The Curse of the Basilisk

The Basilisk: a creature so powerful that staring directly into its eyes can cause instant death. Look at it through a reflection or a lens, and you will be petrified. First introduced in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the power of this creature is one to be feared.  Rumour has it that it has been around the Magic Forest, lurking in the darkness and petrifying unsuspecting creatures.  This cache brings you back into the Forest, where you can see relics of this creature’s power!

The Earthcache

The Basilisk’s powers may be unimaginably scary, but did you know that Mother Nature herself, too, has the awesome powers of turning living creatures into stone! At the published coordinates, you will find specimens which show how trees can be transformed into stones, as we explore the phenomenon of “petrified wood”

What is petrified wood?

“Petrified” is derived from the Greek word “Petros” meaning “stone” and petrified wood is basically fossilised wood: wood that has literally turned completely into stone. Do not be fooled by the stones’ looks: petrified wood look like trees, are shaped like trees but are 100% NOT wood. So, how is it formed?

How are they formed?

Many, many years ago, these stones were really what you might expect them to be: perfectly good living trees. But, some catastrophic event, like a volcanic eruption or a flood caused the trees to be buried in ashes or mud extremely quickly. Such a swift process means that the wood had no time to be broken down by bacteria or fungi on the surface, and thus, becomes preserved and locked in the form it had when it was buried.

Over time, mineral-rich water in the soil seeps into the organic cells of the wood, slowly replacing the content of the cells with harder substances and crystals like quartz or calcite. The minerals imitate their moulds so completely that they look just like the wood itself. Over the centuries, all the organic matter is slowly broken down, but the more resilient stuff, which is the minerals that have seeped and solidified in the cells, remain behind. The result is stone that looks exactly like the wood that it was formed in, just like how the jelly looks exactly like the mould it was left to cool in.

What do they look like?

The minerals that from the petrified wood are usually quartz and calcite which are normally colourless, but the actually wood themselves take on colours based on the elemental and mineral content of the surrounding earth.  The following lists the common minerals and colours that they provide the petrified wood:

·         carbon – black

·         cobalt – green/blue

·         chromium – green/blue

·         copper – green/blue

·         iron oxides – red, brown, and yellow

·         manganese – pink/orange

·         manganese oxides – blackish/yellow

Petrified wood is found all over the world where the conditions are right for the transformation from wood to stone. There have been no specimens of such stones found in Singapore to date, so the Earthcache site provides locals an opportunity to observe some of these stones up close.

The Earthcache site   

At the coordinates, you will find a set of petrified wood “trees” related to the tasks for this Earthcache. You will need to complete the following tasks to complete the Earthcache

1.  Estimate the height of the tallest piece of petrified wood in the area
2.  Describe the shape, colour and texture of the petrified wood at the coordinates. What are the different colours that are present on the wood? Where are these colours on the surface of the wood? Which part of trees is the petrified wood from?
3.  Describe the features of the original trees that can still be seen on the petrified wood today
4.  Suggest the identities of the minerals present in the location where the wood were buried based on the colour of the wood.

You can log the cache once you send us the e-mail with the answers. There is no need to wait for a reply. We will let you know if there are any issues.

Feel free to post your pictures of your visit to the Magic Forest in your logs, but, PLEASE, no photos that will give away the answers to the tasks.