An ancient cypress forest has been discovered at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico 60 feet under water about 10 miles off the coast of Alabama. An examination of samples from the trees using radiocarbon dating estimated that they are over 50,000 years old. The wood is remarkably well preserved and has the distinct aroma of cypress when it is sawn, researchers said.
The fact that the trees are under water is due to changing sea levels caused by ice ages coming and going and the land mass in southern Alabama rising and subsiding over the last 50,000 to 80,000 years.
Scientists think massive waves during Hurricane Katrina rearranged the sand and silt on the ocean floor, uncovering the forest after it had been hidden for eons.
More information is at al.com.
