Painted Desert
Today Wanda and I went to the Painted Desert/Petrified Forest. I initially was confused as to why the two were linked on all the literature that we saw for one or the other but our visit clarified it for us. The two are separated only by Interstate 40 and the painted desert is a result of erosion of the petrified forest. The beautiful pastel shades of the desert that you see is a result of the erosion of the petrified logs and the deposits that entrap them.
Painted Desert
Route 66
Part of the road that leads through the Park is the old Route 66 or as it is sometimes called ``The Mother Road``. Route 66, the first road to stretch from Chicago to Los Angeles was established in November 11 1926 and stretched some 2448 miles (3940 km).
Petrified Forest
The petrified forest is one of the largest deposits of petrified wood in the world. Petrified wood was formed when the large conifer trees fell and streams washed them into adjacent flood plains. A mixture of silt, mud and volcanic ash buried the logs. The sediment cut off oxygen and slowed the logs decay. Silica-laded ground water seeped through the logs and replaced the original wood tissue with silica. Eventually the silica crystalized into quartz.
Erosion is gradually uncovering the petrified trees, revealing some very colorful samples of petrified trees.
Many logs were destroyed to attain the amethyst crystals in them.
The wood in the park is now protected but much damage was done before the protection was put in place. You can now buy petrified wood that has been found outside the park and is for sale by local vendors.
Agate Bridge
This "bridge" was formed when flood waters washed away the rock and sediment under the petrified log forming a gully. The petrified log being much harder than the softer sandstone around it remained. In 1911 people fearing its collapse reinforced it with pillars that were replaced in 1917 by the concrete that you see today. As is with park policy today it would have been left to take nature's course and no further efforts will be made to reinforce it.
Petrified Log
The size of some of the fallen trees help you to imagine the large Triassic trees that survived during the time that dinosaurs roamed the earth.
Notice the amazing colours in this log.
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