A HOAX? MAYBE NOT
The phenomenon, which is thought to be natural, enables people to bounce upon a patch of earth, but scientists are struggling to explain why the ground is behaving as it is.
A pair of hikers came across the unusual spot close to a river in a forest in St Jerome, Quebec in Canada.
Some experts believe the cause of the springy ground is a build-up of roots, while others think it could be a dense patch of peat moss.
An expert from Kew Gardens told Mail Online: 'I have heard that some forestry workers falling from trees in temperate old growth forests have survived thanks to the deep layer of organic matter made of part decomposed leaves, fungal mycelium, other fibrous debris, which can absorb the impact of their fall.'
The creator of the video told io9 the vegetation around the site is still alive and the earth strong enough to hold ‘many people'.
Emeritus Professor Andrew Schofield, from the University of Cambridge’s Geotechnical and Environmental Research Group, told Mail Online that the bouncy ground could possibly be explained by ‘a couple of fallen young trees spanning an hollow, and branches and leaves on top making a platform.‘It could be not a patch of ground at all - it could be natural and not a deliberate hoax.’
Another possibility to explain the phenomenon is soil liquefaction, where the ground sucks up a large quantity of water and becomes like an incredible vicious liquid as it is so waterlogged.But some experts think the conditions do not look like liquefaction, which usually appears like a patch of earth without foliage.
See pictures and video - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2513924/Bizarre-bouncy-forest-floor-discovered-Canada.html
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