The Petrified Forest
On Aug. 21, my 68-yearold brother breathed his last. He had battled cancer for a number of years and finally went “home.” Our daughters joined us as we drove to San Diego for his celebration of life, and we headed west on I-40.
As we approached the Petrified Forest area east of Flagstaff, Rebecca said, “I’ve never been through the Petrified Forest or the Painted Desert. Do we have time to see them?” (Next week we’ll talk about the Painted Desert.)
“Good timing, Rebecca. You spoke up one mile before I reached the I-40 exit. Thank you. Do we have time? Yes, we do if we don’t mind reaching Phoenix after 10 p.m. Let’s vote.” It was unanimous, and I amended our travel plan.
The term petrified wood is somewhat of a misnomer because what we see is not wood. Instead, it’s an amazing complex mineral formation that slowly displaced the woody material, but the mineral content kept the same shape and ring-structure of the original cellulose material. This process of fossilization or petrification can take place only in mineral-rich water, or in water-saturated mud. It is usually mud containing dissolved volcanic ash. This brings in volcanic activity. (I wrote about Mt. St. Helens on Oct. 3, 2018.)
Heat, pressure, broken or reshaped geological structure, time and suddenlyreleased geological pressure are all involved in this catastrophically-amazing thing called a volcano.
The basis of the petrification process is the most widely-used solvent in the world: H2O — water. When trees — whole trees, branches, roots — fall into or are covered with volcanic mud saturated with mineral-laden water, air cannot reach the wood to decay it. But the water saturates the wood. As the wood begins to break down, a weak acid is released which causes minerals to precipitate out of the water. These minerals are basically calcite, pyrite, silica and many types of opal material.
The density and molecular structure of the precipitated material produces the variety of colors in the petrified wood. Wood can weigh from 25 to 85 pounds per cubic foot, but petrified wood weighs between 160 to 200 pounds per cubic foot. (A gallon of milk is about 1/5 of a cubic foot, and 5 gallons weighs 41 pounds.)
When I was a child, we were taught in school that petrification took multiplethousands of years, but we now know that it can take place in as few as 50 years.
I took Exit 311 and we spent the next three or four hours touring this beautiful part of Arizona.
Most of the logs were laying on the ground or rolled into gullies. But some long logs were suspended on mud formations called Chinle Formations. As the solidified mud (Chinle Formation) is eroded, the brittle log falls, breaks up, and the pieces roll to convenient locations. Rebecca was awestruck at the petrified wood laying all around 230 square miles of this former magnificent tropical forest.
The spectacular Crystal Forest is located at the south end of the park. The south entrance/exit is on highway 180 about 19 miles southeast of Holbrook, Ariz. We visited Jim Gray’s store in Holbrook, and the girls bought some souvenirs. I recommend a visit to Jim Gray’s, and you won’t be disappointed.
But not all the trees were petrified. The same cataclysmic forces that produced these amazing specimens of petrified beauty destroyed most of the trees. That brings to mind what heat and pressure can do to people and relationships.
Misunderstandings, broken promises, rejection, anger and more, can deeply wound a person, or they can produce a sensitive individual. We can become bitter, brittle, and battleoriented, or we can become compassionate, caring, and concerned for others. As the trees either absorbed the impact and morphed into a thing of beauty, or broke up and decayed, we humans can ask the Lord to enable us to withstand the pressure and become like Christ, or we can react like those who hurt us and become part of the problem.
As we ignore dead trees but admire the beauty of petrified wood, folks will shun bitter people, but gravitate toward joyful people. Put into practice Romans 12:2 which instructs us to stop acting like and thinking like the destructive world, but become more like Christ by changing the way we think.
Also, Philippians 4:8 tells us to fix our thoughts on what is true, honorable, right, lovely, admirable, and worthy of praise.
Do that, and have a blessed day.