The fossilized forest in Dorset is a coastal strip in southern England dotted with limestone mounds that contain remnants of cypress trees from the Late Jurassic period.
The fossilized forest features tree stumps that are 145 million years old, located along the Dorset coastline during the Jurassic period, which spanned from 145 to 201 million years ago, extending 153 kilometers. This area contains some of the most unusual fossils, as microscopic algae-like bacteria invaded the trees shortly after they died. Over time, these bacterial colonies became trapped and formed calcium carbonate grains on the trees, creating living limestone carpets known as thrombolites, which are still clearly visible today, as reported by Live Science on December 6.
Fossilized tree stumps in the forest of Dorset. (Photo: Alamy).
The forest thrived during the Late Jurassic, a time known as the Jurassic-Cretaceous Boundary. During this period, temperatures dropped and sea levels decreased, exposing new land and forming coastal plains where life, including vegetation, could flourish. Coniferous trees, ferns, and other plants emerged in what is now the coastal region of England as the ocean receded. Flowering plants had not yet evolved at this stage in Earth’s history, but dinosaurs could roam through the forest, according to Ian West, a geologist and visiting scholar at the University of Southampton, England, on the Coastal Geology of Wessex website.
The forest existed for a short time due to rapidly rising sea levels, which submerged the trees in saltwater. Instead of decaying, the roots and trunks were preserved by bacteria. Eventually, the trunks broke apart, leaving behind the rounded mounds that remain along the coast, forming the fossilized forest.
The algal mounds in the fossilized forest are located near cliffs overlooking the English Channel. Most of the woody remnants within the mounds belong to an ancient species of cypress called Protocupressinoxylon. As a result, the forest provides crucial insights into the ancient environment inhabited by dinosaurs during the Late Jurassic.
