The Stunning Preservation of an Arctic Fossil Forest

In 1985, my field assistant and I were examining sedimentary rocks on central Axel Heiberg I. in the Canadian Arctic.  The project was part of a broader science program being run by the Geological Survey of Canada. I had surmised, from some of my earlier work that the deposits here had formed in response to tectonic upheaval in the region about 40 to 45 million years ago (a geological time called the middle Eocene); we were on the look-out for additional information to assess this hypothesis.  Our helicopter had dropped us off at the base of a gentle ridge, known as Geodetic Hills. Continue reading →