Preserved trees thousands of years old uncovered on beach after storm

October 23, 2024 7:11 AM

Preserved trees thousands of years old uncovered on beach after storm surge. Weather conditions and shifting sands temporarily reveal an ancient elder forest on a Tasmanian beach, preserved from thousands of years ago.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries (3 comments total)

Given their location on the beach and preservation rather than petrification, Greg Jordan's date of 8,000 years seems more likely than the 40,000 figure of the Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service—a relic of when the rising seas formed Bass Strait—but still very cool!

I'll have to forward this to my ancient elders in Tasmania... erm, Mum and Dad.
posted by rory at 9:00 AM on October 23, 2024

Seems there's a worrying undertone to the story... when I passed on the link, my dad reported seeing some very old tree stumps emerging from the beach when they went for a walk yesterday, not in the north but in the southwest. A sign of coastal erosion?

It's a reminder that in geological terms we're still living in an ice age, because glaciers and ice caps still exist... but we're on our way to another greenhouse period.
posted by rory at 12:10 AM on October 24, 2024

Thank you; this gave me a sense of wonder that I needed today.
posted by rednikki at 7:37 AM on October 24, 2024