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A unique shocking image of the destruction of an ecosystem due to a giant volcanic eruption, like its volcanic eruptions Santorini in 1630 BC or Vesuvius in AD 79 They form the roughly 50 fossilized tree trunks in overlapping horizons that were revealed as of yesterday, New Years Eve, during rescue excavations in the fossilized forest area on Lesbos.
“We have only seen similar images since the eruption of the St. Helen Volcano in the United States in 1980, which caused the destruction of the Redwood Forest in Washington state,” says the Museum Director. fossil forest Sigriou Lesbos Professor Nikos Zouros.
Rescue excavations are underway due to its construction site new road axis Kalloni – Sigri crossing the protected area. The finds are being intensively recovered and preserved so that they can later be placed in special places along the new road that will be transformed into an open museum of natural history, the only one in Greece, dating back 20 million years.
“It just came to our knowledge then almost by accident during excavations for the construction of a rainwater pipeline in the Akrochiras area, near Sigri » says Mr. Zouros.
They were located in early November 14 fossil logs coniferous trees and large and small fruit trees, of different ages. With special care, the fossil logs, after their detailed printing, were transported to a safe place to be studied, preserved and displayed.
However, with the completion of the first group of fossil records, this group was found to be on top of another group of records that had similar characteristics in size and number of finds. For the second group of finds, which come from the same mixed forest of fruit and coniferous trees that had developed 18 million years ago on the slopes of present-day Mount Ordymnos, the same process of capture, excavation and transport was followed from the site to Laboratories. from the Museum of Natural History.
“But again – says Mr. Zouros – we had not reached the end of the excavation. In mid-December it was found that new fossil logs were located on the east side of the dune, so the excavation was extended to reveal the new important finds that now approach the fifty fossil logs ”.
Destruction and fossilization
According to the expert scientist “The new findings are evidence of the violence of the volcanic eruptions that covered Lesbos with their volcanic products 18 million years ago.”
Forest tree trunks broke and floated like matchboxes from the violence of volcanic eruption gases. Large amounts of volcanic ash covered the vegetation in a large area around the volcano. Then heavy rains caused widespread flooding that swept through the area, creating heavy mud that swept away volcanic ash along with volcanic fireballs and broken tree trunks.
the giant mud streams they blocked the valleys, accumulating the trunks of the trees creating small “dams” that prevented the movement of muds and fluids rich in silicon towards the sea. In this environment, the organic molecules in the wood were replaced by silicon dioxide which caused fossilization. In this way, the blocked valleys became important archives of the Petrified Forest of Lesbos.
The findings and their value
Taking stock of the findings of the year that ended yesterday, Zouros affirms that “Many new important fossil sites have been added to the already known ones, revealing many new facts about the image of the subtropical forest that existed on Lesbos 20 million years ago. The new findings add new information on the species that existed in the forest but also the climatic conditions that prevailed in the area ”.
Regarding the meaning of all this now, Mr. Zouros concludes by saying: “Ongoing scientific research in the Petrified Forest area by the Natural History Museum in collaboration with universities and research centers in Greece and abroad, is generating international scientific interest. At the same time, there are many interesting facts about the location of the volcanoes, the origin of the volcanic materials that covered the vegetation and created the Fossil Forest, the prevailing climatic conditions, the violence of volcanic eruptions during the Miocene in the North Aegean.
Source: ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ, stonisi, gr
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