Nature
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In the late Eocene epoch, about 34 million years ago, eruptions from the Guffey volcanic center buried the Florissant valley as huge volcanic mudflows, or lahars, rushed into the forested valley, destroying all but the largest trees. The bases of giant redwoods were buried in place in 15 feet of volcanic debris, and the trees died as their unburied portions fell over and rotted away. Entombed in silica-rich volcanic mud, these ancient redwood stumps slowly turned to stone through permineralization as dissolved minerals seeped into the wood, filled microscopic spaces within the cells, and precipitated silica that left a stone replica preserving both the trees' outer form and inner cellular anatomy.
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Florissant, Colorado · United States
