October 10, 2009
The photo above showing a handsome young lad (my grandson Dylan) standing atop an ancient fallen tree was taken at the Petrified Forest National Park in Holbrook, Arizona. This “forest” has what could be the largest concentration of petrified wood in the world. The original tree stand grew in the Triassic Period -- 240 million years ago. Petrifaction of these trees occurred when they washed into a flood plain and were then covered with a veneer of silt and volcanic ash, in some places 1,000 ft (305 m) deep. Over time, the silica and minerals of this veneer leeched into the trees, replacing the cellulose with mineral deposits. Photo taken on April 2, 2007.