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Approximately 225 million years ago, during the
Triassic Period, a floodplain existed here—littered
with fallen trees. Periodic flooding buried the logs
beneath layers of silt. Over time, silica laden waters
filtered through these deposits and petrified the
wood by encasing the tree's organic material with
minerals.
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Iron oxides give petrified wood its distinctive red,
yellow and orange hues; manganese oxides produce
blues, purples and deep blacks, while the original
carbon produces the shades of gray.
Centuries of erosion washed away concealing
sediment deposits to expose these
remnants of Triassic woodlands.
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