As you walk along this manicured nature trail, you see logs scattered
along the forest floor. What makes
these logs different is that they were once wood 36 million years ago and over
time the cells of the wood were replaced by minerals. You can see the markings where bark had been
on the outside, and can almost count the tree rings on the ends. Some of them were rotted out in the
middle. Every single one of them is made
of stone. They are petrified wood.
Scientists believe that during the Oligocene Epoch these
logs were swept downstream as driftwood by a mighty river and got caught up
together in a log jam. The river
continued to flow, bringing more giant logs and piling layers and layers of
sand and silt on top of them. The soils
protected the wood from decay and slowly minerals infiltrated the wood, turning
them to stone.
The petrified wood stayed buried until erosion uncovered
them. The first documented sighting of
the petrified wood here was in 1854. The area
was a “Badlands” similar to what we visited in South Dakota last summer. By the 1930s more logs had been uncovered and
people started visiting this odd spot.
The soils have eroded down to a gentle forest floor with hills and
cliffs. Wind and rain continue to uncover
more logs. In fact, efforts to dig a
deep water well nearby ran into a piece of petrified wood 75 feet down. So, it is very likely that there are more
logs that have not been uncovered yet.
The Mississippi Petrified Forest is privately owned and
developed. The Forest was designated a
Registered National Natural Landmark in 1966.
It is the only known petrified forest east of the Rocky Mountains. The Mississippi Petrified Forest is in the
little town of Flora, MS a few miles north and west of Jackson.
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| Perhaps more petrified wood lies buried inside these cliffs... |
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| Looks like wood... |
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