By Joey Kopmeyer. What year did the Petrified Forest become a national park and why? Petrified Forest became a National Park on Dec 8 th, 1906. This was

By Joey Kopmeyer

What year did the Petrified Forest become a national park and why?

Petrified Forest became a National Park on Dec 8th, 1906. This was because President Roosevelt signed a proclamation. The proclamation was to conserve historical artifacts and Indian ruins of The Anasazi’s. The Anasazi were the first people to see the Petrified Forest. These are important to the park because it helps the tourists understand the history and culture of the land and the people who lived there.

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How Was Petrified Forest Formed?

Scientists believe that about 225 million years dinosaurs used to roam through forests of tall conifers. There were great numbers of petrified wood scattered across the desert during that time. Petrified wood was mineralized by extremely special circumstances. The conifers uprooted by floods or maybe flows of lava. It was then washed down from the highlands, then buried by volcano ash. Water went through the wood replacing organic material with multicolored silica. Eventually the wind and rain weathered away the material covering the Petrified Wood. And that is how Petrified Forest came to be.


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What types of rock can be found at Petrified Forest?

Well Petrified Forest is based off of Petrified Wood. Petrified Wood is a fossil (which would almost all the time be classified as a sedimentary rock because the fossil can compact and cement with other minerals) and after a period of time the wood changed to rock. The Petrified Wood consists of manganese, iron and copper giving it different colors. Petrified Wood is the main but not only rock at Petrified Forest such as mudstones, siltstones, shales,conglomerates (which are all sedimentary). There also could be some other small rocks scattered across the desert.






What special landforms or features are inside Petrified Forest?

Well erosion has sculpted and shaped some of the land forms in the park. Some like the Chinle Formation and the Colorado Plateau he Colorado. The Chinle Formation is basically sedimentary rock that piled on top of each other about 200 million years ago that takes up a majority of the park. The Bidahochi Formation is made up of basaltic lava and sedimentary rock that was there 3 to 6 million years ago. The Bidahochi sits directly on top of the Chinle Formation. These are just some of the great formations in Petrified Forest.




How is the land in Petrified Forest currently changing?

In Petrified Forest there is land called the badland formations. During the day, different colors appear. In the rising sun the colors are like pink, cyan and steel. When the sun is setting it gets a brighter color. So the land seems to be changing colors during the day but is really staying the same.



What environmental issues are affecting Petrified Forest?

A short grass prairie environment covers a lot of land in Petrified Forest. It is home to a lot of living plants and animals such as prairie dogs, bobcats and rattlesnakes. But recently the ecosystem is slowly disappearing from the landscape. Without the ecosystem there will be less animals and less wildlife.




How does technology use to help preserve and maintain the

Petrified Forest?

The management at Petrified Forest has put up tours for visitors to make sure they they receive the full experiece. The management makes sure that people don’t touch, or handle any of the fossils or historical artifacts. They have created a road that runs 28 miles through much of the park. On this road, guests can stop at popular landmarks such as an Agate House and Bridge which is made up of petrified wood.



Map of Petrified Forest

Slightly shaded = Painted Dessert



Agate bridge

Entrance station



Petrified forest

Map of Petrified Forest’s Location

Bibliography1.http://adventure.howstuffworks.com/petrified-forest-national-park-ga2.htm

2. http://www.nps.gov/history/history/hisnps/npshistory/monuments.htm

3.http://www.americansouthwest.net/arizona/petrified_forest/national_park.html

4.http://www.us-parks.com/petrified-forest-national-park/geology.html

5.http://www.outdoorplaces.com/Destination/USNP/AZPetFor/pfnp1.htm6.My student pamphlet that I got from the park ranger Hallie Larsen

7.PETRIFIED FOREST NATIONAL PARK by David Peterson,

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By Joey Kopmeyer. What year did the Petrified Forest become a national park and why? Petrified Forest became a National Park on Dec 8 th, 1906. This was