The Lost Petrified Forests of Savannah, Tennessee

The Lost Petrified Forests of Savannah, Tennessee. . These two large rocks are "petrified logs" found in the Savannah area. Paleontologists refer to them as being "permineralized", meaning that after the trees were buried, groundwater added ("per-") minerals in them that fossilized them., Wood grain is easily visible in each specimen. Notice the wood grains differ, hence different tree species. The smaller tree has a regular liner wood grain, but the larger has a more contorted growth pattern., The smaller specimen in the previous photo was collected at the landfill north of Savannah. This photograph shows another log that is still "in place". Notice the right side of the log is permineralized to rock, but the left is fibrous, like modern wood. This "fresh" nature is unusual for fossil wood and is now under study., This log has been taken to the University of Tennessee at Martin for study. Microscope "thin-sections" will be used to identify the wood grain and determine the type of trees, which will shed valuable information on the environments and climate in the Savannah area., Each log represents a different geologic time period. The smaller was found in Cretaceous "Dinosaur Time" deposits (~75 million years old), while the larger was reworked into younger gravel deposits from an earlier Tennessee River (~2 million years old)., Paleogeographic maps showing our location and sea level during Cretaceous Sea Level High (A) 85 million years ago, (B) Eocene 30 million years ago, and (C) "Ice Age" sea level 2 million years ago.