Petrified Forest and Painted Desert, Oct. 7

These 2 parks are the last of the National Parks we will visit on this trip.  So beautiful and so very different!  Everything is about climate here.  This high, dry grassland was once a vast floodplain crossed by many streams.  Tall conifer trees grew along the banks.  The trees, fell, and swollen streams washed them into adjacent floodplains.  A mix of silt, mud, and volcanic ash buried the logs.  This sediment cut off oxygen and slowed the logs decay.  Silica-laden groundwater seeped through the logs and replaced the original wood tissues with silica deposits.  Eventually the silica crystallized into quartz, and the logs were preserved as petrified wood.  Over the 225 million years since the trees lived, the continents moved to their present positions, and this region was uplifted.  As a result the climate changed, and the tropical environment became today's grassland.  Over time, wind and water wore away the rock layers and exposed fossilized ancient plants and animals. We found some wood that looked like jewels.  They were beautiful!
The Painted Desert!  What a picture!  It is an area of badlands that displays a variety of hues.  Covered by a soft layer of earth, the deserts colorful erosion effects were created over the eons by mineralized water flows and mineral deposits.  Every color is a different mineral.  It is almost as if an artist came into the lands and painted these beautiful hills.  A miracle!
We have had a wonderful time in these parks!  Aren't we all blessed that this country has the most beautiful parks in the world?  We are on our way home and will post when we get to some fun places.  Love you all, George and Sylvia