Hinges of History - Democratic Underground

H2O Man

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Sat Sep-15-07 07:15 AM
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Hinges of History

A while back, I had posted a thread that included information on some fossils that my friends and I were finding on a site in rural, upstate New York. These are fossils know as a type of cladoxylopsid tree, the Eospermatopteris textillis, to the scientists who studied them. They are from what is known as the middle to late Devonian period of the Paleozoic era.

Being an uneducated by-product of the rural, upstate culture, I find it easier to call them "tree-ferns" (or "fern-trees"), and marvel at the very thought that they are the fossil record of the earliest known forests on earth, dating some 380 million years old. It is believed that these early plants helped bring about changes that allowed for animals life to flourish in land later. Dinosaurs, for example, began to walk this earth 170 million years later.

In 2003, Dr. Linda VanAller Hernick of the NYS Museum published a wonderful book, "The Gilboa Fossils." On the back cover, it reads, "The Devonian Period was an interval of dramatic change in the history of life on Earth. Much of the evidence for what is known about terrestrial life during the period on North America has come from some extraordinary fossil discoveries made in Gilboa, New York, over the past 150 years. The abundance and often superb preservation of fossils from Gilboa made the area one of the most important Devoian localities in the world!"

In April, 2007, Linda and Dr. William Stein (SUNY-Binghamton) and friends published an outstanding article in the prestigious English scientific journal "Nature" (Volume 446; pages 904-907). It is titled "Giant cladoxylopsid trees resolve the enigma of the earth’s earliest forest stumps at Gilboa."

I had first become aware of the local tree-fern fossils in the early 1980s, when I was working on a near-by archaeological site from the Revolutionary War era. One "layer" of history there involved a group of escaped slaves who were connected with Mohawk leader Joseph Brant. After the war, the first of three mills was built on the creek where the fossils are found; the above photograph is of the third mill, though the stonework you see was done in 1820, for the second mill.

After the Civil War, a railroad crossed the creek below the mill. The photo below shows the trestle. This photo was taken in 1907, and shows the reinforced trestle that spans the creek. Two years later, Winifred Goldring graduated from Wellesley College; a decade later, she came to this area to look for fossils of the tree-ferns that fascinated her.

Dr. Goldring, of the NYS Museum, was one of the great scientists of her era. It was before women were recognized as being equals in the field. You can bet that my young daughters know all about her. They have found some of the most interesting fossils at the falls.

In 2006, there was a severe flood in our area. It changed the landscape. One of the results was that we were able to find other fossils. This summer, we took photos, and made a map of where we had found more than 50 fossils and pieces of fossils uncovered by the flood. We sent the information to Dr. Hernick and Dr. Stein, and invited them to visit the site.

A few DUers had expressed some interest in this topic when I first posted the information this summer. I am going to put together a few posts on this thread, to tell about the up-dated information that I have. I think it is of interest not only because of fossils, but the way it connects with human history in this isolated corner of the world. I also think it fits with the idea that as we continue to be involved in the political and social issues around us, we can benefit from taking time for ourselves, to engage in activities that are fun.

I hope that some of you enjoy this thread.