Chemnitz petrified forest
Chemnitz petrified forest | |
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Geography | |
Location | Chemnitz, Germany |
The Chemnitz petrified forest is a
Most of the trunks are exhibited in the Museum of Natural History in Chemnitz inside of
History
Georgius Agricola (1494-1555) described petrified trees in the Chemnitz area first at 1546.
Creation of the petrified forest
The petrified forest was formed in connection with the eruption of the Zeisigwald volcano in the lower Permian and dates back about 291 million years.[4] The trees were uprooted or snapped off by the eruption and the amount of tephra, much like the trees caught in the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens. The trunks were then covered with hot tephra. In the following of years, the silicic acid included in the tephra ensured the fossilization of Permian plants, preserving them until today.
Fauna
The varanopid Ascendonanus[5] As well as reptiles, amphibians, gastropods and arthropods, including the trigonotarbid Permotarbus and scorpion Opsieobuthus are known from the forest.
References
- ^ Fossil of the year award, German Paleontological Society
- ^ A forest of precious stones – given by volcanoes – the Sterzeleanum, Museum of Natural History, Chemnitz, retrieved 2013-05-08
- ^ Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung Chemnitzer Wald ist 291 Millionen Jahre alt
- S2CID 133846070.
Further reading
- Ronny Rößler (2001). Der versteinerte Wald von Chemnitz [The petrified forest of Chemnitz]. Museum für Naturkunde Chemnitz. ISBN 3-00-007446-5.
External links
- Official website (in German)