We recently had some very low tides here in Oregon, and there was a lot of anticipation about how much of the "buried" forest would be exposed at Nesika Beach - there was a picture in The Oregonian, and there was much more of that forest exposed in terms of total extent than I had ever seen before! There is also another forest "buried" in water in Oregon - in Clear Lake in the central Oregon Cascades. Many years ago (I can't recall - 800 or so, perhaps?), there was a lava flow that dammed a river and formed clear lake. You can stand on the boat dock and look down in the water and see what is left of the tree boles. Kind of amazing to think that those trees have been preserved there in the water for that long.
On Mon, Jul 13, 2009 at 6:12 PM, Edward Frank <[email protected]> wrote: > Barry, > > I don't know much about Indiana Dunes. It is my understanding that it is > essentially a prairie type ecosystem there without trees. There may be > buried forest there. I don't know. > > The Desert of Maine is a glacial outwash deposit. It does have some trees > at least partially buried around its edges. It has been a long time since I > visited it. hey are planting trees in some areas around the edge of > the Sahara Desert trying to stabilize the dunes. Overgrazing in the dry > climate has made the desert move and enlarge over the last couple thousand > years. Wikipedia reports: "It has been reported that the Sahara is > expanding south by as much as 30 miles (48 km) per year, overwhelming > degraded grasslands, taking over the Sahel, the dry tropical savanna that > has defined the Sahara's southern limit. Global warming and poor farming > methods have been given as possible causes The spreading of deserts is known > as "desertification," and the phenomenon is occurring in other desert areas > worldwide." The dune fields along the coasts of the oceans and big lakes > are generally very dynamic. Where they are stable for awhile forests will > grow, then at some point the dunes will move again and bury the trees. > > A NPS document on Pictured Rocks NL comments: "That habitats and > disturbance regimes on the Grand Sable Dunes plateau have changed > drastically in the past is witnessed by the presence of “ghost forests” of > apparent various age within the dune field and charcoal fragments associated > with several ancient soils. Studies of fire history, rare plant > distribution, soils, forest ecology and geomorphology of the dune field and > northern hardwood and conifer forests surrounding it suggest that many > drivers of landscape dynamism interact in the dunes. This complex > interaction produces distinctive patterns of community types, species > richness, and patch turnover within a relatively small area." > > Edward Frank > > "The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. > It is the source of all true art and all science." - Albert Einstein > > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Eastern Native Tree Society http://www.nativetreesociety.org Send email to [email protected] Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees?hl=en To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
