Petrified at the Dawson County Fair EarthCache

Being Petrified at the Dawson County Fair has nothing to do with being afraid of the rides or clowns at the fair. It has to do with what you find when you get there.

The posted coordinates will take you to the Dawson County Fairgrounds in Glendive, Montana. You can actually see a small petrified forest consisting of stumps and logs on these grounds. Be sure to look around all of the buildings in this area for all of the stumps and logs. To get credit for this EarthCache, all you will have to do is answer a few questions about the location of this petrified forest, and e-mail the answers to me through the cache page.

The required questions for this EarthCache are:

1. What element in the soil make up the orange color you might see in the wood?.
2. One of the stumps has a plaque on it. What are the dates on this plaque?
3. What can be seen growing on the stumps and logs?

**Extra credit (NOT REQUIRED): Take a photo of you or your group at the fairgrounds**

Petrified wood is the name given to a special type of fossilized remains of terrestrial vegetation. It is the result of a tree or tree-like plants having completely transitioned to stone by the process of permineralization. All the organic materials have been replaced with minerals (mostly a silicate, such as quartz), while retaining the original structure of the stem tissue. Unlike other types of fossils which are typically impressions or compressions, petrified wood is a three-dimensional representation of the original organic material. The petrifaction process occurs underground, when wood becomes buried under sediment and is initially preserved due to a lack of oxygen which inhibits aerobic decomposition. Mineral-laden water flowing through the sediment deposits minerals in the plant's cells; as the plant's lignin and cellulose decay, a stone mould forms in its place.

In general, stem tissue takes less than 100 years to petrify. The organic matter needs to become petrified before it decomposes completely. A forest where such material has petrified becomes known as a Petrified Forest.

Petrified wood can be found in many different colors. What color the wood will be is dependent upon the chemicals in the soil. Petrified wood is nearly all quartz crystals, but quartz has almost no color. It can be combined with other elements to add color to the petrified wood. If you add carbon, the stone is black. If you have copper, it becomes green/blue; if you have manganese it becomes pink. Iron can make it orange, red, or yellow.