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The Florissant Fossil Beds
National Monument established in 1969 occupies an area just south of the
small town of Florissant xx miles west of Colorado Springs in Teller
County.
From these deposits, beautifully preserved
insects (1271 species), fish (3 species), mollusks (8 species), birds (3
species) and plants (114 species) have been found. (Foutz, 1994, p. 33)
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Sequoia stumps (above and below) are what
remains of once towering trees, similar to those nowadays found in
California, that lived in central Colorado. The stumps are
preserved because they were buried about 2-3 meters deep in volcanic
ash. The portion of the trees above the ash rotted away. The
trees have been replaced by silica preserving detail of the trees down to
the cellular level. |
The visitor's center contains many fine
specimens of insects and plants for viewing as well as publications,
posters, and other useful information about the area. |
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| This fossil locality was
discovered by A. C. Peale from the USGS in 1874. The area attracted
visitors for many years to see the petrified forest. On a personal
note, my aunt, uncle and cousins once owned a ranch within the current
monument up until 1969 when the US Department of Interior formed the
monument. |
About 35 million years ago, this
valley was dammed up at one end by lava flows from nearby volcanoes.
The damming created Lake Florissant, probably a relatively shallow, in
places marshy lake. The water attracted abundant life which
flourished. Local volcanoes however intermittently erupted ash which
buried insects, leaves, and other small animals. These plants and
animals eventually were fossilized. |
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Portion of an old brochure from
pre-Monument days. Note the age indicated for the Oligocene Fossil
Beds. The dinosaurs are also a nice touch - although they were
already extinct some 30 million years (or 15 million years) depending on
what date you use. The brochure also goes on to tell visitors that
"the Colorado Petrified Forest was once the site of a huge
inland ocean - haven of the dinosaurs." |