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Stumps of Stone:
These fossilized tree stumps are remnants of an ancient catastrophe. In the late Eocene Epoch, about 34 million years ago, the Florissant valley was buried by eruptions from a cluster of volcanoes known as the Guffey volcanic center. Huge volcanic mudflows spread into this forested valley with great speed, destroying all but the largest trees.
The bases of giant redwoods, like the one in front of you, were buried in place in 15 feet of mud. The trees died and the unburied portions fell over and rotted away. Castings of volcanic mud created the special conditions that turned the buried stumps into stone.
Wood becomes rock: Entombed in silica-rich volcanic mud, these ancient redwood stumps slowly turned to stone through a process called permineralization. Dissolved minerals seeped into the wood, filling in the microscopic spaces within cells. After the solution precipitated silica within the cells of the wood, a stone replica remained. This preserved both the general outer appearance of the tree as well as its inner cellular structure. |