The vibrant colors you see in these petrified logs come from quartz, manganese oxides, and iron oxides. It's hard to believe that millions of years ago, this semi-arid environment was home to lush swamplands filled with forests and now-extince reptiles.
Petrified Forest National Park is counted among other national parks famous for their geology. Where else can you walk along a trail and see colorful petrified logs - reminders of a much different environment millions of years ago - everywhere you look?
Although it's hot and dry now, millions of years ago, the land of Petrified Forest National Park was lush and wet, filled with swamps and marshes and trees. The trees died and fell into the marshes where they were quickly covered with sediment and their organics were replaced with mainly quartz and brightly-colored from iron, carbon, and manganese. Look closely at a petrified log and you can still see the tree rings.
The Painted Desert portion of Petrified Forest National Park is located right off of Interstate 40, in Arizona.
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