HUNGARY: Ancient trees transported to national park in Hungary

Recently-discovered Cypress forest tree trunks which are more than 8 million years old, have been transported to a national park after restoration work stabilized their condition. A group of ancient trees recently discovered in Hungary were transported on Monday (September 3) afternoon to a Hungarian national park. First, the trees had to be stabilized for the transport with special methods to save them from drying out. Hungarian scientists discovered the fossilized swamp cypress trees, preserved from 8 million years ago, in August. Instead of petrifying -- turning to stone -- the wood of 16 Taxodium trees was preserved in an open-cast coal mine allowing geologists to study samples as if they were sections cut from a piece of living wood. Scientists say the importance of the findings is that so many trees got preserved in their original position in one place. "About 8-10 million years ago the mud covered up these trees. Since then they have been amid airtight but wet condition and the cellulose, what held them together, practically dissolved in them. After uncovering the trees they became very soft like a sponge filled with water, and we had to figure out how we can stabilise them with a soluble material so they don't get dried up. Because the drying out would lead to their destruction," Laszlo Haraszthy, state secretary of the Environmental Ministry said. The trees, which stand 4-6 metres tall and 1.5-3 metres in diameter, were found when miners started to remove a deep layer of sand at a mine in the north-eastern village of Bukkabrany to get at deposits of lignite. The trees were found on top of the lignite, capturing one of the last moments of such swamps. The trees date back to the late Miocene geological period at a time when the Carpathian basin -- present day Hungary -- was a freshwater lake surrounded by swamps. Scientists had to act fast to save the trees from drying out and preserve them before they crumble. "When we studied the tree trunks it turned out that they became easily passable for a knife edge. So we had to look for a knife-edge-like substance because it can penetrate the tree and using such a material we could inject a substance that could replace the cellulose," Jozsef Duskai, director of the Bukk National Park said. Experts hope the trees could offer a valuable insight into the climate eight million years ago. Visitors will be able to view the trees in the Ipolytarnoc Nature Protection Area from October.

ITN Source | September 5, 2007

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