Scientists find 5 more underground ancient forest fossils in Illinois

by William Atkins

Thursday, 11 September 2008

Page 1 of 3 ! British rainforest expert Howard Falcon-Lang and U.S. colleagues report that five more massive fossil forests from millions-of-years old trees, still standing upright, have been found in Illinois coal mines. The discovery will help scientists learn more about how modern rainforests will react to warmer weather. See the amazing photographs! Dr. Falcon-Lang is from the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Bristol, United Kingdom. He stated that the fossilized forests are the largest of their kind ever found in the world. The press release from the University of Bristol, of the discovery of the first ancient forest, is entitled “Earth’s first rainforest unearthed”. It states, “The 300-million-year-old forest is composed of a bizarre mixture of extinct plants: abundant club mosses, more than 40 metres high, towering over a sub-canopy of tree ferns, intermixed with shrubs and tree-sized horsetails. Nowhere elsewhere on the planet is it possible to (literally) walk through such an extensive swathe of Carboniferous rainforest.” The first of these ancient rainforests were unearthed in 2005. Now, in 2008, over the past three years, five more of these rainforests have been discovered. Falcon-Lang reported that these ancient forests were some of the first to grow on Earth. From a BBC News article (“Ancient trees recorded in mines”) on September 8, 2008, Falcon-Lang stated, “These are the largest fossil forests found anywhere in the world at any point in geological time.” He stated, "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." [BBC News] The city of Bristol in located in southwest England about 105 miles (169 kilometers) west of London and 44 miles (70 kilometers) east of Cardiff. The area of the city is approximately 42.5 square miles (110 square kilometers). Page two continues the story. << First page <   1 2 3 Next page > Last page - Post your comment >>

 

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