Petrified Wood in Joshua Tree, California?

[mooflyrock]

Hi all,

Is there any petrified wood in the Joshua Tree, California area? I googled and couldn't find anything. I'm assuming that means it's not there. I found this rock (not in the park) and to my untrained eye it looks like petrified wood but I'm guessing that it's probably just a sedimentary rock. It's pretty hard though, not soft like the sedimentary rocks I'm familiar with up here in the San Francisco Bay Area.

 

 

Thanks!
Heather

[Trickworm]

Looks more geologic to me. Can you post some more pictures of all sides?

[ynot]

Hey Hi Heather,

There are a lot of locations around that area that have petrified wood. Most are agatized.

I can not be sure about the piece You found. Pictures of the ends and other sides would help to be sure, one way or the other.

 

Tony

[mooflyrock]

Ok, I'll try to get pics of all sides tonight when I get home. Thanks!

 

This doesn't look agatized to me.

[Raggedy Man]

 

1 hour ago, ynot said:

Hey Hi Heather,

There are a lot of locations around that area that have petrified wood. Most are agatized.

I can not be sure about the piece You found. Pictures of the ends and other sides would help to be sure, one way or the other.

 

Tony

 I thought collecting in that park was forbidden. Correct me if I'm wrong so I can kick myself...lol

[mooflyrock]

4 minutes ago, Raggedy Man said:

 

 I thought collecting in that park was forbidden. Correct me if I'm wrong so I can kick myself...lol

 

I think you're right but it wasn't in the park, just nearby.

[jhw]

Correct. There's no collecting in the park itself, but there's tons of open desert around it! Most of the area is considered Pleistocene, and there have been many fossil finds. I don't think pet wood is out of the question, though I'm not at all sure of your specimen.

[ynot]

6 hours ago, Raggedy Man said:

 

 I thought collecting in that park was forbidden. Correct me if I'm wrong so I can kick myself...lol

You are correct, but there is still petrified wood there-- as well as in the surrounding lands.

 

Tony

[mooflyrock]

Here are some more pictures. Thanks!

[ynot]

I think they are a layered sand stone that is low grade metamorphic. I do not see wood here.

 

Tony

[mooflyrock]

1 hour ago, ynot said:

I think they are a layered sand stone that is low grade metamorphic. I do not see wood here.

 

Tony

 

Ok, thanks Tony!

[Raggedy Man]

@ynot  I have my suspicions, but do you know why they're called Joshua trees? 

[mooflyrock]

1 hour ago, Raggedy Man said:

@ynot  I have my suspicions, but do you know why they're called Joshua trees? 

 

If it's petrified wood, it's not joshua tree petrified wood. Joshua trees aren't trees at all - they're large succulents in the yucca family. They're monocots so they don't have rings like a normal tree. This is what joshua tree petrified wood looks like: http://www.findingrocks.com/cgi-bin/viewebayitem.cgi?ebayitemid=1020

[ynot]

7 hours ago, Raggedy Man said:

@ynot  I have my suspicions, but do you know why they're called Joshua trees? 

No, I have never heard any lore on that subject. What is Your thought?

6 hours ago, mooflyrock said:

 

If it's petrified wood, it's not joshua tree petrified wood. Joshua trees aren't trees at all - they're large succulents in the yucca family. They're monocots so they don't have rings like a normal tree. This is what joshua tree petrified wood looks like: http://www.findingrocks.com/cgi-bin/viewebayitem.cgi?ebayitemid=1020

I hope nobody was suggesting that. The only place I know of that petrified Joshua tree wood can be found is in the northwest corner of Nevada.

Tony