Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1940-09-14

The amazing fossil forests Of
Yellowstone national parK-Durleo
one an ton of the other for prob
abIy more than 20 generations ana
then revealed I'm their entombment
by subsequent forces OF erosion
are being made the suDyect Vi snS
most complete study OF itS KIND
ever undertaken In the Rocky
Conducting the study Is DR.. Cnarles
r Read. paleobotaniSt with the Unlgeo
state geological survey, who began MS
research there in 1929 when ne was
associated with the Carnegie mstltu-
tion. He is assisted by II. w. ErWn'
also of the geological survey. :.
THE probability that the number OF
hurried forests revealed in Yellowstone
Is considerably greater than present
estimates was indicated by Dr.. Read
as he neared the completion OF tnIee
weeks research in the Specimen rloge
and Gallatin petrified forest regions
of the park. r,
ut is remarkable" said Or. Reao,
show tier after tier of fossil torestS
can readily be seen. For fossil forests
Of the early Cenozoic era, Yellowstone
has the most spectacular development
in North America. In no other place
are so many tiers of forests reVealeo.
The largest petrified tree that Dr.
Read has found in the Yellowstone Is
a seuuoia. measuring 10 feet IN olanle-
ter and standing or 6 feet above Jus
roots It was discovered several uayS
AGO on Big Horn peak in the Galatm
region. and IS the largest that Dr.
Pead has ever seen. Petrified trees
even approaching this size are very
! = The chief objective of DR.. Reads
study Is the preparation for the ma
tional park service of q popular ana
readable account Of YelloWStones los
sill forests. His findings VIII also De
the phenomena. The full story OF the
buried forests is not obtainable IN any
one place. and much of DR.. Reads
work has consisted of piecing together
Evidence found in the various displays.
In the eyes of biologists, yellow
stones petrified forests are still young
having been formed in the early TER
tiary period of Cenozoic era, wIllGn
Is the era of the rise OF mammals,
including man. According to DR.. Read
the entire deposit represents probably
only "a few hundreds OF thousands OF
' ~Smothered Forests"
Each layer presents mute evidence
of the smothering Of a previous gen.
Grafton OF trees py NOlCdAl4C eoh an
rock. This burial was followed. by tne
formation of new soil, its seeding ana
the growth of another great forest,
which was in turn entombed In newer
volcanic materials. At Specimen ridge
the oldest petrified forests are buried
from at least 1000 to 1900 feet and
nrobably deeper, according TO DR.. Read
Even the highest Of these forests was
nrobabIy at one time buried under sev-
eral thousand feet of additional rock.
King of the ancient buried forests
was the giant sequoia, found today only
IN northern California. In addition 10
the seuuoia. DR.. Read has found petrl-
fications of now extinct species OF the
pine. sycamore, oak, magnolia, cheSI-
nut. willow and a host OF other less
well known forms. ...o
Contrary to common mSconcSp-
ton the tiers of fossil forests-revealeo
by the erosion of ice and water-cain-
not be spotted easily by the tourlSs
with an unframed eye. However, tnese
mass blIriaIs became increasingly oia-
gramatic with a knowledge OF the aus
plays. It Is hoped that DR.. Reads &C
count Of the region viii aid the traveller
Ia an understanding OF these displays
and deeper appreciation OF the story
aaa@F ban