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Petrified
Wood |
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NZ owns the
mineral rights to commercial quantities of petrified wood
in both Navajo and Apache Counties, Arizona. Petrified
wood resources on NZ Mineral lands occur in a discontinuous
band that surround the southern end of the Petrified Forest
National Park (PFNP). In general, NZ's petrified wood
resources in Navajo County occur on NZ mineral lands,
and those in Apache County occur on NZ surface and mineral
lands. |
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Historically,
NZ has licensed operators to extract and sell petrified
wood from NZ mineral lands in Navajo County, but all extraction
licenses for operations have since been terminated. Unauthorized
extraction activities have also taken place, resulting
in damaged and lost petrified wood resources in several
areas. |
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There is a
strong stratigraphic evidence that certain NZ mineral
lands contain significant subsurface resources of petrified
wood. Although many of these are not likely to be economically
viable at this time, the conceivably are the single richest
source of petrified wood on NZ lands, and certainly should
be considered in evaluating the value of the mineral rights
of these properties. |
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Of particular
importance to this study is the proximity of NZ petrified
wood resources to the Petrified Forest National Park.
In the current political climate, petrified wood resources
therefore must be evaluated not only in terms of effort
required to extract and market value, but also in terms
of public perception of extraction activities. |
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A
Unique and Rare Asset |
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In 1866,
the United States government, in order to finance the
building of railroads to the West, deeded the land and
mineral rights containing this petrified wood to the St.
Louis-San Francisco Railway Company, which eventually
incorporated into New Mexico and Arizona Land Company,
and was later purchased and formed into a limited liability
company by Robert M. Worsley. |
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New Mexico
and Arizona Land Company, LLC hereby certifies that this
petrified wood is authentic, and that it was lawfully
obtained from its own property. |
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Origins
& Explanations |
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Speaking of
his fascination with petrified wood, Leonardo Da Vinci
(1452-1519), once said: “These depths are now so
high that they have become mountains, and the rivers that
wear away the sides of these mountains lay bare the layers
of these fossils.” |
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Paleobotany
is a branch of botany dealing with fossilized plants.
For a tree to become petrified, it must be in an anaerobic
environment to prevent decay, that is, it somehow must
be buried in an oxygen free environment, possibly in the
bend of a silt-laden river, in the bottom of a lake or,
most frequently in volcanic deposits. |
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The petrified
forests of northern Arizona from the Triassic Period were
buried and exposed to large amounts of volcanic materials.
Waters passing through overlying volcanic ash laden with
silica preserved the wood. |
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Specimens
from Arizona are commonly from the Triassic Chinle Formation.
Colors vary widely, depending on the area and the member
of the Chinle Formation in which the wood petrified. Two
Hundred twenty five million years ago, the northern part
of Arizona was a huge, low-lying plain whose elevation
seldom exceeded more than a few meters above sea level.
Swamps and rivers meandered across the landscape; lush
vegetation provided food and habitat for numerous prehistoric
animals. |
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Native Americans
had various beliefs about the origin of the petrified
logs in what is now Petrified Forest National Park in
Arizona. Natives of the Paiute tribe held that these giant
petrifications were spent arrow shafts and spears dispatched
by the Thunder God Shinauav and his enemies during a great
battle. Members of the Navajo tribe believed they were
the bones of the great giant monster Yeitso. |
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Of the billions
of trees ever to have photosynthesized under the sun,
only a minute fraction were placed in the circumstances
to fossilize and only a small fraction of those survived. |
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“Rock
gives reality to the otherwise abstract notion of transhuman
time.” Edward Abbey |
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Quotations
selected from: Petrified Wood, By: Frank J. Daniels; Petrified
Forests, The World’s 31 Most Beautiful Petrified
Forests, By: Ulrich Dernbach.
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