Environment

Hectares of ancient fossil forests found in abandoned US coal mines

by Tina Kells | September 9, 2008 at 03:33 pm

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Five new fossilized forests have been discovered in a series of interconnected US coal mines, adding to one found at the same site last year. The fossilized vegetation covers thousands of hectares, across three states, and can be seen on the ceilings of the coal mines.

"These are the largest fossil forests found anywhere in the world at any point in geological time," he told reporters.

"It is quite extraordinary to find a fossil landscape preserved over such a vast area; and we are talking about an area the size of (the British city of) Bristol."

Believed to be among the oldest fossil forests in the world, researchers are gaining new insights into the evolution of our planet by studying the find. The six forests appear to have cropped up over one another in a cycle of growth and decline marked by regular flooding at the end of the last ice age.

"It's a really exciting experience to drive down into these mines; it's pitch black," the Bristol University research said.

"It's kind of an odd view looking at a forest bottom-up. You can actually see upright tree stumps that are pointed vertically up above your head with the roots coming down; and adjacent to those tree stumps you see all the litter.

"We found 30m-long trunks that had fallen with their crowns perfectly preserved."

Researchers believe that by studying the life and death of these forests they can gain a glimpse of the way global warming may impact modern rainforests. The first of the six forests is dated at 306 million years old; all are believed to have cropped up in succession during the end of the last ice age.

The six ancient forests once covered the landscape of Kentucky, Illinois and Indiana. They were thriving during the "big meltdown" when earth's ice age climate experienced a dramatic greenhouse shift, making them an ideal study subject for the impacts of modern global warming.

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foneman30

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 21:11 on September 9th, 2008

Tina Kells, I like this story. It's good stuff. Facinating. it's hard to imagine looking at the remains for a 300 million year old tree that is over 100 feet tall.