Eight-million-year-old cypresses
- Eight-million-year-old cypresses
The eight-million-year-old cypresses are a 2007 paleontological discovery in northeastern Hungary of sixteen well-preserved swamp cypress ("Taxodium") trunks which were found in an open pit lignite mine 60 meters underground near the town of Bükkábrány. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6942733.stm BBC – Ancient forest found in Hungary] ] The trunks, about 6 m high and 2–3 m in diameter, were cased in sand about 8 million years ago, preserving their wood without fossilization.[ [http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070806/sc_afp/hungaryarchaeologyforests;_ylt=AvcAPetguBPPYcP8asHSN097hMgF Archaeologists discover 8-million-year-old forest in Hungary] , Yahoo News] The find is unique, since trees this old have never been found in their original state and original place before.][ [http://reggel.hu/index.php?apps=cikk&cikk=88180 Reggel – Megmenekülhetnek a ciprusok] hu icon] ]The cypresses were 30 to 40 meters high and 300 to 400 years old when they died during the Miocene period, when this region was partially covered by the shallow Pannonian Sea with marshy shorelines creating habitat for swamp cypresses. The trees were covered by a sandstorm up to a height of 6 meters, and their trunks were preserved intact.
Because of the non-fossilized state of the trees, dendrochronology tests can be done, and scientists can gain insight into the climate changes of the period when the trees lived. Their non-fossilized state also makes the trees very vulnerable to external conditions such as air and sunlight, so it was with precautions and the strictest security measures that the cypresses were transported, four to the Ottó Herman Museum in county seat Miskolc in northeast Hungary on August 8 2007, and the rest to the visitor's centre of the Bükk National Park in Ipolytarnóc. During transportation the trees were drenched with water in order to preserve them. It is likely that not all of the trunks can be preserved since some of them have already decayed, and only their shucks remain, filled with sand.
The preservation process can last up to 4 years and will cost about 200 million forints (800,000 euros).
ources
Wikimedia Foundation.
2010.
Look at other dictionaries:
Pinophyta — Conifer redirects here. For other uses, see Conifer (disambiguation). Pinophyta Temporal range: Late Carboniferous Recent … Wikipedia
conifer — /koh neuh feuhr, kon euh /, n. 1. any of numerous, chiefly evergreen trees or shrubs of the class Coniferinae (or group Coniferales), including the pine, fir, spruce, and other cone bearing trees and shrubs, and also the yews and their allies… … Universalium
Hurva Synagogue — The Hurva Synagogue, 2010 Basic information Location 89 ha Yehudim Street Old City of Jerusalem [1 … Wikipedia
Vincent van Gogh — Infobox Artist name = Vincent van Gogh imagesize = 170px caption = Self portrait (1887) birthname = Vincent Willem van Gogh died at age of = 37 birthdate = Birth date|1853|3|30|df=yes location = Zundert, The Netherlands deathdate = Death date and … Wikipedia
Everglades — is also the name of a city in Collier County, Florida.The Everglades are a subtropical wetland located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Florida, comprising the southern half of a large watershed. The system begins near Orlando with… … Wikipedia
JERUSALEM — The entry is arranged according to the following outline: history name protohistory the bronze age david and first temple period second temple period the roman period byzantine jerusalem arab period crusader period mamluk period … Encyclopedia of Judaism
Lebanon — /leb euh neuhn/ or, esp. for 1, / non /, n. 1. a republic at the E end of the Mediterranean, N of Israel. 3,858,736; 3927 sq. mi. (10,170 sq. km). Cap.: Beirut. 2. a city in SE Pennsylvania. 25,711. 3. a city in N central Tennessee. 11,872. 4. a… … Universalium
Georgia — /jawr jeuh/, n. 1. a state in the SE United States. 5,464,265; 58,876 sq. mi. (152,489 sq. km). Cap.: Atlanta. Abbr.: GA (for use with zip code), Ga. 2. Also called Georgian Republic. a republic in Transcaucasia, bordering on the Black Sea, N of… … Universalium
List of most expensive paintings — No. 5, 1948 by Jackson Pollock is currently the most expensive painting ever sold. This is a list of the highest known prices paid for paintings. The earliest sale on the list (Vase with Fifteen Sunflowers by Vincent van Gogh) is from 1987, and… … Wikipedia
Montenegro — Montenegrin /mon teuh nee grin, neg rin/, adj., n. /mon teuh nee groh, neg roh/, n. a constituent republic of Yugoslavia, in the SW part: an independent kingdom 1878 1918. 615,000; 6333 sq. mi. (13,812 sq. km). Cap.: Podgorica. Serbo Croatian,… … Universalium
