#petrifiedforest

Bosques Petrificados de Jaramillo National Park, Argentina

The petrified tree forest was a really special place. ‘Bosques Petrificados de Jaramillo National Park’ is the second largest petrified tree forest in the world, the trees are 150 million years old. Some of the remains are up to 2 metres in diameter and 30 metres in length and belonged to trees that were 100 meters tall. It reminded us that the human race is still so new in the history of the earth. We learnt about how the trees fell and became petrified, in a nutshell - volcanoes in the Andes erupted and covered the forest in ash, the weather was so extreme and the winds so strong they caused the trees to fall. The ash created an air tight seal therefore the wood does not decompose, however mineral rich water entered the trees and replaced the organic structure with silica and other minerals, thus creating petrified wood. We found this fascinating and we were humbled (and a little scared) to learn of the earth’s natural cycle of extreme weather conditions and the trail of destruction it leaves in it wake. 

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The painted hills of Blue Mesa badlands and petrified wood from Petrified Forest National Park #badlands #petrifiedforest #nationalparksroadtrip (at Petrified Forest National Park)
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