World’s Oldest Forest Discovered Near New York City May Reveal Secrets About Earth’s Hidden Past

Besides being the world’s financial capital, New York City is also home to historic treasures. Researchers recently discovered the world’s oldest forest only two hours away from the bustling streets of NYC. The forest located in Cairo, Green County, dates back to 385 million years ago. To put it into perspective, dinosaurs existed between 165 to 66 million years ago. Researchers have uncovered fossilized woody roots of trees that once dominated the forests on the surface of the Earth, per a report by Cardiff University and the Cairo Public Library.

A team led by scientists at Binghamton University, New York State Museum, and Cardiff University in Wales reached the forest, located at the abandoned quarry in the foothills of the Catskill Mountains in Hudson Valley, stretching from New York to Pennsylvania. The tree species, Archaeopteris was identified as the predominant life in the forests with wooden roots and leafy branches. The historical forest had trees 65 feet tall and trunks ranging in diameter up to five feet. The fossilized roots featured horizontal radial patterns suggesting information about the location of trees.

Evidence suggested that Cladoxylopsids, an extinct species of sphenopsids and ferns also existed in the forest in addition to a third type, that remains unknown. All of these species, although, reproduced with spores and not seeds. The discovery received widespread attention after professor Dr. Bill Stein of SUNY and Dr. Chris Berry, a paleobotanist from Cardiff University mapped out the Cairo forest. The Archaeopteris trees were determined to have a pivotal role in influencing the Earth’s climate in that era. They grew through a process of extracting carbon dioxide from the environment and converting it into carbon ions in groundwater which eventually flowed into the sea to be absorbed by limestone–a chemical reaction known as weathering, said Kevin Boyce, a geoscientist at Standford University.
#FossilFriday #Paleobotany
— Alexis Rastier - Sigillaria 🌴 (@AlexisRastier) March 1, 2024
Here are fronds of the widespread and very successful progymnosperm tree Archaeopteris (A. roemeriana) and lycophyte naked axes of Archaeosigillaria covered with characteristic leaf scars, two major components of the Ardennes Upper Devonian flora. pic.twitter.com/jkywy8hSCE
According to the sources, the tree species may have contributed to the inception of the late Devonian era ice ages. This is because of their important role in the carbon cycle. The massive trees spread across the globe drew in vast amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere causing colder climates. The Archaeopteris species thrived for millions of years but eventually became extinct with only their fossilized woody roots stuck in time offering a glimpse into their history. Scientists have discovered the species in North America, Europe, and Africa following its evolution.

“You are walking through the roots of ancient trees. Standing on the quarry surface we can reconstruct the living forest around us in our imagination,” Berry said of his experience in the Cairo forest. Analysis of the soil and fish fossils revealed that the forest died due to a massive flood. The Cairo forest was first discovered in 2009 and is about half the size of a football field. The rocks found also date back to the Devonian Period.
Scientists from #CardiffUni, @binghamtonu & @nysmuseum have uncovered the world’s oldest fossil forest in a sandstone quarry in Cairo, New York 🌳
— Cardiff University (@cardiffuni) December 19, 2019
https://t.co/DPr6rztltU pic.twitter.com/oCz7N6hE0L
Marking the old forest’s significance in history, New York State Assemblyman Chris Tauge encouraged the Cairo Town Board to protect and conserve the precious site in 2020. Before the discovery, the Gilboa forest in New York was recognized as the oldest known forest, located 25 miles away from the Cairo forest. The primary tree species in the Gilboa forest were Eospermatopteris, or Gilboa Trees, which lacked wood and grew as tall as 30 feet.