Photograph as originally submitted to this page in the Historical Marker Database www.HMdb.org. Click on photo to resize in browser. Scroll down to see metadata.

Photographer: Barry Swackhamer
Taken: March 29, 2017
Caption: Petrified Tree
Additional Description: These coastal redwood fell like matchsticks in the direction of flow from a volcanic explosion. The source of the blast came from behind the present day Mt. St Helens, seven miles to the northeast. A blanket of volcanic ash covered these trees for several million years. The ground during this time became saturated with water containing dissolved silicon and oxygen or silica from the overlying ash. The molecules of silica replaced the molecules of the wood, turning wood to solid silica, quartz and stone.
Submitted: April 7, 2017, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California.
Database Locator Identification Number: p379360
File Size: 3.698 Megabytes

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