Fossil forest announced
Source: Xinhua |
February 23, 2012, Thursday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
SCIENTISTS have announced the discovery of a forest in the northern Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region preserved under a layer of volcanic ash deposited nearly 300 million years ago.
The subtropical forest covers an area of 20 square kilometers and researchers have been able to reconstruct 1,000 square meters of its plants, said Wang Jun, head of the research team and a member of the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
The volcano erupted for only a few days, limiting damage and preserving many details, Wang said.
When the forest was discovered a decade ago, researchers found trees still standing upright with leaves, branches and trunks intact in a 298 million-year-old ash layer.
Scientists, including Hermann Pfefferkorn from the University of Pennsylvania, worked with an artist to reconstruct what the forest would have looked like.
The subtropical forest covers an area of 20 square kilometers and researchers have been able to reconstruct 1,000 square meters of its plants, said Wang Jun, head of the research team and a member of the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
The volcano erupted for only a few days, limiting damage and preserving many details, Wang said.
When the forest was discovered a decade ago, researchers found trees still standing upright with leaves, branches and trunks intact in a 298 million-year-old ash layer.
Scientists, including Hermann Pfefferkorn from the University of Pennsylvania, worked with an artist to reconstruct what the forest would have looked like.
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