A Personal Amateur Photography Blog
The Painted Desert is a result of siltstone, mudstone and shale containing iron and manganese compounds, that erode easily. The result is a very colorful landscape, void of vegation.
While the Painted Desert goes for about 100 miles north of the Petrified Forest National Park, you get plenty of examples within the park itself.
A petrified forest is created when fallen trees are washed into a space and then buried under layers of mud, ash and other materials, depriving the oxygen required for rot. Over millions of years the wood’s cellular structure form into a stone like material.
Generally considered the world’s best example, the Petrified Forest National Park is in northern Arizona, situated in the Painted Desert (next posting).
The setting and colors of the Petrified Forest is amazing. Most look just like wood, some even appear to have been cut with a saw.
RDZ Photography 