Petrified Forest – Painted Desert NP

: Petrified Forest NP, located in northeastern Arizona, is 146 square miles with the Navajo Nation bordering it on the north & northeast

: The Petrified Forest is known for its fossils of fallen trees that lived in the Late Triassic period, about 225 million years ago

: Paleontologists have been unearthing and studying the park’s fossils since the early 20th century

: Logs of petrified wood on the painted mounds of the Forest & Desert

: Gray & red colored bands across the landform are typical of most geologic features in as you travel the Petrified Forest & Painted Desert.

: Great view of the Badlands of the Petrified Forest & Painted Desert

: Sediments containing the fossil logs for which the park is named are part of the Chinle Formation

: About half of the park is designated as wilderness & wildlife includes pronghorns, coyotes, bobcats, black-tailed jackrabbits, prairie dogs & foxes

: View of the road ahead of us

: Colorful formations as we traveled through the Park

: Petrified Forest’s Logs

: Most logs in the park retained their original external form during petrification but lost their internal structure.

: The internal structure of one of the petrified logs

: At least nine species of fossil trees from the park have been identified; all are extinct

: The Painted Desert within the Petrified Forest is a desert of badlands extending from Grand Canyon NP into the Petrified Forest NP.

: The desert is composed of layers of easily erodible siltstone, mudstone, and shale of the Triassic Chinle Formation.

: Rock layers contain abundant iron and manganese compounds which provide the pigments for the various colors of the region

: Exposed to wind and water, the Chinle usually erodes into badlands made up of cliffs, gullies, mesas, buttes, and rounded hills.

: Wind, water and soil erosion continue to change the face of the landscape by shifting sediment and exposing layers of the Chinle Formation

: It consists of a variety of sedimentary rocks including beds of soft, fine-grained mudstone, siltstone, and claystone as well as harder sandstone & limestone

: Painted Desert Visitor’s Center

: Layers of silicic volcanic ash occur in the Chinle and provide the silica for the petrified logs of the area.

: Many parts of the region are only accessible by foot or unpaved road

: Richly colored desert along with its volcanic ash as you travel the road through the Painted Desert

: Their are many stops along the road providing spectacular views such as these

: A wonderful & beautiful blue sky brought out the colors of the desert even more.

: “The Painted Desert” – Land of many colors – Well Worth the Visit!!!

Comments are closed.