Petrified Trunks Research Articles

Quaternary petrified trunks from Kamphaeng Phet, Thailand: Implications for past climate and preservation

Petrified trunks in Mueang Kamphaeng Phet District, upper Central Thailand, were unearthed in Quaternary deposits on the western rim of the Ping River. The sediments consist mainly of semi-consolidated gravel, sand, silt, and clay, indicating that the woods were transported by the ancient Ping River. Macroscopic features revealed that preservation of these fossils (e.g., intercellular spaces, iron oxides, quartz crystals, colors, and weathering conditions) shared many similarities to some petrified trunks in Tak Province. We investigated both large (approx. 0.50–0.7m wide, at least 10–20 meters long) and small fragments of fossils for both wood anatomical features and mineralogy. Diffuse porosity with indistinct growth rings and wide vessels at low densities suggest a tropical lowland forest paleoenvironment. Parenchyma patterns are aliform to confluent, banded, and diffuse-in aggregate. At least four distinct types of wood were recognized from this site. Among them, three wood types originate from legume trees (Fabaceae), while the fourth is from a eudicotyledonous tree. Two of the three legumes show closest resemblance to a tall (canopy emergent) legume tree, Koompassia cf. malaccensis Maingay ex Benth. and one resembles the legume Koompassia cf. malaccensis or cf. Pahudioxylon bankurensis Chowdhury, Ghosh, et Kazmi. The other legume-like wood shows banded parenchyma. Petrified wood from Kamphaeng Phet is correlative with other Quaternary paleofloras found in Northern Thailand in both preservation and taxa. The past climate, as inferred according to the Köppen-Geiger classification, was possibly similar to modern-day tropical rainforests (Af) in southern Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia in contrast to the modern vegetation in Mueang District, Kamphaeng Phet that is a mixed deciduous and dry dipterocarp forest where the modern climate in the area is tropical wet and dry (Aw).

Four Poems from Black Swan Theory

Four Poems from Black Swan Theory Kyle Marbut (bio) The water I draw from the well may come up wine, but I still have to scrape my plates clean nightly like anyone else. Before every meal I swallow pictures of my mother at ever, at after, at rest. The hour, inconsistent. Caught dozing again in the light with a mouthful of what. Full sun fixed in nocturne, wreathed nightly in the galaxy arm. No moon. The only one I could tell is lost in the mirror. Her brow, my brow; my lid, her eye. [End Page 59] Sister, were we early. Sister, were we late. We lost every star to day, and another night is not promised. Once left, I spoke in our mother’s voice just to hear it. With your eyes closed, you would mistake me for her or any other god. I swallowed that tongue, another draught, moonshine cut with winterberry. What I crave more than death, numb lightning, candlelight infinite in parallel windows. If this voice were really hers, I would wish for a second, truer sun. [End Page 60] I’m through with amazement! I don’t mean to sound so sure, but the flowers are getting to me. One tree sheds its blossoms, another bursts open in its place. Long season of color so desperate for touch we don stripes and stroke from stamen to pistil. How to explain lack to such plenty. Mouthfuls of dead bees, sexless haze of slow ecodeath. Rabid hounds snap their jaws at low branches of dogwoods. Finches pluck weeping cherries bald en masse. Streets lined with Callery pears, fruitless and reeking of cum. The unbearable rain of petals. Close the blinds. A vision: petrified trunks shade a field aflame, smoke aglow in infinite sunset, lovers fossilized in ash. It’s useless to behold endings as if they have already happened. Doom, too, is a hunger. [End Page 61] Dressed in just your blue jockstrap, you come to me whirling through the graveyard. Bearing honeycomb and black lace veils, foam at the mouth. Not the moonlight but what’s beneath it makes the night real. If the moon is still there while I’m looking at you, I’ll summer away the midnights you, drunk on cosmos, called my name wrong. Sight is only a measure of distance. Through every window I spy you heaving secrets behind the sunflowers. Darling, don’t tell me you ate another star! You’ll spoil your winter. [End Page 62] Kyle Marbut KYLE MARBUT lives in Virginia. They wrote two chapbooks called Dawn Chorus Fascicle and Ecliptic Tongues. They have one more secret to tell. I dropped a mirror and reflected in the shards I split into a hundred eyes, and through them I saw that other world where my mother married a tree and birds could whisper facts and the grave was a door the rain walked through, and I knew it was all true there. That was before I had teeth. Now I only write about real life. Copyright © 2023 Wayne State University Press

Régimen Jurídico de Bienes Públicos de Naturaleza Interdisciplinaria

El estudio presenta un nuevo bien jurídico de naturaleza intrínseca interdisciplinaria, y que por esto genera indefiniciones jurídicas en su régimen de protección. Se trata de un tipo especial de fósil – seres vivos petrificados – (FOUCAULT, A; RAOULT, J. F., 1985, p 136), fósiles estos que pertenecen al género even though, son aquí llamados simplemente como fósiles o troncos petrificados. El objeto de estudio recibe un amplio valor cuando necesariamente es visto por el punto de vista económico, y las consecuencias que implican al Estado la falta de regulación sobre los instrumentos de uso y la protección de estos bienes cuyo ambiente natural es el subsuelo, como las minas y que integran el patrimonio cultural de Brasil, por orden constitucional.

Puyango, Ecuador Petrified Forest, a Geological Heritage of the Cretaceous Albian-Middle, and Its Relevance for the Sustainable Development of Geotourism

Geodiversity treaties have multiplied and given rise to geological heritage as a singular value of protection and preservation for territories. The Puyango Petrified Forest (PPF) is a recognized Ecuadorian reserve, which was declared a National Heritage Treasure. It has an area of 2659 hectares, and it is located in the south of Ecuador, between the provinces of El Oro and Loja. The petrified trunks and trees were buried by volcanic lava, dating from the Cretaceous Period, 96 to 112 million years ago. Thus, silicification and carbonization, two important fossilization events, have produced hundreds of samples of paleontological wealth in Puyango. The objective of this work is to methodologically assess the geodiversity of a fraction of the PPF by registering its geological heritage and value for its preservation and sustainable development. The methodology is based on: (i) Analysis of information on the territory used for tourist visits, as a pilot study area. Presentation of paleontological components and their main sections to enhance their geotouristics value; (ii) Assessment of the geological heritage for its geotourism categorization with a recognized scientific methodology and one proposed by the co-authors propose; and (iii) Analysis of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) as a guide for protection and development strategies. Findings reveal the high geotourism potential for a Geopark Project in Puyango, since only 300 hectares are used for tourism and the remaining area is a virgin environment for research and improving knowledge of geodiversity and biodiversity.

The last Patagonian cycad,Austrozamiastockeyigen. et sp. nov., early Eocene of Laguna del Hunco, Chubut, Argentina

The cycads pose classic problems in evolutionary biogeography, owing to their far-flung extant distributions and the sparse fossil records of living genera. A noteworthy example is Tribe Encephalarteae of Family Zamiaceae, today consisting of Encephalartos (Africa) and the Australian genera Lepidozamia and Macrozamia. Numerous petrified trunks of Encephalarteae described from the Cretaceous of Patagonia, Antarctica, and India indicate far larger past distributions across Gondwana and subsequent extinctions. The only fossils close to the current range are Paleogene leaf fragments from Australia assigned to Lepidozamia and Macrozamia. Here, we report a large frond piece and several isolated leaflets of a compressed cycad, along with an associated spiny petiole, from the late-Gondwanan, 52.2 Ma Laguna del Hunco flora of Patagonia, Argentina. Austrozamia stockeyi gen. et sp. nov., has the novel combination of an Encephalartos-type leaf and Lepidozamia-type cuticle. The Australian Lepidozamia fossils, widely used for molecular clock calibrations, could also represent an extinct genus. Austrozamia stockeyi demonstrates survival of the Encephalarteae in Patagonia and presumably across Gondwana until its terminal phase, adding a striking new component to the growing list of South American plant extinctions associated with Antarctic separation and related climate changes.

Petrology, mineralogy, and geochemistry of submarine coals and petrified forest in the Sozopol Bay, Bulgaria

Abstract The mineralogy, petrology, and geochemistry of submarine coals and petrified tree trunks from the Sozopol Bay were investigated. The coals are lignites of Lower–Middle Miocene age. The petrified trunks are 40 cm up to 2 m high, some of which are in growth position and others are fallen. The main minerals in the coal are silicates of detrital origin (clay minerals) and authigenic pyrite. Authigenic sulfur and amber are present as well. In the Sozopol coals stored for 30 years, a neoformed mineral assemblage comprising mainly of gypsum, iron sulfates, sulfates of varying Fe, Na, Al, K, and Mg content, and halite has been observed. The formation of the sulfates was induced by bacterial activity as well. Germanium, Li, Rb, Ti, V, Mo, Cr, Mn, Co, and Ni are enriched in the coals as compared with the Clarke values of the world brown coals. In most of the samples studied, the contents of Ga, B, Y, W, Cu, Zn, Pb, P, and Zr are elevated as well. The element distribution is influenced by the lithotype composition. Most elements have a mixed mode of occurrence. Germanium, V, Ti, Cr, B, Na, and Ni (and to a lesser extent Sr and Cu) are organically associated, while K, Li, Rb, and Fe have a distinct inorganic mode of occurrence. Molybdenum follows strictly the Fe distribution. It is suggested that the main sources of the trace elements were the volcanic rocks in the sediment source area, from which the elements were leached in the peat bog.

Growth architecture and silhouette of Jurassic conifers from La Matilde Formation, Patagonia, Argentina

Simple morphological traits are used to describe the architecture of a tree: the growth and branching process, the morphological differentiation of the axes and the position of reproductive structures. The main purpose of this contribution is to describe the growth architecture of the Jurassic conifer trees present at the most basal part of the La Matilde Formation in the locality of Monumento Natural Bosques Petrificados, Patagonia, Santa Cruz province, Argentina, and to compare it with that of extant and fossil conifers. This study is based on a large number of in situ petrified trunks, impressions and external molds of leafy branches and female cones in intimate association or organic connection with the trunks. The cones were assigned to Araucaria cf . A. mirabilis (Speg.) Windhausen emend. Calder (Araucariaceae) based on morphological and anatomical characters. The “ Araucaria mirabilis” trees had 3 branching categories, corresponding to the typical pattern in extant Araucariaceae, although 4 branching categories cannot be completely discarded. The main, orthotropic stem (TA1) had rhythmic growth and branching, bearing 3–4, probably up to 6–7 plagiotropic branches in pseudowhorls. The lower part of the trees shows no branch-scars; therefore, self-pruning would have been present. Lateral branches (A2) had rhythmic branching: the branchlets (A3) were distributed regularly on the leading branch, with an alternate arrangement, conforming two orthostichies on the same horizontal plane. The female cones were borne terminal at the tip of peduncles, but lateral in position with respect to A2 branches. Reiteration patterns are present: total reiterations (bifurcated trunks and big, orthotropic branches in trunks with normal plagiotropic branches) and partial reiterations (epicormic branching) were observed. The root system consisted of 6 horizontal roots, no tap root was observed. Two architectural patterns or “morphotypes” were recognized at one of the forest levels studied, in keeping with other pieces of evidence (type of wood, foliage, and cones). The “Araucarioid morphotype or morphotype A” includes most of the studied specimens (i.e. “ Araucaria mirabilis” trees); showing pseudowhorls of plagiotropic branches. These characters correspond to Massart's model, with certain modifications in the adult trees due to reiteration processes. Morphotype B was observed in bigger trunks with a distinctive costulated surface, which bear only orthotropic branches irregularly arranged, and without reiteration evidences; they could be assigned to Attim's model and possibly represent a different conifer taxon, though subrepresented. Partial and total reiteration patterns are described for the first time for Jurassic, Gondwanic conifers. Moreover, Massart's model can be followed from Upper Palaeozoic Walchiaceae to Mesozoic Araucariaceae.

High‐resolution magnetic gradient and electrical resistivity tomography survey at the Plaka Petrified Forest Park in Lesvos Island, Greece

Lesvos Island, in the North Aegean area of Greece, exposes large accumulations of fossilized tree trunks. They are collectively known as the Petrified Forest of Lesvos, a designated protected natural monument. The paper describes the results of a geophysical study that has been carried out in the area of Plaka on the western part of Lesvos in order to investigate the near‐surface geology and detect buried fossilized tree trunks.In situ and laboratory measurements of magnetic and electrical properties of the trunks have been conducted. Considering the magnetic susceptibility distribution and the contrast between the trunks and the surrounding material, magnetic gradient anomalies of negative signature were expected to reflect the existence of trunks. Electrical resistivity tomography has also been conducted in order to detect buried trunks, based on their resistivity contrast with the pyroclastic surrounding material.Flow paths of the pyroclastic material that can be related to the tectonic features at the time have been detected. In general, petrified trunks have been detected as high resistive bodies. In one case, where the trunk was buried very close to the surface, the resistivity was lower than the surrounding material.2D and 3D subsurface resistivity models of the surveyed area have been constructed, pointing out probable locations of buried petrified trunks. Excavations that followed the geophysical survey revealed petrified trunks in most of the cases although some of the excavated resistive targets proved to be surface fracture systems filled with resistive oxides.

A new Eocene Araucaria from Seymour Island, Antarctica: evidence from growth form and bark morphology

Araucarian conifers are an important component of Cretaceous through Paleogene floras in the Antarctic Peninsula. A well-preserved Eocene petrified trunk from Seymour Island, Antarctica reveals the growth form and bark morphology that, along with wood anatomical characteristics, places the tree within Araucaria. The tree was at least 14 m tall with a monopodial habit and horizontally wrinkled bark. Wood-decaying fungi colonized the trunk after it had fallen to the forest floor. The fungi invaded the trunk through the pith and initially along ray cells leaving strongly lignitized cells relatively intact. This indicates preferentially consumption of sugars suggesting these fungi formed the first stages of nutrient recycling within this Eocene ecosystem.

Geophysical survey to the Petrified Forest of Sigri in Lesvos Island (North Aegean)

Remains of fossil plants, which form the famous «Petrified forest of Lesvos», have been found in many localities on the western part of Lesvos Island. The fossilized forest of Lesvos was developed during Late Oligocene to Lower - Middle Miocene, due to the intense volcanic activity in the area (Velitzelos and Zouros, 1997). The products of the volcanic activity had covered the vegetation of the area and the fossilization process took place due to favorable conditions. The fossilized plants in Lesvos are silicified remnants of a sub-tropical forest that existed on the northwest part of the island 20-15 million years ago. In the present study the results of the geophysical survey that has been applied to several locations of the petrified forest are presented. Electrical tomography, magnetic mapping and Ground Penetrating Radar methods of geophysical prospecting have been applied. The surrounding material, which is formed mainly by volcanic ash, contains also volcanic rocks in that size that it could be detected as petrified trunk. So, the effectiveness of the geophysical methods in such an environment has been tested in selected areas where petrified trunks were semi-uncovered. Lied trunks have been successfully detected by the electric tomography in several cases, since the resistivity of the fossilized material is much higher that the resistivity of the volcanic ash. The horizontal mapping of the total magnetic field in the same cases of lied trunks has been also successful since it was combined with the electric tomography and the anomaly were located in the same place and shape. Detection of petrified trunks looks to be uncertain in cases of standing trunks. That, because anomaly of the same pattern could be produced by an intrusion of a rock which the magnetic susceptibility is lower than this of the fossilized material. The same problem has been noticed also to the GPR (Ground Penetrating Radar) data. Several positions to be excavated have been proposed.

A petrified cycad trunk from the Late Cretaceous of the Larsen Basin, Antarctica

Cetricycas antarcticus gen. et sp. nov. occurs in the Late Coniacian to Campanian Lachman Crags Member of the Santa Marta Formation, Marambio Group, James Ross Island, Antarctica. The petrified trunk comprises a thick pith containing thin and thick walled parenchymous cells, vascular traces surrounded by a thin layer of loose secondary wood. Medullary bundles arise inside the wood zone and pass outwards through multiseriate medullary rays. The trunk anatomy indicates assignment to the Cycadales, and the presence of medullary bundles indicates the affinities with a clade comprising Lepidozamia, Macrozamia, and Encephalartos. This clade is presently confined to Australia and Africa, but fossil representatives extend the geographic range to India, South America and now Antarctica.

Le bois petrifies de la plaine de la haute Rusizi (Burundi)

THE DISCOVERY OF PETRIFIED FOSSILS IN THE HIGH RUSIZI PLAIN (BURUNDI)Palaeobotanical research in Central Africa is still very fragmentary. In Burundi, apart from the very classical and abundant stromatolites of the Mosso (in the south of the country), Sah (1967) has indicated the occurrence of vegetal debris in the fluviolacustrian sediments o f the mid-upper Rusizi plain. These fragments have never been identified, but a study of the pollen grains found in sedimentary layers of the same age has revealed some features of the vegetation and of the climate prevailing in the Upper Neogene period.In November 1978 we discovered in north-western Burundi a deposit of petrified trunks of exceptional size. These fossils had been exposed a short time previously when a small quarry was established. The deposit contained four trunks, two of which were large: length, 1 m; diameter, 90 cm; weight, more than 1 000 kg.Initial macro and submicrospic examination of fragments showed an anatomical structure similar to the structure of some fossils described in Kivu (Zaire) and belonging to the family Caesalpiniaceae.Samples were sent to Tervuren (R. Dechamps) and to Liêge (Mrs Demaret) and their joint studies revealed that these trunks belong to the genus Julbernardia and probably to J. globiflora. Their age would be about 1 200 000 years.Since then, other trunks have been found (at least ten). According to our study, it is concluded that they have a very different structure from those of the previous specimens. Samples were sent to Tervuren and to Liêge for further study and the conclusions from the specialists should be available very soon.

Some Petrified Wood from the Specimen Ridge Area of Yellowstone National Park

In Yellowstone National Park practically all exposed rock formations are igneous or metamorphic consisting mostly of ash, obsidian and basalt. The central sector is made up of plateau country which though 7,000 to 8,500 feet above sea level, is nearly completely surrounded by mountain ranges rising 2,000 to 4,000 feet above it. The lava masses of Specimen Ridge in the Lamar River region are evidences of their volcanic origin and are considered by geologists to have been ejected from ancestral Mount Washburn during the early part of the Miocene or late Eocene. Specimen Ridge cliffs which outcrop 2,000 feet above the plateau extend for 20 miles along the Lamar River and include strata wihch contain some of the most remarkable petrified trees in the park. Many superposed layers of upright petrified trunks (not less than 15 according to Knowlton [18993) appear to indicate that in past geologic time a succession of forests flourished only to be repeatedly covered with volcanic ash and lava. The great wealth of extinct plants of the Lamar River region must have astonished the early explorers and though reference to the area is first made by the early naturalist, W. H. Holmes (Hayden, 1873), no extended studies of the fossilized wood were made before 1899, when Professor Knowlton published his monograph The Fossil Flora of Yellowstone National Park. Fossil wood specimens which Knowlton collected from the Specimen Ridge area of the park form the main body of material for anatomical reports in his monograph (1899). However, he collected plant fossils at sites other than Specimen Ridge, some of which he later investigated. Conard (1933) discussed Pityoxylon amethystinumi Knowlton, and, in the same year, Read investigated some fossil woods of Specimen Ridge and described those which he identified as Pinus baumani Read, Pinus fallax (Felix) Read, Cupressinoxylon lamarense Read, and Sequoia magnifica Knowlton. In 1939, Andrews reported on anatomical details of several collections of fossil wood from Yellowstone National Park with particular reference to the fossil forest of the north-west corner of the park known as the Gallatin region. Geologically, this area is similar to Specimen Ridge. Andrews redescribed Sequoia magnifica Knowlton, Cupressinoxylon lamarense Read and Pityoxylon

A Fossil Araucarian Wood Fro Western Wyoming

A few years ago the senior author made a collection of silicified woods from the Gros Ventre Canyon in western Wyoming. We were attracted to the region partly by some petrified log fragments on display outside the Jenny Lake Post Office, which were said to have been collected in the canyon, and partly by a landslide that presents a conspicuous scar on the lower end of the canyon, a landmark readily seen from the vicinity of Teton Park. Although two visits to the slide area failed to reveal anything of paleobotanical interest, certain regions farther up the canyon proved more productive. Approximately twelve miles up the road there is a second and considerably older slide now partially concealed by a fairly heavy vegetation. When this older landslide occurred the Gros Ventre Canyon was blocked and a lake formed in Cole Hollow. At the time of our 1936 visit a petrified trunk some three feet in diameter was exposed approximately 200 yards from the south bank of the river. The slide area was subsequently followed up to its apparent origin, a point about one mile from the river (Mt. Leidy quadrangle, R 112 W, T 42 N). There, a small badlands area, some few acres in extent and light gray color, is quite prominent when viewed from the opposite side of the valley. Sections of silicified trunks and small twigs are comparatively abundant in the gullies, weathering out of rocks of Cretaceous age. A more precise determination of the horizon is not possible at present, since neither the stratigraphy nor paleontology of the region has been studied in detail. Very small-scale coal-mining operations have been carried out on the opposite side of the river, likewise in Cretaceous strata. A seam some four feet thick outcrops about one-half mile north of the river and has been exploited in the past. The seam includes a number of bands of sandy clay some of which contain fern and dicot

On the Structure of Dadoxylon kayi , sp. nov., from the Halesowen Sandstone at Witley (Worcestershire)

D uring the summer of 1912 I had an opportunity, thanks to the kindness of my friend, Mr. Henry Kay, of inspecting the remarkable series of petrified trunks discovered by him in situ in the Halesowen Sandstones, exposed in a mineral railway-cutting at Witley Colliery in the Lutley Valley, near Halesowen (Worcestershire). The sandstones also contain a great abundance of plant-fragments, associated with the above-mentioned stems, among these being pith-casts of Calamites suckowi Brongn., C. various Sternb., and Cordaites (Artisia) approximatus Brongn., as also impressions of the stems of Lepidodendron sp. Impressions of many other obscure and fragmentary portions of bark or of the woody tissues of stems or branches also occur, but the coarse nature of the sandy matrix renders them too indistinct to warrant determination. The large trunks of the trees, described in Mr. Kay's paper, have in some cases a diameter of 40 centimetres. The woody tissues are alone preserved. The bark and other more external tissues are either absent, or represented only by a thin film of coal. So far as I could judge from an examination of the specimens in situ , the pith appears to have been of very small diameter, the centre of the trunk consisting of a very narrow zone of softer and less compact material. Certainly no indication could be found of the presence of any large pith, or of a pith-cast similar to the Artisia (= Sternbergia ) pith-casts of Cordaites . A further examination of the polished surfaces of portions of these trunks