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Fossil Grove
The trees of Fossil Grove were discovered during the creation of Victoria
Park, Glasgow in 1887. The area had formerly been a whinstone (dolerite) quarry
and on excavation of the quarry floor to create a path through the park, the
fossilised tree stumps were discovered. The authorities of the day thankfully
chose to excavate the trees, shelter them from the weather and make them available
for future generations to view. Fossil Grove is one of the most famous in-situ Carboniferous forest
examples in the world.
There are eleven trees at the site, with the tallest stump reaching 68cm in
height. Each is an internal mould, cast from sediment infilling the toughened
bark that remained after the softer, inner plant tissue rotted following the
trees' death. When the trees were first discovered, carbonaceous material formed
from the bark itself also existed, but this has sadly decomposed in the following
years.
The trees were lycopods (probably Lepidodendron)
and exhibit both the base of the stem and the rooting system, Stigmaria. They
stand in shale, though were buried by siltstone and sandstone, indicating an
influx of sediment caused by long term flooding of the area. Shale is then
seen to overlie the siltstones/sandstones; this is typical of the cyclic nature
of Scottish Carboniferous sedimentary sequences. This particular sequence occurs
in the lower part of the Limestone Coal Group and is Namurian in age (approximately
325 - 315Ma).
Fossil tree stumps at Fossil Grove in their original position of growth.
The
original height of the trees has been estimated at 30m. The cross sections
of the trees is not circular but oval.This is due to later Earth movements
which compressed the trunks in one direction.
Image provided by SNH.
Further reading:
Lawson, J.D. & Weedon, D.S. 1992. Geological Excursions around Glasgow & Girvan.
Geological Society of Glasgow.
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