Customize Consent Preferences

We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below.

The cookies that are categorized as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site. ... 

Always Active

Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.

No cookies to display.

Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features.

No cookies to display.

Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

No cookies to display.

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

No cookies to display.

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns.

No cookies to display.

ADVERTISEMENT

Earliest Fossil Forest on the Earth discovered in England  

A fossilised forest comprising of fossil trees (known as Calamophyton), and vegetation-induced sedimentary structures has been discovered in the high sandstone cliffs along the Devon and Somerset coast of Southwest England. This dates from 390 million years ago which makes it the oldest known fossil forest on Earth 

One of the key events in the history of Earth is afforestation or transition to forested planet following evolution of trees and forests in the Mid–Late Devonian Period, 393–359 million years ago. The tree sized vegetations fundamentally changed the land biosphere in terms of stabilisation of sediments on flood plains, clay mineral production, weathering rates, CO2 drawdown, and the hydrological cycle. These changes had profound impact on the future of Earth.  

Earliest Fossil Forest on the Earth discovered in England
Credit: Scientific European

The earliest free-standing fossil trees belong to the Cladoxylopsida evolved in early Mid-Devonian. The cladoxylopsid trees (calamophyton) were less woody compared to early lignophytes archaeopteridalean (archaeopteris) that evolved later in late Mid-Devonian. From the late Mid-Devonian, the woody lignophytes flora started dominating the land (the lignophytes are vascular plants that produce robust wood through a cambium).  

In a recent study, the researchers identified a previously unrecognised early Mid-Dovinian cladoxylopsid forest landscape in the Hangman Sandstone Formation of Somerset and Devon in Southwest England. The site contains free-standing fossil trees or fossil forest dating from 390 million years ago which makes it the oldest fossilised forest known on Earth – about four million years older than the previous record holder fossil forest found in New York State. The study sheds light on the impact of the oldest forests.  

The cladoxylopsid trees resembled palm trees but lacked leaves. Instead of solid wood, their trunks were thin and hollow in the centre and their branches were covered in hundreds of twig-like structures that dropped on the forest floor as the tree grew. The trees formed dense forests with very high abundance of plant debris on the floor. There was no growth on the floor as grass had not evolved yet but abundance of droppings by the densely packed trees had a big impact. The debris supported invertebrate life on the floor. The sediments on the floor influenced the flow of the rivers and resilience against floods. This was first time in the history of Earth that tree-driven changes influenced course of rivers and non-marine landscapes of the planet changed forever.  

*** 

Reference:  

  1. Davies N.S., McMahon W.J., and Berry C.M., 2024. Earth’s earliest forest: fossilized trees and vegetation-induced sedimentary structures from the Middle Devonian (Eifelian) Hangman Sandstone Formation, Somerset and Devon, SW England. Journal of the Geological Society. 23 February 2024. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1144/jgs2023-204  

*** 

Umesh Prasad
Umesh Prasad
Science journalist | Founder editor, Scientific European magazine

Subscribe to our newsletter

To be updated with all the latest news, offers and special announcements.

Most Popular Articles

DNA Can be Read Either Forwards or Backwards

A new study reveals that bacterial DNA can be...

What caused the Mysterious Seismic Waves Recorded in September 2023 

In September 2023, uniform single frequency seismic waves were...

Could Polymersomes be better Delivery vehicle for COVID Vaccines?

A number of ingredients have been used as carriers...
- Advertisement -
93,059FansLike
46,611FollowersFollow
1,772FollowersFollow
30SubscribersSubscribe