PETRIFIED FOREST

It took nature to petrify these logs, knowing the coefficient of solubility of the mineral silica in water. It is very small, and, considering the volume of a given tree, an estimate can be made. The process would require a long, long, time. We have recognized the filling of a lowland, the petrifaction process, after which followed a lowering of the land, then mountain range development, and finally erosional results and its current potential.

No, the wood did not "turn to stone." The water from the original organic tree is gone; water constitutes as much as 90 per cent of some animal and plant bodies. Mineralized solutions penetrated the trees, and brought small supplies of oxygen. This permitted minute progress of wood decomposition and formed carbonic acid. Since the mineralized solution was alkaline, some of the minerals precipitated out within the logs. It is not difficult to reverse the petrifaction process in a crude manner. The minerals can be removed, tested, and examined.

There is a stratum in the Chinle formation which lies above the petrified wood horizon. This layer contains marine fossils. After the logs were petrified, the site sank below sea level and the ocean encroached. Then the Rocky Mountains began to develop on the east and the Sierras on the west. Onward and upward rose the wood-containing strata lying between the ranges. Erosion by wind and water was now at work, anxious to view the massive Triassic jewels. Only one more geological day is required for the completion of the task, but our time is much too brief to witness the finale of this leveling project.

Now at elevation 5,472 feet we see the logs broken in blocks of consistent lengths. It was the earth movements that fractured themthe earthquakes resulting from the uplift. We note that the trees are broken in equal or multiple-length sections. This is a physical and natural effect. Since earthquakes are simply manifestations of wave lengths and the agatized logs possess specific frequency of wave length, isn't it logical that some of the blocks should be equivalent and that harmonics would be responsible for the multiples?

The straight sheer break is characteristic of the mineral quartz-it is harder than almost any form of steel and more brittle than glass. There are only about 30 minerals harder than quartz, any of which can be used as abrasives in cutting and polishing petrified wood. The breaks occur at right angles to the trunks because the short axes or weak zones exist there the trees being long in proportion to diameters. Quartz, or petrified wood here has a specific gravity of 2.65 and a cubic foot weighs about 166 pounds.Practically all of the brilliant colors of the petrified wood and of the formation are caused by the presence of traces of oxides of iron, including the shades of red and even the greens. Manganese oxide, and occasionally carbon, is responsible for the blacks. It is thought that the color of amethyst crystals is the result of refraction of light. Opal contains some water which responds to the effects of light to make iridescence. Impurities are also responsible for some colors in this silicate.

There are petrified wood areas distributed all over the world. The quantities are not conspicuous nor the colors extraordinary, but it is apparent that petrifaction has occurred often since the advent of life upon the earth. Nature selected Arizona to demonstrate her utmost ability and here is administered a world's superlative example of the phenomenon. The rangers' paramount responsibility is to protect the wood; it must not be molested or removed by man; and secondly, the rangers are here to assist the visitors.

The fossils of the area include the phytosaur, "a bad dream of the Triassic period." Bones indicate that the phytosaur was about 18 feet long and probably weighed 1800 pounds. The modern crocodile seems to be the form living today which most resembles it.

Another peculiar beast whose bones are found in the petrified forest area was the stegocephalian. His closest relative remaining upon the earth is the salamander which in adulthood is only 12 inches long. "The bestwe can say about the stegocephalian is that he was in possession of more matter than mind since he was nine feet long and weighed nearly 600 pounds and had no brains to speak of. It was well perhaps that he was blessed with foresight, 'sidesight,' and 'topsight' as he possessed 150 per cent eyesight having three eyes, one in the middle of his forehead. Evolutionists would have us believe that the vestige of this third eye is known as the pineal body and is located today in the front part of the cerebellum in every human."

Then there was the anomodont, "one of the very first creatures that had sufficient energy and backbone to raise its belly from the mud and stand on all four legs. He was a large rhino-like reptile. In his veins flowed real red, warm blood, and all because he rose above the common earth that had sucked the heat from the bodies of his ancestors."

We have many fossil tracks in our research laboratory and some of them may have been made by an early form of dinosaur. If so, the tracks indicate that he was only the size of a cat at this stage in his evolution. He developed after the trees were petrified-he grew to mammoth size after the Triassic, through the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods and then he became extinct, perhaps because he was too large.

The administration of the monument is headed by Superintendent Thomas E. Whitcraft. The interpretive program tells the story of the Petrified Forest with the aid of the geological and paleontological Rainbow Forest Museum, of the Painted Desert Museum where modern Indian Arts and Crafts are displayed, and of the Puerco Archeological Exhibit showing the prehistoric culture which thrived here about 400 years before Columbus.

In 1941, a quarter of a million people visited the monument. The travel trend currently is 100 per cent more than it was in 1941.

You who have been here before, we are certain will return to study and observe further if possible. To you who have never taken advantage of your heritage, we say welcome! A visit to the monument is a travel treat.

In 1932 Petrified Forest National Monument was enlarged to include 50,000 acres of Painted Desert, an area of endless, shifting color, stretching out like a magic carpet. Over half million people are expected to visit Petrified Forest National Monument this travel year.