Petrified Trees

[Secular Sanity]

I was folding laundry yesterday. It’s something that I hate doing, so I usually listen to a lecture of some sort. The day before, I explored my friend’s property more thoroughly. The large rocks on the property definitely look like a giant petrified redwood or sequoia. So, I decided to listened to a lecture about the petrification process.

There’s a large peak nearby but not all peaks are formed through volcanism. I couldn’t find any history connected to this peak or any other nearby inactive volcanos. The petrified forest in Sonoma County big claim to fame is that it has the world’s largest petrified tees.

If this is one, it’s way bigger. Maybe 12 to 14-foot-wide and it looks like there are several others nearby. I got excited after listening to the lecture and suggested that we find someone to send a sample to. I found a paleobotanist at nearby university, sent my friend her email address and told her what to say. She said that she responded within 15 minutes and was really interested and excited. She wants to come out here during spring break.  My friend was thrilled.

It will be interesting to find out if it is a petrified tree, what type of tree it is, how old the tree was when it was petrified, and if it was volcanically formed. I was also wondering, though, do you think she’d be able to tell us when it was petrified? In other words, are they able to tell when the eruption might have occurred just by looking at a sample?

[C C]

[...] I was also wondering, though, do you think she’d be able to tell us when it was petrified? In other words, are they able to tell when the eruption might have occurred just by looking at a sample?

She might be able to make a crude guestimate, if she researches the geological history of that area or is already familiar with its record of upheavals. Assuming the "wood" is well over 60,000 years old (i.e., millions) like some familiar petrified wood of the state.

Don't know why I'm jumping to that conclusion, though, other than due to formation age of neighborhood ranges. Might have been significant water in that spot within past tens of thousands of years, sediment accumulating that that way before exposed again.

[confused2]

Some years ago I was climbing on some rocks and I saw a man with a thing. I asked him what he was doing with that there thing and he said he was measuring [something] to find out how old the rocks were. I asked him how old the rocks were and he said 120 million years. You need one of those things.

[Zinjanthropos]

It will be interesting to find out if it is a petrified tree, what type of tree it is, how old the tree was when it was petrified, and if it was volcanically formed. 

It would be interesting to note if most petrified trees in the area show more of a specific direction in which they fell. I'm thinking the K-T boundary asteroid event and resultant shock wave. It would be cool if they are all around 65-66 million years old and show evidence of the asteroid hit. Probably a lot of volcanic action then also.

If you're a fossil lover then make the pilgrimage to Drumheller Alberta, home of the Royal Tyrell Museum, to view some spectacular local fossil finds. Right in the heart of dinosaur country. While there you are allowed to walk the grounds freely but not allowed to take fossils home. I went with my brother, a geologist from Calgary, and during our tour outside I remember saying some dead trees & stumps look like rocks.  Imagine my surprise when I got closer to them and finding out they were petrified. Helps to go with a trained geologist as we found many fossils that day, including bone fragments. Very good time.

[Secular Sanity]

Some years ago I was climbing on some rocks and I saw a man with a thing. I asked him what he was doing with that there thing and he said he was measuring [something] to find out how old the rocks were. I asked him how old the rocks were and he said 120 million years.  You need one of those things.

Well, I hope she brings one of those things.

Good luck with the new house. With my boys gone, I'm fantasying about downsizing to a cute little cottage. I've never lived in house that I haven't designed, but I don't know if I'd be willing to go through that headache again, not to mention the rising cost of building, materials, permits, etc.

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It will be interesting to find out if it is a petrified tree, what type of tree it is, how old the tree was when it was petrified, and if it was volcanically formed. 

It would be interesting to note if most petrified trees in the area show more of a specific direction in which they fell. I'm thinking the K-T boundary asteroid event and resultant shock wave. It would be cool if they are all around 65-66 million years old and show evidence of the asteroid hit. Probably a lot of volcanic action then also.

If you're a fossil lover then make the pilgrimage to Drumheller Alberta, home of the Royal Tyrell Museum, to view some spectacular local fossil finds. Right in the heart of dinosaur country. While there you are allowed to walk the grounds freely but not allowed to take fossils home. I went with my brother, a geologist from Calgary, and during our tour outside I remember saying some dead trees & stumps look like rocks.  Imagine my surprise when I got closer to them and finding out they were petrified. Helps to go with a trained geologist as we found many fossils that day, including bone fragments. Very good time.

Very cool, Zinman. I was hiking all the waterfall trails in Oregon and ran into a geologist. His explanation on the formation of basalt columns reminded me of the Rayleigh-Benard Convection Cells.

[confused2]

https://www.radioactivity.eu.com/site/pa...ium_40.htm

The very slow decay of potassium 40 into argon are highly useful for dating rocks, such as lava, whose age is between a million and a billion years. The decay of potassium into argon produces a gaseous atom which is trapped at the time of the crystallization of lava. The atom can escape when the lava is still liquid, but not after solidification. At that moment, the rock contains a certain amount of potassium but no argon. With time and the potassium 40 disintegrations, the gaseous argon atoms accumulate very slowly in the lava where they are trapped. Measuring the amount of argon 40 formed since the solidification of the lava allows for an accurate measure of the rock age.

A somple should be suffice.

[Secular Sanity]

https://www.radioactivity.eu.com/site/pa...ium_40.htm

The very slow decay of potassium 40 into argon are highly useful for dating rocks, such as lava, whose age is between a million and a billion years. The decay of potassium into argon produces a gaseous atom which is trapped at the time of the crystallization of lava. The atom can escape when the lava is still liquid, but not after solidification. At that moment, the rock contains a certain amount of potassium but no argon. With time and the potassium 40 disintegrations, the gaseous argon atoms accumulate very slowly in the lava where they are trapped. Measuring the amount of argon 40 formed since the solidification of the lava allows for an accurate measure of the rock age.

A somple should be suffice.

Oh, right on! I think she said that she's coming around March 23rd. This should be fun. I'll let you know the outcome.

Thanks, C2!

Much obliged!

[Zinjanthropos]

Living in Niagara doesn't give us a chance of finding big fossils. It's all limestone here so we find lots of ancient marine fossils. Whenever I come across them I can't help but think of how recent the human species is when compared to the age of rocks.

[Secular Sanity]

I started second guessing myself. I would have been so embarrassed if she made the trip and it turned out not to be a petrified tree. I called my girlfriend and told her my concerns and had her take a few photos to send to her. We didn’t hear back from her until yesterday. She said that the campus is closed and she’d like to postpone her trip until later in the spring when she knows more about what the situation with this virus will be in regards to the campus policies in managing her students and employees. She did say that from the images that she sent it sure looks like what she has is a petrified tree(s). She said that in the meantime, she’ll gather as much geological information and all the UCMP fossil records in our area. She’s excited that we contacted her and so am I because that’s really what I was really interested in…the history of the peak.