The petrified forest of Lesvos was formed 20 million years ago when a volcano exploded in the north of the island, covering the entire area with ash and lava. The area, covering 15,000 hectares, is known for its vibrant and colorful petrified tree trunks.
Nickolas Zouros, a professor of geology at the University of the Aegean, had excavated the fossilized forest ecosystem, but told CNN he’d never discovered such a find.
“We’ve made a lot of findings over the years, but the latest are the most important – really extraordinary,” he told CNN on Thursday.
Experts discovered the enormous tree, which was 19.6 meters tall – complete with branches and a root system – during an excavation along the Kalloni-Sigri highway.
“This is not often found in excavations,” said Zouros. “We usually find tree trunks without branches and roots.
“It is the only one found in the excavation found with the branches, the root system, and was found on a layer full of leaves – we have all the organs of the tree in the regional system. This is unique, so far – we are already 25 years of digging and have never found a tree like this, ”he said.
Conifers, fruit trees, sequoia trees, pine, palm, cinnamon and oak trees are among the specimens discovered in the petrified forest.
“These trees show that the climate was changing in the area of Lesbos – this tree is subtropical. The climatic conditions were subtropical 20 million years ago when the tree was destroyed by the volcanic eruptions. Today by studying this flora – the petrified forest -” – we can have an idea of how climate change is affecting the ecosystem, “said Zouros.
Zouros told CNN that vegetation records showed that half of the species ever found on the island were extinct.
“They couldn’t survive climate change,” he said. “This is important information we can use to explain to visitors that climate change is seriously affecting the species living here, modern ecosystems.”
In addition to the “extraordinary” tree, experts discovered more than 150 logs in a different location, about 200 kilometers (124 miles) from where the entire tree was discovered.
“The new finds from Professor Zouros are astonishing,” Chronis Tzedakis, a professor of physical geography at University College London who is not involved in the excavation, told CNN.
“Retrieving a tree with its branches, roots and leaves still attached to it is extremely rare, while 150 trunks restored together will provide a unique snapshot of a particular point in time, allowing us to assess the biodiversity of the ecosystem. . “
Tzedakis added: “More generally, although there are several petrified forests around the world, Sigri is exceptional in that several trees are found in their original position, with their root systems intact. This gives a rare glimpse of a Miocene forest, in terms of size and density. “
The dig that found the tree was completed in January, Zouros said.