24 April 2012

289 Million Year-Old forests found intact

A number of American and Chinese scientists were stunned bywhat they found in the coal mines near Wuda, Inner Mongolia,China. A forest was estimated to be 298 million years old found buried in one piece.

The scientists then called the Pompeii of the findings of the Permian period. Pompeii is an ancient Roman city buried in volcanic ash found from the eruption of Vesuvius.

Just as Pompeii, the swamp forest is perfectly maintained so that scientists can find out where each plant initially had grown. This allows them to map the forest.

University of Pennsylvania paleobotanis expert, Hermann Pfefferkorn, calls these findings as a time capsule. Pfefferkorn itself is one of the scientists who joined the team.

This is a wonderful preservation. We are here and when he found the limb, we find the same tree stump. This is absolutely perfect, "said Pfefferkorn as reported by Gizmodo.

The scientists found throughout the plant and tree in the exact position and condition as when the eruption, just as Pompeii. The difference, Pompeei comes from the year 79 AD, while the forest is covered with ash over 298 million years, during the Permian period.

The researchers found a forest area covering 10 763 square feet (approximately 1 square kilometer), hidden under a coal mine. They are dug using a variety of heavy equipment. They believe, pemfosilan forests because ashes buried in a huge volume which poured from the sky for days.


So far, scientists have identified six groups of trees. Some of them are as high as 80 feet, that Sigillaria and Cordaites. Scientists have also discovered a group of large trees, Noeggerathiales, which has been declared extinct.

During the Permian period 299 to 251 million years ago, no conifers or flowers. In this period, the resulting plants such as ferns using spores, and the modern continent was still joined in a vast land called Pangaea. This geological period occurred in late Paleozoic era, after the Carboniferous.

At this time the animals were also found. That time is when the first group of mammals, turtles, lepidosaurs, and began to roam the Earth archosaurs.

Scientists believe that the Permian and the entire Paleozoic era ended with the largest mass extinction ever eliminate 90 percent of marine species and 70 percent of the land.

After that period, the Mesozoic era began with the Triassic period. This is the period when mammals first evolved, pterosaurs flew for the first time, and archosaurs dominate the Earth.

Hermann Pfefferkorn this joint research project in June Wang from Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yi Zhang of Shenyang Normal University, and Zhuo Feng of the University of Yunnan. Their results will be published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

was already in the form of fossil
Here is the excavation site, located in northern Helanshan Mountains in Inner Mongolia, 8km west of Wuda. Ash-covered area itself is estimated to be 10 km from north to south, but they are only able to work in the area of ​​1000sqm. Mine the entire 20sqkm.





Asterophyllites longifolius (A) and associated Paleostachya types of strobili (B); Sphenophyllum oblongifolius (C) and associated strobili (D), Sigillaria cf. ichthyolepis leaf (E)

stem (F), and Strobilus (G).

Ferns. (A and B) Pecopteris sp. with sporangia of Asterotheca type; (C and D) Pecopteris hemitelioides with sporangia of Eoangiopteris type; (E and J-K) Sphenopteris (Oligocarpia) gothaniia

(F and G) Sphenopteris cf. tenuis; (H) Sphenopteris sp. 1; (I) Sphenopteris sp. 2 with abnormal pinnule (Aphlebia) at the very base of each ultimate pinna, Indicating the plant may be a liana.


Ferns. (A) Pecopteris cf. candolleana; (B) Nemejcopteris feminaeformis; (C) Pecopteris orientalis; (D) Pecopteris sp.;

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