Environment

Ancient Forest Found Buried Under Volcanic Ash & Preserved ‘Like Pompeii’

Preserved 300 Million Year Old Forest Found Buried in China

Forest reconstruction by University of Pennsylvania researchers and Chinese colleagues. (Image: U-Penn)

Near Wuda, China, a coal mine revealed some unexpected organic matter. Buried under volcanic ash was a “marvelously preserved” forest some scientists claim could be nearly 300-million-years-old.

Some specimens were preserved “as they fell,” leading scientists at the University of Pennsylvania with Chinese colleagues to create a rather accurate reconstruction of early life in the area.

“It’s like Pompeii: Pompeii gives us deep insight into Roman culture, but it doesn’t say anything about Roman history in and of itself,” U-Penn paleobotanist Hermann Pfefferkorn said in a statement. “But on the other hand, it elucidates the time before and the time after. This finding is similar. It’s a time capsule and therefore it allows us now to interpret what happened before or after much better.”

Here’s more on the research from the university statement:

Due to nearby coal-mining activities unearthing large tracts of rock, the size of the researchers’ study plots is also unusual. They were able to examine a total of 1,000 m2 of the ash layer in three different sites located near one another, an area considered large enough to meaningfully characterize the local paleoecology.

The fact that the coal beds exist is a legacy of the ancient forests, which were peat-depositing tropical forests. The peat beds, pressurized over time, transformed into the coal deposits.

The scientists say they were able to date the ash layer to approximately 298 million years ago. That falls at the beginning of a geologic period called the Permian, during which Earth’s continental plates were still moving toward each other to form the supercontinent Pangea. North America and Europe were fused together, and China existed as two smaller continents. All overlapped the equator and thus had tropical climates.

The researchers believe finding this forest has resulted in several firsts, according to Pfefferkorn: it is the first forest reconstruction for Asia; is the first peat forest found during this time period; and is also the first where Noeggerathiales, an order of now-extinct plants, were seen as the dominant plant group.

[H/T Gizmodo]

Comments (66)

1 2
  • MammalOne
    Posted on February 22, 2012 at 9:06am

    Why can’t anyone just read about fossils and archaeology on this website and either take it for what it is (really cool and interesting) or leave it alone. Every time anything related to science or archaeology shows up, everyone instantly starts talking about god and the age of the earth and how faulty they think radiocarbon dating is…

    Give it a rest y’all.

    Report Post » MammalOne  
    • GetRight
      Posted on February 22, 2012 at 10:19am

      I agree MAMMALONE! It seems on every article people have to start arguing or they twist it into some anti-Obama (or some other silly pun on his name) rant even when the article has nothing to do with politics. It drives me nuts! Don’t get me wrong, I am as conservative and Christian as most people on here, but the hateful, silly arguments are ridiculous! I thought when the Blaze started I would be able to communicate with people of like mind but I find myself avoiding the comment section because of the negativity. I know not everyone does this, there are some of you that are great and actually share info and give helpful remarks but as soon as I read that first rude, hypocritical, or uneducated remark I just move on to the next story. I always thought that the negative things people said about conservatives were just false stereotypes but I am seeing that some of it is true. It makes me sad. Okay, so let your attacks begin!

      Report Post » GetRight  
    • Seede
      Posted on February 22, 2012 at 12:17pm

      Mr MAMMALONE-
      If everyone did as you say then what is the purpose of remarks at all? If you want to be a sheep and believe everything you read then why even bother with remarks or replies? I am surprised that anyone can believe that any science can prove this world to be 300 million years old. Do they guess or is that their theology or what? The 300 million years old thing is what sells this story and lots of dummies like me do not understand how you can get 300 million years. Enlighten us with your knowledge.

      Report Post »  
    • MammalOne
      Posted on February 22, 2012 at 2:36pm

      @seede I recommend starting with understanding the concept of exponential isotopic decay. Then you can move on to understanding C14 atom densities as a function of the tissue it belongs to and the relative amount of this type of carbon in the environment. Once you understand the basic physics behind those two things, you should study geology and the properties of sedimentary deposits as a function of time and pressure. From there, I recommend studying the physics behind permineralization as a function of time.
      Then, once you actually know what you’re talking about, you can read the extensive literature on current methodologies in dating. Once you’ve done all that, feel free to give your expert opinion on the viability of being able to date very old things.

      You do realize that scientists don’t blindly accept ANYTHING, right? All scientists do is argue with eachother about what the collective evidence suggests. When the vast, vast, vast majority of experts debate something (like how we can be sure our dating methods are correct) and come to a conclusion that it’s likely to be highly accurate, you can usually be they’re on to something.

      Or you can look it up in the bible. It doesn‘t require much thought but it’s sure convenient.

      Report Post » MammalOne  
    • MammalOne
      Posted on February 22, 2012 at 2:40pm

      @getright Thanks for being a voice of reason. I had similar hopes for the blaze as well.

      Report Post » MammalOne  
  • ohmy2u
    Posted on February 22, 2012 at 12:09am

    Scientists, you can tell from the planetary system, the year, the month and the day. Tell me, will you. where the week came from? God set it up this way, so He gets the glory!
    The creation week account is for a 24 hour period, every day of creation. So tell me, if you think that creation days could have been long periods of time, how long can grass, herbs and fruit trees last without sunlight??? They were created on the third day, and the sun, moon and stars on the fourth day. Those plants would not have existed long without sunshine. Everyone knows this. Tell me when did the week start being a 24 hour period?
    The same 24 hour day, 7 day week, 24/7, is the same as it has been since God gave us time. God set up the weekly cycle, because God knew we would need that cycle to function properly. He is the same Creator God mentioned as Creator in the 4th commandment only, the Seventh-day Sabbath commandment.
    http://www.izoominews.blogspot.com http://www.ohmy2u.blogspot.com

    Report Post » ohmy2u  
    • puravida56
      Posted on February 22, 2012 at 7:47am

      Literally speaking, in Genesis 1:3 God says let there be light and created night and day. That was on day one. Then on day 4, he creates the sun and stars.

      Can you explain that?

      Other genesis inconsistencies include :
      GE 1:11-12, 26-27 Trees were created before man was created.
      GE 2:4-9 Man was created before trees were created.

      GE 1:20-21, 26-27 Birds were created before man was created.
      GE 2:7, 19 Man was created before birds were created.

      If the book cant even get its facts straight, how can you use it as a basis to believe creationism over fact based, research based, science?

      Report Post » puravida56  
    • MammalOne
      Posted on February 22, 2012 at 9:12am

      The concept of a “week” came from man. It is a human invention.Different cultures have used different lengths of time to chunk into days, weeks, years, etc. If god defined the week and there was no other way to define it, why would every culture use a different number of hours?

      Report Post » MammalOne  
    • hungry4des
      Posted on February 23, 2012 at 5:09pm

      @puravida56

      I am discussing this sincerely and thinking about these things for the first time so bear with me.

      “Literally speaking, in Genesis 1:3 God says let there be light and created night and day. That was on day one. Then on day 4, he creates the sun and stars.

      Can you explain that?”

      I can see how Light, Night, and Day don’t’ have to come only from the sun and stars. God was in the concept phase of the design. Humans would say, “It would be neat if we had something that would do X, Y, and Z.” Then they design and build the thing to do it. God can just make light, night, and day first and then make a physical thing to do it also.

      “Other genesis inconsistencies include :
      GE 1:11-12, 26-27 Trees were created before man was created.
      GE 2:4-9 Man was created before trees were created.

      GE 1:20-21, 26-27 Birds were created before man was created.
      GE 2:7, 19 Man was created before birds were created.”

      That’s the first time I notice these inconsistencies so I started to think about it a little.
      What if the two chapters are talking about different parts of the earth, or different planets all together? Or what if Gen 2 was written down after some generations had passed and the story changed a little? Grandma embellished a little bit.

      Then there is always, what if the bible is just a fiction story?

      Anyways,

      Have a nice day!

      Report Post »  
  • ohmy2u
    Posted on February 21, 2012 at 11:34pm

    This earth is approximately 6000 yrs. young according to the lineage in Genesis. That forest was buried during the flood. Genesis talks about a specific 24 hour day in a 7 day week. If you believe a day is a thousand years, then you‘re a lot older than you’re admitting! Try working 90 thousand years before you’re off of probation at a new job. I think 90 days sounds much better.
    If you really want the truth, the answers, listen to scientist Roberty Gentry in Young Age of the Earth on youtube. Also, check out http://www.halos.com http://www.ohmy2u,blogspot.com http://www.izoominews.blogspot.com

    Report Post » ohmy2u  
    • nelbert
      Posted on February 22, 2012 at 7:42am

      Sorry to break the news, but Archbishop Ussher was wrong. (He’s the one who came up with the 6000-year age of the Earth back in 1648).
      Now, his faulty dating of the Earth‘s age needn’t be a challenge to your faith, but going on and on arguing in favor of something that has been shown horrendously incorrect using a vast number of methods seems almost embarrassing. And it always seems so strange to me that people who have no problem accepting science when it comes to medical or technological innovations, go almost apoplectic whenever the topic turns to the history of the Earth. Indeed, the science of geology was invented by men digging canals and mining for coal. And even those men (Lyell, Hutton, Buffon, Smith, etc) had come to terms with an Earth of much greater antiquity than had been supposed by Ussher without it being a challenge to their faith.

      Report Post » nelbert  
    • puravida56
      Posted on February 22, 2012 at 8:11am

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_V._Gentry

      Report Post » puravida56  
  • CoffeeMan777
    Posted on February 21, 2012 at 10:44pm

    @ Valkaneer:

    Actually, the Hebrew word translated as “day” in the Genesis account is “yom”, and it has three common meanings: “12-hour period,“ ”24-hour period”, and “a long, indefinite period of time.” All three definitions are used in Scripture. Context reveals which definition applies. Considering that the 24-hour cycle that we call a “day” wasn’t even caused by God until the fourth “day” (yom) of creation [Genesis 1:14-19], and considering that many varied methods from many varied schools if science show that the universe is definitely between 13 and 14 billion years old, and that the Earth is around 5 billion years old, it is very likely that the intended use of “yom” here is “an indefinite, long period of time”, at least for the first 3 “days” of creation.

    Accepting an Old Earth does not prevent one from taking the Genesis account literally. Why rail against the idea?

    Report Post » CoffeeMan777  
  • smokey888x2
    Posted on February 21, 2012 at 10:14pm

    Tokyo-Pelosi might be there, butt-naked and being pulled by some guy w/ a club

    Report Post » smokey888x2  
  • Captain Crunch
    Posted on February 21, 2012 at 8:37pm

    Noeggerathiales…, is that politically correct? Sure wish I could pronounce it.

    Report Post »  
  • DeltaHawk
    Posted on February 21, 2012 at 7:47pm

    Liberals hate God, because they can’t take anything from Him!

    Report Post »  
  • ROMANS 10-9
    Posted on February 21, 2012 at 4:40pm

    Read:
    Bible in 24 hours
    by Missner

    Report Post » ROMANS 10-9  
  • DD313
    Posted on February 21, 2012 at 4:18pm

    Just noticed something ironic in this story about the discovery of a fossilized forest in a Chinese coal mine. The nearest town is Wuda. How appropriate!

    Report Post » DD313  
  • Pattondog
    Posted on February 21, 2012 at 4:06pm

    wait a second, are they saying that the earth has natural cycles and through these natural cycles as land masses shift and move over periods of time, different areas or the globe as a whole can and will experience climate change conditions.hmmmm, say it aint so, what will those with an agenda do now. oh yeah, play ostrich in the sand.

    Report Post »  
    • oldoldtimer
      Posted on February 21, 2012 at 5:22pm

      Surely man and his automoble was there to cause the warming. Ha man really gotten so arrogant as to think he can shift the climate of a whole planet. God punishes such arrogance.

      Report Post »  
  • beckwill
    Posted on February 21, 2012 at 3:59pm

    Nancy Pelosi, they’ve unearthed your first dwelling.

    Report Post »  
  • sWampy
    Posted on February 21, 2012 at 3:59pm

    It‘s nice China is burning massive amounts of coal in furnaces that are based on 1960’s technology, dumping billions of tons of crap in the atmosphere while we aren’t allowed to burn it in modern furnaces that release nothing into the atmosphere.

    Report Post »  
    • Seede
      Posted on February 22, 2012 at 12:58pm

      Yeh, and then the wind blows all of their crap into our backyard. Go figure !

      Report Post »  
  • momprayn
    Posted on February 21, 2012 at 3:26pm

    Interesting but not too surprising…..

    http://www.dancingfromgenesis.wordpress.com

    Report Post »  
  • its_time_to_arrest_our_government
    Posted on February 21, 2012 at 3:26pm

    nothing in the bible says how old the world is it just says God made man after he made everything else. who knows how long Gods days are only God knows his days could be millions of years to us. God works in his days we work in ours. you need to explain everything to liberals they cant think for themselves they need to be told what to think. trying to teach them how to think is impossible.

    Report Post »  
    • trolltrainer
      Posted on February 21, 2012 at 3:42pm

      God does not have “days.” He is outside time.

      But you are essentially correct, if you wish to insert a gap in Genesis there is not much preventing you…Except common sense. If we were made in His image, and intended to be stewards of Earth, then why a gap?

      Report Post »  
    • Go-rin-no-sho
      Posted on February 21, 2012 at 5:11pm

      To go even further, why did he make us stewards of the earth? What purpose would it serve for us to eventually go back to the other side? Do we just dwell there and do nothing for eternity? Why would he make us, when if he is all powerful he could just replicate himself? Does he need us? Why would he punish some of us to hell for eternity?

      Just a bunch of existential questions that come to mind.

      Report Post » Go-rin-no-sho  
    • trolltrainer
      Posted on February 21, 2012 at 5:34pm

      Go-rin-no-sho
      Posted on February 21, 2012 at 5:11pm

      To go even further, why did he make us stewards of the earth? What purpose would it serve for us to eventually go back to the other side? Do we just dwell there and do nothing for eternity? Why would he make us, when if he is all powerful he could just replicate himself? Does he need us? Why would he punish some of us to hell for eternity?

      Just a bunch of existential questions that come to mind.
      ———————————————————————————-
      All good questions, and all answered in the Bible. The most important of these is your last one, I will not bother with the rest because I think you already have the answers and just reject them. But kin answer to your last, God punishes no man and sends him to hell. YOU do that to yourself, it is YOUR choice where you go. That also gives you hints for the answers to the other questions too! And you didn’t even have to pay!

      Report Post »  
    • Valkaneer
      Posted on February 21, 2012 at 6:40pm

      I think the Moses knew what 1 day was. Moses was not stupid he was a well educated price of Egypt. Moses talked to God, the bible says he did. At no point in the bible does the term 1 day mean anything other than a 24 hour period. Take up a study of Hebrew and Greek words and you will see for yourself. So when the Bible says God made the Earth in 6 days and rested on the 7th he did just that.

      Report Post » Valkaneer  
    • jblaze
      Posted on February 21, 2012 at 7:02pm

      God also tells us that evening to evening is one day! Not midnight to midnight like man has made it! He also tell us that a thousand years is like one day to Him!

      Report Post » jblaze  
    • Go-rin-no-sho
      Posted on February 22, 2012 at 3:54am

      @Trolltrainer I like how you immediately assumed I ‘reject’ answers from the Bible… the way you said it, you wouldn’t even know that I actually do believe in God. When you agreed with my assessment the other day about prejudgement, I ASSUME you forgot to apply it here.

      Report Post » Go-rin-no-sho  
    • trolltrainer
      Posted on February 22, 2012 at 10:53am

      @ JBLAZE,

      And one day is as a thousand years. The point was that God is outside time, not to provide some kind of chronology. Take the verse in context.

      @ Go-RIN-NO,

      Didn’t mean to offend you, I said “I think.” I left open the possibility that I was wrong. Thing is…If you believe in God then you have surely read the Bible and you have also addressed these fundamental questions by now. Your statement that God “punishes” people gives away your lack of understanding so you can see why I would question your true beliefs and motives for posting those questions.

      I do apologize though. I usually take people at face value and I should have here. I should have responded as if you seriously wanted answers to these basic questions and were not just “testing” people. In all the questions you asked the answer boils down to free will. This world was created so you can make one simple choice: What are you going to do with Jesus Christ? You either accept or reject His message. God wants companionship and our worship, but He only wants that from our own free volition. He does not force it from you. If you choose to reject Him then you will be cosigned to eternity in the same place as Satan (Lucifer) and the angels that also rejected God. It is not “punishment” but rather a holding place so you do not corrupt the holiness that will be. One way or the other, your soul lives forever. It is your choice.

      Report Post »  
  • Anonymous T. Irrelevant
    Posted on February 21, 2012 at 2:59pm

    It looks kind of like what you see from the road in Florida.

    Report Post » Anonymous T. Irrelevant  
  • DeavonReye
    Posted on February 21, 2012 at 2:52pm

    A truly fascinating find. I hope someone is able to post actual images.

    Report Post » DeavonReye  
  • s0ck_monkey
    Posted on February 21, 2012 at 2:47pm

    @Tomferrari

    I’m not a troll, thank you very much. I was being sarcastic…mainly because I can see the comments in this story turning into a big argument over the very thing I originally posted

    If you’d taken the time to click on my name and look at the few things I have posted in the past, you would have seen that there is nothing even remotely troll-like in my posts.

    Report Post »  
  • pap pap
    Posted on February 21, 2012 at 2:40pm

    I think this is fascinating but why didn’t they just ask Larry King what it was like back then.

    Report Post »  
  • shogun459
    Posted on February 21, 2012 at 2:33pm

    Can’t let my wife see those ferns.

    She might want one.

    Report Post » shogun459  
  • Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
    Posted on February 21, 2012 at 2:23pm

    Interesting indeed; great discovery.

    Report Post » Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}  
  • democritusoilder267
    Posted on February 21, 2012 at 2:15pm

    I always love the mysteries of of the Earth‘s past and how we’re improving science. Piece by piece we’re learning about our origins; as well all life on Earth.

    Report Post » democritusoilder267  
    • trolltrainer
      Posted on February 21, 2012 at 3:43pm

      I wish you all the best in your quest. :-)

      Report Post »  
    • chips1
      Posted on February 21, 2012 at 3:58pm

      The origin of trolls only goes back as far as the invention of the back seat of a Chevy.

      Report Post »  
  • DD313
    Posted on February 21, 2012 at 2:14pm

    Bet those trees will burn better now that they are coal. Of course that wouldn’t please the green police.

    Report Post » DD313  
  • TomFerrari
    Posted on February 21, 2012 at 2:13pm

    Dad used to bring home fossils he found in the coal mines in Kentucky.
    One such fossil was a snake. The body was at least 4 inches wide, and he gathered almost 6 feet off it, with no head or tail or visible taper! It was made of coal, and you could make out individual scales. VERY cool – even today !

    Report Post » TomFerrari  
  • Gonzo
    Posted on February 21, 2012 at 2:08pm

    If you find a unicorn running through that forest, get a picture for Gutfeld.

    Report Post » Gonzo  
  • s0ck_monkey
    Posted on February 21, 2012 at 2:07pm

    /sarcasm on…

    Isn’t the Earth only a few thousand years old?! How can this be?!

    /sarcasm off

    Report Post »  
    • TomFerrari
      Posted on February 21, 2012 at 2:14pm

      TROLL alert. Just ignore him.

      Report Post » TomFerrari  
    • SREGN
      Posted on February 21, 2012 at 2:17pm

      Perhaps their dating methodology is based on some biased assumptions.

      Report Post »  
    • TOMSERVO
      Posted on February 21, 2012 at 2:21pm

      Wait though, seriously! My teacher (I was home schooled) taught me that the world was 6000 years old! Blaze, I don’t like these stories about discoveries in “science.” Obviously wrong.

      Report Post »  
    • COFemale
      Posted on February 21, 2012 at 3:16pm

      Did it ever occur to you yahoo’s that when the earth was formed by God from the existing debris in space that the debris could be millions of years old – NO you didn’t. Did it ever occur to you that life, such as dinosaurs, who roamed this earth when they died where carbon from this millions of year old debris mixed in and possibly saturated the bones and other tissue to give false readings? NO, you didn’t. Now I wonder who created dinosaurs? Sure wasn’t scientist!

      The only reason you don’t believe in God, is because you all think you are bigger than God. Your are nothing buy ARROGANT FOOLS!

      Report Post » COFemale  
    • jesusismygunner
      Posted on February 21, 2012 at 3:22pm

      Cofemale is either king of trolls or OD’d on Kool-Aid this morning. I guess the chapters in the Bible on ancient astronomic events and carbon dating error rates were omitted to make room for the other fruitful stories and accurate scientific data. Good work.

      Report Post »  
    • puravida56
      Posted on February 22, 2012 at 7:55am

      cofemale- please find one reputable scientist that believes as you do. Just one. People with degrees from unacredited schools like patriot bible university do not count.

      Report Post » puravida56  
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