TREES - UNDERWATER PRIMEVAL FOREST DISCOVERED OFF ALABAMA COAST

Scuba divers have discovered the 52,000 year old Bald Cypress forest off the coast of Alabama, at a depth of about 60 feet (18 meters).

 

It was buried under ocean sediments at a depth of about 60 feet (18 meters), and remained protected in its oxygen-free environment, but was probably uncovered by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.  These trees are so intact that whenever they are cut out, they still smell like fresh Cypress.  But this forest will be destroyed in only a few years by wood-burrowing marine animals. [8 of the World's Most Endangered Places]

 

The trees' growth rings could reveal secrets about the climate of the Gulf of Mexico thousands of years ago, during a period known as the Wisconsin Glacial period, when sea levels were much lower than they are today. [World's Weirdest Geological Formations]  In addition, because Bald Cypress trees can live a thousand years, and there are so many of them, the trees could contain thousands of years of climate history for the region.

 

These stumps are so big, they're upwards of two meters in diameter — the size of trucks.  According to an analysis of their carbon isotopes  revealed that the trees were about 52,000 years old.

Read more and watch videos -  http://www.livescience.com/37977-underwater-cypress-forest-discovered.html

Link to this post - http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2013/07/trees-underwater-primeval-forest.html

Other articles on trees and plants on this blog - http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/search/label/Plants%20and%20Trees