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The melting of the ice in the Rocky Mountains pulled out an ancient forest from the heart of history

Following the melting of mountain ice in the Rocky Mountains in North America, an ancient forest of white-stalk pine trees has been discovered that is nearly 5,900 years old. A group of researchers discovered more than 30 trees at an altitude of about 3,100 meters above sea level during the archaeological survey of Beartooth Plateau in the state of Wyoming in the western United States. This height is almost 180 meters higher than the current tree growth line.

Kathy Whitlock, a researcher at Montana State University, describes the new discovery as an opportunity to understand past conditions at high altitudes. He explains that currently the white-stemmed pine (Pinus albicaulis) does not grow at such a height. Therefore, these trees lived in a period when the climate temperature was warmer.

According to New Scientist, to better understand the history of the discovered forest, Whitlock’s group examined tree rings and determined their exact age using radiocarbon dating. Studies showed that these trees lived between 5,950 and 5,440 years ago; That is, during the period when the earth’s temperature was gradually decreasing.

The trees discovered in the Rocky Mountains are between 5,950 and 5,440 years old

Data obtained from ice cores in the Antarctic and Greenland regions suggest that the temperature drop may have been influenced by long-term volcanic eruptions in the Northern Hemisphere. The eruption of volcanoes introduced a large volume of suspended particles into the earth’s atmosphere and lowered the global temperature by reducing sunlight. As a result, conditions became too cold for trees to survive at high altitudes.

But the discovered trees are amazingly preserved. These trees are lying horizontally on the ground, indicating that the trees were quickly conditioned after death. Although there is no evidence that they were buried under an avalanche, the remains show that the expansion of the current ice played a role in their preservation.

Joe McConnell of the Desert Research Institute in Nevada explains that, according to climate models, about 5,100 years ago, frequent volcanic eruptions in Iceland lowered the temperature, and as a result, the lowered temperature led to the expansion of ice sheets and the burial of trees. “For the next five thousand years, the ice protected the fallen trees from the elements,” he says.

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In the last few decades, the rise in temperature has caused the trees to come out from under the ice and become exposed. Whitlock predicts that as global warming continues, the tree line will move to higher elevations. He emphasizes: “This discovery has become possible due to climate changes caused by human activities. Now rising temperatures are revealing areas that have been buried under ice for thousands of years. “Although these findings are scientifically fascinating, they are also a sad reminder of the vulnerability of mountain ecosystems to climate change.”

Other researchers also describe the study as a valuable use of a “time capsule” that provides information not only about the mountain forests of six thousand years ago, but also about the climatic conditions of that period.

The discovery of ancient white pine trees is not the first example of findings obtained from the ice of the Rocky Mountains. Whitlock points out that in previous research, fragments of wooden rods used to make arrows and spears have been discovered. According to radiocarbon dating, one of these rods was more than 10,000 years old. “The findings show that humans have been hunting at high altitudes for thousands of years,” he explains.

The study is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States.

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