Researchers reported the discovery of a Permian Age forest in Wuda inner Mongolian that was preserved by volcanic ash to the extent that the researchers were able to identify specific species and plant groups.
The research was made public at the on February 20, Proceedings of the National Academy of the Sciences web site 2012.
Volcanic ash preserved over one thousand meters of ancient forest. The preservation in volcanic ash allowed the researchers to identify sufficient plant groups and types to draw a nearly complete picture of the ancient forest.
Both extinct species and the ancient relatives of present day plants were discovered.
Many of the plats found were unique to the region.
The researchers expect this find to be a basis for comparison of Permian flora fossils worldwide.
Paper
Authors
Jun Wang a,1, Hermann W. Pfefferkorn b,1, Yi Zhang c, and Zhuo Feng d
a State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China; b Department of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6316; c Institute of Palaeontology, Shenyang Normal University, Shenyang 110034, China; and d Yunnan Key Laboratory for Palaeobiology, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, China
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