years, some floated downstream to form log jams. The various “forests” in the park are those log jams: Crystal Forest, Jasper Forest, etc. They were coniferous trees, tree ferns, and some gingkoes. The trees in the Blue, Jasper, and Crystal Forests were deposited around 218 million years ago. The  weather was hot  (mid-90s °F) as we explored the petrified forests.



PHOTOS
(Click on Photo for a Larger Image)

 The Battleship

 A large rock formation, called The Battleship, sits just west of the Crystal Forest and is surrounded by remains of the petrified forest.

{Photo on flickr}

Crystal Forest

Logs are strewn through the valley, surrounded by bluffs.  The desert is the result of years of volcanic activity, floods and earthquakes.

{Photo on flickr}

Petrified Wood I
Petrified wood consists mostly of silica (quartz) from volcanic ash.  The logs are very hard (7.8 on the 1-to-10 Mohs hardness scale), but brittle. For example, Diamonds are rated at 10.  Minerals, such as iron, manganese, and carbon add the rainbow of colors. After petrification, but while the logs were still encased in matrix rock, the logs cracked under stress. As the logs eroded out from gravity and ice wedging the cracks widened and segments separated. Silica naturally breaks on a clean angle as if cut with a saw. Location: Crystal Forest.

{Photo on flickr}

Jasper Forest View Point

Completion of the nearby railway line in 1882 provided early travelers, and relic hunters easy access to Jasper Forest. Many tons of Jasper Forest's petrified wood were carried away, piece by piece, in railway cars. Outrage against Jasper Forest's devastation contributed to the creation of the Petrified Forest as a National Monument in 1906.

{Photo on flickr}

Blue Mesa View Point

 Blue Mesa consists of thick deposits of grey, blue, purple, and green mudstone and sandstone.

{Photo on flickr}

Petrified Wood II

Location: Across highway from Crystal Forest.

{Photo on flickr}

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Tomorrow
Mary and I drive to the southern rim of Grand Canyon National Park. 

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Copyright
These photographs are the property of Leon Jackson, and are protected by copyright laws. Photographs may not to be downloaded or reproduced in any way without the written permission of Leon Jackson. © 2017 Leon Jackson. All Rights Reserved.

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