Geologists Have Discovered 280-Million-Year-Old Fossilized Forest In Antartica

This forest is a glimpse of life before the extinction, which can help us understand what caused the event, Prof Gulbranson said. It can also give clues to how plants were different than today. He added that he believed his work could help understand the effects of contemporary climate change and added that today's global warming could lead to forests moving towards the North Pole in places like Arctic Siberia and Arctic Canada. (This partial trunk fossil was cracked near its base, but two distinct patterns are still visible in the rock: oval leaf bases at the bottom and diamond-shaped leaf bases moving up the trunk toward the top.)