What is a Petrified Forest?
A petrified forest is a forest made out of fossil or petrified wood. In other words, a petrified forest is a forest made out of stone trees. Petrification is a natural process that occurs when all organic material in a tree dies and is replaced by a combination of quartz, copper, iron, and other minerals. Once the process has been finalized, petrified wood is no longer considered wood, and it becomes classified as a stone. In fact, petrified wood is Washington’s official stone. All petrified forests are national monuments and are carefully protected. A petrified forest becomes such over the course of million of years. Some of the world’s largest petrified forests are an estimated 100 million years old. Volcanic ash is sometimes a key step in the process of petrification. In fact, it’s not uncommon for a petrified forest to have been covered by mud made out partially by volcanic ash at some time. Volcanic ash produces a chemical reaction in the wood, which in turn accelerates the proces
When you hear of a “petrified forest,” you might think of trees shaking in the wind, the way a person shakes when he’s frightened, or “petrified.” Actually, this word comes from a term that means “stone.” A petrified tree is really a tree that has been turned into stone! The largest collection of petrified trees in the United St
South Dakota has an abundance of Different Fossil Species The terrain today is not the same as it was during the Cretaceous Period During the early Cretaceous Period , the entire North American continent was located much farther south. The area, now called South Dakota, was a few degrees to the south of our present latitude and was much closer to sea level. Also, at that time, there were no Rocky Mountains. The combined effects of these geographical differences resulted in an entirely different climate and air mass circulation patterns. Apparently, during the Cretaceous Period , what is now South Dakota experienced higher average temperatures and greater precipitation than occur here today. Over the great expanse of geologic time, the North American plate acted as a huge barge, carrying the fallen trees that were buried under sediments. As the land mass gradually moved north and west, petrifaction of the trees occurred. http://www.northern.edu/natsource/earth/Petrif1.htm Don’t forget t
