Arizona's Petrified Forest

Took a road trip a few years ago and ended up going through the Petrified Forest in Arizona. What a place! Never saw any pictures of it before, and had a preconceived notion that there would be upright fossilized trees. Wrong about that, they're all flat but that didn't matter as the famed Arizona Rainbow Petrified Wood was abundant.

.

The Significance of Arizona's Petrified Wood

Arizona's petrified wood is not just visually stunning; it also provides critical scientific insights. These fossilized remnants reveal information about the types of vegetation that existed millions of years ago. Studies indicate that during the Triassic period, some tree species like Araucarioxylon thrived in warm, swampy environments. Paleobotanists examine these specimens to understand climate changes and ecological shifts over. To a curator of mineral specimens like myself, its a great material as it is hard, and polishes well.

Go visit this park if you have the chance, it's well worth it. So is the Painted Desert, and the Meteor Crater National Monument nearer to Sedona.

P.S. Don't Forget you can be "Standing on the Corner in Windslow Arizona" on the way to the Meteor Crater.