`World´s oldest 化石 forest´ discovered in cliffs on south coast of England
Scientists have 暴露するd what they believe to be the world’s oldest 化石 forest ? dating 支援する 390 million years ? in the high sandstone cliffs along the Devon and Somerset coast.
The fossilised trees are palm-like in 外見 but would have had thin trunks with hollow centres, 研究員s say.
The remains were discovered in the Hangman Sandstone 形式 近づく Minehead, の近くに to a Butlin’s holiday （軍の）野営地，陣営.
This 化石 forest is around four million years older than the previous 記録，記録的な／記録する 支えるもの／所有者 ? 設立する in a sandstone quarry in the town of Cairo in New York 明言する／公表する.
研究員s from the Universities of Cambridge and Cardiff said these 古代の 工場／植物s ? called Calamophyton ? would have been “原型s” of modern-day trees.
They would also have been やめる short, somewhere between two and four metres tall, with 支店s covered in hundreds of twig-like structures instead of leaves.
Professor Neil Davies, from Cambridge’s Department of Earth Sciences, said: “This was a pretty weird forest ? not like any forest you would see today.
古代の 工場／植物 twigs from what is thought to be the world´s oldest 化石 forest (Christopher Berry/Cardiff Univresity)
“There wasn’t any undergrowth to speak of and grass hadn’t yet appeared, but there were lots of twigs dropped by these 密集して packed trees, which had a big 影響 on the landscape.”
The forest belongs to a 地質学の time period known as the Devonian Period, between 419 million and 358 million years ago.
It was a time when 海洋 animals started to diversify and seed-耐えるing 工場／植物s first appeared.
Prof Davies said: “The Devonian period fundamentally changed life on Earth.
Ripple 示すs on the 床に打ち倒す of the 古代の 化石 forest (Neil Davies/University of Cambridge)
“It also changed how water and land interacted with each other, since trees and other 工場／植物s helped stabilise sediment through their root systems, but little is known about the very earliest forests.”
と一緒に fossilised 工場／植物s, the team also identified 工場／植物 破片, fossilised tree スピードを出す／記録につけるs and traces of roots ? all 保存するd within the sandstone.
Dr Christopher Berry, from Cardiff’s School of Earth and 環境の Sciences, said: “When I first saw pictures of the tree trunks, I すぐに knew what they were, based on 30 years of 熟考する／考慮するing this type of tree 世界的な.
“It was amazing to see them so 近づく to home.
The sandstone cliffs in 南西 England where scientists discovered the world´s oldest 化石 forest (Neil Davies/University o f Cambdrige)
“But the most 明らかにする／漏らすing insight comes from seeing, for the first time, these trees in the positions where they grew.”
Scientists had 以前 assumed this stretch of coast in south-west England did not 含む／封じ込める 重要な 工場／植物 化石s.
But the 研究員s now say their findings, published in the 定期刊行物 of the 地質学の Society, show how 古代の trees helped stabilise riverbanks and coastlines hundreds of millions of years ago.
Prof Davies said: “The 証拠 含む／封じ込めるd in these 化石s 保存するs a 重要な 行う／開催する／段階 in Earth’s 開発, when rivers started to operate in a fundamentally different way than they had before, becoming the 広大な／多数の／重要な erosive 軍隊 they are today.
“People いつかs think that British 激しく揺するs have been looked at enough, but this shows that revisiting them can 産する／生じる important new 発見s.”
