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Show Petrified Forest Reaches Back Millions Of Years Monuments to ancient age, the petrified logs of Escalante Petrified Forest State Park were once living trees which, in death, were transformed cell by cell millions of years ago into brightly colored stone. No Michaelangelo could begin to duplicate nature's craftsmanship in forming these specimens. Where the sculptor can only transform the exterior of his marble to resemble reality, nature has replaced each cell of the tree with minerals that hard-1 hard-1 ened over the years, making the ' once-living matter its own tombstone, tomb-stone, as magnificent in death as it . was in life. Even the annual growth rings are countable on some specimens and knotholes visible on others. Working Work-ing her miracle in this colorful part of Garfield County, nature has left behind some of the finest examples of petrified wood to be found in the nation. Escalante Petrified Forest lies 50 miles east of Bryce Canyon National Na-tional Park on Utah Highway 12, just one mile outside the quiet ranching town of Escalante. In the midst of spectacular color, . Summer 1989 soothing serenity, and historical significance of the petrified forest, visitors enjoy the 22 campsites with hot showers, flush toilets and the fishing and water skiing on Wide Hallow Reservoir with its newly constructed boat ramp. The park is still in its beginning stages with new improvements being be-ing added each year, its full potential poten-tial not yet realized. A self-guiding trail winds about a mile where signs are keyed to a trail guide available at park headquarters. As professionals begin to study the fossil remains in detail, it is expected the paleleobotanists will ultimately identify fossil remains of more than 105 kinds of terrestrial animals and plants. The visitor is constantly reminded re-minded that all fossil remains must not be removed, but collectors can buy petrified wood samples in Escalante Es-calante from pieces found on private land. All the petrified logs in the park seem to have been trimmed of their branches and scientists who have studied them feel that is exactly Us what happened. They reason that the logs were carried downstream and, as they rolled, the branches were moved. They then become waterlogged and settled in the bottom of a stream bed or inland sea where sediment sed-iment gradually covered them. As gravel covered the logs, it locked out oxygen, stopping the decaying process. As the wood dissolved away, it was replaced by crystals of silicon dioxide which took the place of the original wood, cell by cell, forming the stone masterpieces seen today. - Scientists say sectioned appearance appear-ance of any of these logs is due to vertical cracks formed as the Great Basin Plateau uplifted over the years. As cracks' were exposed, water entered and freezing water enlarged the fractures until the log was cut into sections. Park visitors most often ask about the rainbow of colors found in the petrified logs. Park Superintendent Superin-tendent Tom Shakcspear explains that the major crystal replacing the wood is white silicon dioxide, and other colors have been caused by irfield County News Summer Vacati I ' , . . . . ' Excellent recreational facilities at Escalante Petrified Forest include campground with hot showers, a reservoir for skiing or fishing and some of the most unusual and beautiful petrified wood to be found anywhere. Both educational and fun. different impurities in solution with the silicon dioxide at the time the wood was replaced. The reds, browns and yellows were caused primarily by iron compounds where the purples and dark blues were made by manganese and other min-. on Guide erals. Visitors to Escalante Petrified Forest will enjoy becoming acquainted ac-quainted with the unusual and unique park where Paiute Indians camped for the summer near the turn of the century. 7-D |