Petrified forest a glimpse of past

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Petrified forest a glimpse of past

By CARRIE SCHAFER
Herald staff writer

VANTAGE - Today's stark landscape sharply contrasts what the Columbia River Gorge once was: a lush home to a canopy of trees.

Millions of years and ominous geological forces dramatically transformed this region, entombing treasures under thick layers of basalt rock.

Traces of that 16 million-year-old forest are uncovered at Ginkgo Petrified Forest State Park near Vantage, a testimony to the moist climate that once thrived.

Discovery of petrified wood near Vantage led to the establishment of a state park in 1935.

Today, thousands of tourists visit the park's interpretive center, where one of the most diverse and largest collections of petrified wood in the world is displayed.

The trees of stone invite visitors to envision the once-green climate that sustained a variety of life.

During the Miocene era, park visitors would have walked among swamps and trees.

They may have even heard the occasional bellow of a rhinoceros in the distance.

Green hillsides would have been to the west, covered with trees - oak, maple, hickory and a unique species known as the ginkgo.

In higher elevations, spruce, hemlock and sequoia flourished.

It was an era of change and transformation spawned by intermittent lava flows that marched across the Southeastern Washington landscape.

During an inactive period, a shallow lake formed, with cypress trees growing along its shore where Vantage is today.

Tree trunks, limbs and leaves fell into the lake, while debris from nearby hills was brought to the lake by rivers.

Oak, hickory and ginkgo logs accumulated in the lake alongside the cypress trees.

The debris eventually became waterlogged and sank to the bottom of the lake.

Once again, lava oozed from the earth, covering the entire lake and hundreds of miles of land.

However, the logs were protected from the lava's searing heat at the bottom of the lake and encased in a rock tomb.

Intense chemical activity from the cooling rock and lack of oxygen transformed the tree trunks and limbs.

Organic materials that once made up the individual cells of those living trees were replaced by silica-rich minerals, thus changing wood to stone.

It wasn't until another series of destructive geological forces - this time, cataclysmic floods 10,000 to 12,000 years ago - unearthed what the lava had buried.

Geologists have identified 136 different species of petrified trees at the park, which was named after the oldest species of trees found at the site.

Members of the ginkgo family were among the first trees to grow in the world - about 250 million years ago.

Ginkgo is known to have once been widely distributed throughout temperate regions of the world.

What makes the Vantage site special is the presence of petrified ginkgo trees - one of only four places in the world. Typically, only leaves are found fossilized.

Also on display at the park are petroglyphs, Indian markings on columns of basalt rock etched between 200 and 10,000 years ago.

The rock on which the petroglyphs were written was moved from its original site.

The park's interpretive center is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays except Tuesday and Wednesday.

To get to the park, turn right from Interstate 90 to Vantage and watch for the signs. Then turn right on Ginkgo Avenue.

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