GC6WNB3 Petrified Wood Building
Type: Earth | Size: Other | Difficulty: | Terrain:
By: MathSeeker @ | Hide Date: 11/06/2016 | Status: Available
Country: United States | State: Colorado
Coordinates: N38° 05.669 W102° 37.197 | Last updated: 08/30/2019 | Fav points: 0

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This petrified wood building was made from local petrified trees found three miles northwest of Two Buttes Mountain, which is south of Lamar. At one time there was an ancient forest which turned to petrified wood, or stone. Most of it was removed to build this building.

The doorways and entryways are flanked by great trees nearly four feet in diameter, the largest single piece weighing 3200 pounds. The floors are also built of bits of wood, the oldest hardwood floor in the world.

Petrified wood is a fossil. It forms when plant material is buried by sediment and protected from decay by oxygen and organisms. Then, groundwater rich in dissolved solids flows through the sediment replacing the original plant material with silica, calcite, pyrite or another inorganic material such as opal. The result is a fossil of the original woody material that often exhibits preserved details of the bark, wood and cellular structures.

Some specimens of petrified wood are such accurate preservations that people do not realize they are fossils until they pick them up and are shocked by their weight. These specimens with near perfect preservation are unusual; however, specimens that exhibit clearly recognizable bark and woody structures are very common.

Petrified wood is not rare. It is found in volcanic deposits and sedimentary rocks at many of locations worldwide. It is sometimes found where volcanic activity covered plant material with ash, mudflows or pyroclastic debris. It is found where wood in sedimentary deposits was replaced by minerals precipitated from groundwater. It is especially abundant around coal seams, although many of the wood specimens in these locations are casts and molds rather than petrifications.

 

Elements such as manganese, iron, and copper in the water/mud during the petrification process give petrified wood a variety of color ranges. Pure quartz crystals are colorless, but when contaminants are added to the process the crystals take on a yellow, red, or another tint.

Following is a list of contaminating elements and related color hues:

• carbon – black
• cobalt – green/blue
• chromium – green/blue
• copper – green/blue
• iron oxides – red, brown, and yellow
• manganese – pink/orange
• manganese oxides – blackish/yellow

Petrified wood can preserve the original structure of the stem in all its detail, down to the microscopic level. Structures such as tree rings and the various tissues are often observed features.

Petrified wood is a fossil in which the organic remains have been replaced by minerals in the slow process of being replaced with stone. This petrification process generally results in a quartz chalcedony mineralization. Special rare conditions must be met in order for the fallen stem to be transformed into fossil wood or petrified wood. In general, the fallen plants get buried in an environment free of oxygen (anaerobic environment), which preserves the original plant structure and general appearance. The other conditions include a regular access to mineral rich water in contact with the tissues, replacing the organic plant structure with inorganic minerals. The end result is petrified wood, a plant, with its original basic structure in place, replaced by stone. Exotic minerals allow the red and green hues that can be seen in rarer specimens.

 

To Claim this earthcache send a message or email with the answer to the following questions.

1, Based on the coloring of the petrified wood, which contaminating elements were present?

2. How tall would you estimate the stump at the end of the wall that juts out to the north to be?

3. There is etched information in the wood/stone to the right of the double window. Describe the petrified wood/stone in this area.

4. OPTIONAL: Post a photo of you at the site.

07/05/2019 By ZSteve
Headed West today, taking a route that only a geocacher would understand. I stopped here to take a break from the driving - and of course to find this cache. I actually stopped for the virtual and then realized that there was also an earthcache here too. I always enjoy learning about local geography and this was a cool spot! Thanks for the fun earthcache!

Email sent.

06/27/2019 By dragonlover13
Tftc out with snipermedic

06/27/2019 By Snipermedic
Headed back to Fort Collins from our mini spur of the moment geo trip to see my brother. Decided we would try and chip away some of the Santa Fe Trail and it lead us through this lovely town. Out with Dragonlover13, Lil’ Dinoman and Lil’ Chubchub. Tftc sl pretty cool that somebody just decided to make a building out of wood!

06/20/2019 By hsstranger
On a road trip to Mingo Kansas with Back Roads2010. This is to log Backroads' 5000th, and my 500th cache find at Mingo. TFTC. Answers being sent shortly by Backroads2010.

06/20/2019 By backroads2010
HS stranger and I are on a 7 State, 5 day road trip trip to reach Mingo for my 5000 and his 500th. This was a stop along the way.

This is find 4448 for me prior to Mingo. What a cool stop. I'll be sending the answer shortly for HS stranger and myself.

10/06/2018 By Trea
I have seen petrified wood in California but this is the largest I have seen; absolutely amazing! I had to drive around the block because of the road construction going on in front of the building. Thanks for bringing me to this spot. Caching, fun and informative.

09/07/2018 By jREST
Motorcycle trip with the DutchessOfStuff, headed west this year. MN to Vegas and then a nice leisurely trip back east through National Parks, Monuments and amazing roads. This was one of our stops, thanks for the fun and TFTC!!!!!!! Very cool place to check out, enjoyed the adventure, gathered what we needed and then back on Highway 50 and headed East.

09/03/2018 By mmk3x
What a cool structure. It looks like wood, until you touch it. I enjoyed learning how petrified wood is made and also learning where all this petrified wood came from. Thanks for the cache. Visiting from Cleveland Ohio

08/25/2018 By Bushwhacking Queen
Fourth full day of my "EPIC Adventure 2018" trip with Brewce. Today our plans consisted of hitting the 2 oldest caches in Kansas for Brewce (I already had), and then whatever else made its way in our path. Hm, who would have thought that we'd have another incredible day with not much planned?! Besides the two oldest geocaches in Kansas, impromptu caching yielded some cool and interesting virtuals, we were able to climb the high point of Kansas , got to see the world's biggest ball of twine, the Geodetic center (or as close as you can get), and teh center of the United States of America...again -- all unplanned!! WOW, another amazing day!

So after catching some Zzzz's we headed out in the morning in search for a relaxing day of gecoaching. What we got was rewarding, very rewarding. We stopped here while in pursuit of a perfect cup of coffee. We may not have gotten a perfect cup (well it was pretty darn good), but we did find wood, or was it stone, or was it wood to stone? [:O)]

We headed out from Milwaukee to the great West, on the agenda were: 8 - Y2K caches, completing my 3x Jasmer and setting me up nicely for 4x Jasmer, virtual geocaches, webcams, challenge caches, caches helping complete already signed challenges, high favorite pointed caches, and, most importantly, fun and laughter along with anything else we wanted to stop and do! We achieved all those things and more, so much more. We saw things we never knew about or never thought we would see - amazing! Our timing for the entire trip could not have been planned any better. Driving by car is the best way to see America, it allows for impromptu stops and deviations, which we did...many times....and on this trip we drove a total of 4,500 miles and all I can keep saying is "wow, just wow!!" of all we saw. One of my best adventures ever thanks to geocaching, thanks for being part of it!

Answers were sent for both of us.

#Lifeisgood

[:O)]
THANKS for the smiley FAVORITE POINT!!

08/25/2018 By Brewce
What a cool spot - I love seeing petrified wood and this has to be the largest collection I have ever seen!

On an Epic Trip from Wisconsin to Utah, Colorado, and Kansas to grab some oldies, webcams, virtuals, and visit other local points of interests with Bushwhacking Queen.

Thanks for creating this earth cache and bringing us here today to learn about this local geology.

06/25/2017 By dustyriver
A find with the SWAC crew (BriGuy and Liquidelle) on the weekend family trip - Closeup photos of building, but they are too "spoiler" - Best Wishes, Terry/ DustyRiver