Rock Hunting with the “Gem & Mineral Club in Mariposa” along the border between California and Nevada, with camp base in Benton-Hot-Springs.
I guess, a couple of ??? million of years ago, large trees where growing in the western portion of Nevada, with mature tress having diameters of 4-7…> feet at the base. Then came a mudslide or something like that, burying all the trees. After the burial, minerals started to seep into the wood, crystallizing within the cell structure, replacing the organic material and so ultimately turning the upright trees into petrified tree trunks. Yet, then volcanic fissures ripped the earth open, spitting lava all over the place. The tremendous heat caused metamorphosis of the petrified trees, making them “glass-like”, easily breakable, yet still 4-6 feet in trunk diameter. In front of the petrified & metamorphosed tree trunk you can see fragments of the tree trunk chipped off.
Below, you see one of those volcanic fissures.
Looking a bit closer at the fissure, the greenish material looks a bit like Malachite, a greenish copper carbonate hydroxide mineral.
Nearby, greenish copper containing mineral streaks travel through the landscape.
When looking towards the West, mountains can be seen in the distance, but otherwise there is just barren land, absolutely no vegetation anymore.
very interesting