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Can't See the Forest for the ... Coal???
Next Thursday, November 6, area residents have an opportunity to hear Scott D. Elrick, one of the lead geologists on the project, present a free lecture, “Geologic Secrets of Illinois’ Fossil Rain Forest,” at the Beckman Center at the University of Illinois, at 4 p.m. At close to 10 square miles in size, the rain forest in question is the world's largest fossilized forest, which is 300 million years old and is located in a coal field just outside of Danville. It sits in the the Herrin coal seam in Peabody Energy's Riola and Vermilion Grove coal mines southwest of Georgetown. Extensive photos and fossils from the forest will be presented at the lecture. (If you'd like to see some of the fossils and can't make it to the lecture, the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry coal mine exhibit includes a section of the shale "roof/forest floor" that visitors can see.)
Local Forest Makes History
The discovery of the underground forest made Discover magazine's Top 100 Science Stories of 2007 list, coming in at No. 82. At the time of the general announcement, National Geographic provided one of the best descriptions of the actual experience of discovering the fossil forest. Detailed information about the forest can be found on the Illinois State Geological Survey site, which also includes an amazing collection of pictures of the fossils and of people exploring the mine with the fossils in place. Recently the Weather Channel did a piece about the forest and Smithsonion also interviewed the researchers over the summer, leading in part to this online update. Perhaps the most unfortunate aspect about this discovery is that the nature of its location makes it impossible to preserve. As reported in this original USA Today story about the site, the researchers are doing what they can to preserve and record everything they find, but as Elrick commented: "It's sort of like asking people to go to New York City and describe every store front in a day."
Creepy Crawlies
In order to better understand the terrain we are talking about here, you may find it useful to take a look at the University of California Museum of Paleontology's web page explaining theCarboniferous Period. UCMP has an excellent site to help you get a handle on how the different parts of geologic periods fit together. The researchers working in the fossil forest have not found significant animal life, possibly a reflection of the way in which the forest was preserved in its pristine condition by an earthquake. They have, however, found a preserved example of a eurypterid, a 6-ft long scorpion-like water dweller that could not have been nice to cozy up to. UCMP provides a nice rundown of other creatures that would have been creeping, swimming and winging their respective ways through the forest. One particularly impressive one are the millipedes, which could grow to quite impressive lengths.
More Illinois Fossils
Find fossils fascinating? You may not know that the fabulous forest is not the only magnificent fossil site located in Illinois. The state is also home to the Mazon Creek Fossils, another set of closely related locations, this time on the earth's surface, that have yielded up amazing fossil discoveries. Part of what makes both of the Illinois locations so special is the fact that they have preserved so much of the soft tissue material of the creatures and plants they preserve. Unlike the more commonly recognized fossil bone beds, Illinois's great fossil finds have revealed the intact bodies of small, delicate animals and plants. They may not be as splashy as the big dinosaurs, but they are equally important and certainly rarer in terms of the density with which they appear in our state. If you'd like to get a good look at some of the Mazon Creek finds, you can browse through a fossil database at the Illinois State Museum that will truly let you see what kinds of wonderful things have been found, and in what quantity. If you'd like to go and collect fossils in the Mazon Creek area, you can do so by following the rules of the Department of Natural Resources for Mazonia-Braidwood Natural State Fish & Wildlife Area. Permitted collecting is over for 2008, however.
Why are there so many rules? Because fossil collecting by private dealers is decimating the scientific record. Many important sites worldwide have suffered serious damage from amateur and professional fossil collectors. As USA Today reported, looting of known fossil sites, especially in park lands has become a major problem.
Fossils Online
Want to expand your experience of fossils online? You can't go wrong with the Virtual Fossil Museum. It offers access to fossils from a variety of directions, allowing you to approach images by time period, geographic location, classification, or even, in a few special, rotating cases, general "coolness". The site also explores how fossils demonstrate evolution by means of a thoughtful discussion (with fossil images of course) of a Trilobyte Arms Race. Another excellent site is the Paleontology Portal. It lets users look at information and images of fossils organized by time, state, classification, or famous locality. It also provides access to a very sophisticated tool for searching the fossil collections of many of the major paleontology collections in the U.S.
A Final Reference
Although I have no particular wish to wade into the Creation/Evolution debate, the fossil forest raises one of the classic points of contention, that of polystrate fossils, in this case, vertical trees. Such fossils are often cited by Creationists as proof of a cataclysmic event or young Earth interpretation of science. This student web site does a nice job of demonstrating the arguments and geologic processes. (IE does not play the slides but you can go to a link that shows the series.)
Next Thursday, November 6, area residents have an opportunity to hear Scott D. Elrick, one of the lead geologists on the project, present a free lecture, “Geologic Secrets of Illinois’ Fossil Rain Forest,” at the Beckman Center at the University of Illinois, at 4 p.m. At close to 10 square miles in size, the rain forest in question is the world's largest fossilized forest, which is 300 million years old and is located in a coal field just outside of Danville. It sits in the the Herrin coal seam in Peabody Energy's Riola and Vermilion Grove coal mines southwest of Georgetown. Extensive photos and fossils from the forest will be presented at the lecture. (If you'd like to see some of the fossils and can't make it to the lecture, the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry coal mine exhibit includes a section of the shale "roof/forest floor" that visitors can see.)
Local Forest Makes History
The discovery of the underground forest made Discover magazine's Top 100 Science Stories of 2007 list, coming in at No. 82. At the time of the general announcement, National Geographic provided one of the best descriptions of the actual experience of discovering the fossil forest. Detailed information about the forest can be found on the Illinois State Geological Survey site, which also includes an amazing collection of pictures of the fossils and of people exploring the mine with the fossils in place. Recently the Weather Channel did a piece about the forest and Smithsonion also interviewed the researchers over the summer, leading in part to this online update. Perhaps the most unfortunate aspect about this discovery is that the nature of its location makes it impossible to preserve. As reported in this original USA Today story about the site, the researchers are doing what they can to preserve and record everything they find, but as Elrick commented: "It's sort of like asking people to go to New York City and describe every store front in a day."
Creepy Crawlies
In order to better understand the terrain we are talking about here, you may find it useful to take a look at the University of California Museum of Paleontology's web page explaining theCarboniferous Period. UCMP has an excellent site to help you get a handle on how the different parts of geologic periods fit together. The researchers working in the fossil forest have not found significant animal life, possibly a reflection of the way in which the forest was preserved in its pristine condition by an earthquake. They have, however, found a preserved example of a eurypterid, a 6-ft long scorpion-like water dweller that could not have been nice to cozy up to. UCMP provides a nice rundown of other creatures that would have been creeping, swimming and winging their respective ways through the forest. One particularly impressive one are the millipedes, which could grow to quite impressive lengths.
More Illinois Fossils
Find fossils fascinating? You may not know that the fabulous forest is not the only magnificent fossil site located in Illinois. The state is also home to the Mazon Creek Fossils, another set of closely related locations, this time on the earth's surface, that have yielded up amazing fossil discoveries. Part of what makes both of the Illinois locations so special is the fact that they have preserved so much of the soft tissue material of the creatures and plants they preserve. Unlike the more commonly recognized fossil bone beds, Illinois's great fossil finds have revealed the intact bodies of small, delicate animals and plants. They may not be as splashy as the big dinosaurs, but they are equally important and certainly rarer in terms of the density with which they appear in our state. If you'd like to get a good look at some of the Mazon Creek finds, you can browse through a fossil database at the Illinois State Museum that will truly let you see what kinds of wonderful things have been found, and in what quantity. If you'd like to go and collect fossils in the Mazon Creek area, you can do so by following the rules of the Department of Natural Resources for Mazonia-Braidwood Natural State Fish & Wildlife Area. Permitted collecting is over for 2008, however.
Why are there so many rules? Because fossil collecting by private dealers is decimating the scientific record. Many important sites worldwide have suffered serious damage from amateur and professional fossil collectors. As USA Today reported, looting of known fossil sites, especially in park lands has become a major problem.
Fossils Online
Want to expand your experience of fossils online? You can't go wrong with the Virtual Fossil Museum. It offers access to fossils from a variety of directions, allowing you to approach images by time period, geographic location, classification, or even, in a few special, rotating cases, general "coolness". The site also explores how fossils demonstrate evolution by means of a thoughtful discussion (with fossil images of course) of a Trilobyte Arms Race. Another excellent site is the Paleontology Portal. It lets users look at information and images of fossils organized by time, state, classification, or famous locality. It also provides access to a very sophisticated tool for searching the fossil collections of many of the major paleontology collections in the U.S.
A Final Reference
Although I have no particular wish to wade into the Creation/Evolution debate, the fossil forest raises one of the classic points of contention, that of polystrate fossils, in this case, vertical trees. Such fossils are often cited by Creationists as proof of a cataclysmic event or young Earth interpretation of science. This student web site does a nice job of demonstrating the arguments and geologic processes. (IE does not play the slides but you can go to a link that shows the series.)
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