Fossilized wood reveals 300 million years of Earth history
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A research team led by geologist Dr. Steffen Trümper from the University of Münster has demonstrated that fossilized wood can serve as a natural archive for reconstructing geological history over hundreds of millions of years. The study, published in Scientific Reports, focuses on the Saale Basin in central Germany and extends previously known time scales of wood mineralization.
The Study
The research team examined fossilized wood from the Kyffhäuser Mountains in northern Thuringia, Germany. The fossils, known since the 18th century, include trunks up to 20 meters long embedded in fluvial redbeds. The trunks originate from tropical dry forests on the supercontinent Pangaea, which lay near the equator 300 million years ago.
Quartz as Archive
The key lies in quartz that permeated and replaced the wood during fossilization. Dissolved silicic acid initially penetrated the dead wood, preserving cell structures. Over millions of years, these deposits crystallized into quartz, replacing original tissue. The team identified five successive generations of silicic acid, revealing a nuanced preservation history.
What's Next
The findings open new avenues for using fossilized wood to reconstruct basin subsidence and tectonic events across Europe. It remains unclear whether similar archives exist in other sedimentary basins worldwide.
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Fossilized wood reveals 300 million years of Earth history
