[PCA] ARTICLE: A volcanic eruption 39 million years ago buried a forest in Peru – now the petrified trees are revealing South America's primeval history

[Park, Margaret E]

Deborah Woodcock, Clark University, Herb Meyer, National Park Service, The Conversation, June 9, 2021

“This petrified forest, El Bosque Perificado Piedra Chamana<https://www.nps.gov/flfo/learn/nature/sexi-peru.htm>, is the first fossil forest from the South American tropics to be studied in detail. It is helping paleontologists<https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=b6PMkG0AAAAJ&hl=en> like us<https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/Herbert-W-Meyer-2110283149> to understand the history of the megadiverse forests of the New World tropics and the past climates and environments of South America. By examining thin slices of petrified wood under microscopes, we were able to map out the mix of trees that thrived here long before humans existed.

Our concept of what this ancient forest was like expanded when we had an opportunity to collaborate with an artist at Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument<https://www.nps.gov/flfo/index.htm> in Colorado to reconstruct the forest and landscape. Other locations with fossil trees include Florissant, which has giant petrified redwood stumps, and Petrifed Forest National Park<https://www.nps.gov/pefo/index.htm> in Arizona.

Working with the artist, Mariah Slovacek<https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/Mariah-Slovacek-2135795828>, who is also a paleontologist, made us think critically about many things: What would the forest have looked like? Were the trees evergreen or deciduous? Which were tall and which shorter? What would they have looked like in flower or in fruit?”

See full article here<https://theconversation.com/amp/a-volcanic-eruption-39-million-years-ago-buried-a-forest-in-peru-now-the-petrified-trees-are-revealing-south-americas-primeval-history-160160>
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