Stone trunks
Wood turned to rock.
Dhzanette — Public domain · Dhzanette — Public domain · Dhzanette — Public domain · Dhzanette — Public domain · Dhzanette — Public domain
The Sarmiento Petrified Forest is a nature reserve in the desert of central Chubut, some thirty kilometres from the town of Sarmiento, discovered in 1927, protected in 1973 and declared a natural monument in 2001. It covers 1,880 hectares of barren, colourful land scattered with the trunks of conifers that turned to stone about 65 million years ago. The area was once near a sea coast, where rivers carried down trunks from forested hills; volcanic ash then buried them, and over millions of years silica slowly replaced the wood until it became rock that keeps the shape of the trunks and their rings. Around them, hills striped red, white and grey look like the surface of another planet. Visitors walk a self-guided interpretive trail of about 2.4 kilometres, with a visitor centre at the entrance. The road from Sarmiento is about 32 kilometres of gravel, and the wind is often strong, so bring water and a hat.
Wood turned to rock.
Red and white.
How it formed.
About 30 km south of Sarmiento, west of Comodoro Rivadavia, Chubut
About 65 million years; they are conifers whose wood was replaced by volcanic silica.