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Science 22 July 1994:
Vol. 265. no. 5171, pp. 499 - 502
DOI: 10.1126/science.265.5171.499
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Articles

Evidence from Paleosols for the Geological Antiquity of Rain Forest

Gregory J. Retallack 1 and Judit Germán-Heins 2

1 Department of Geological Sciences, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403, USA.
2 Institute of Applied and Environmental Geology, Eötvös Lorand University, 1088 Budapest, Múzeum Körut 4/a, Hungary

Kaolinitic claystones in Paleozoic paleokarst underlying the Middle Pennsylvanian Fort Scott Limestone near Drake, Missouri, contain abundant fossil root traces. These include a surficial root mat as well as stout, woody, deeply penetrating root traces: a rooting pattern similar to that under rain forest. Also similar to soils of rain forest is the deeply weathered clay of the paleosol, in which minimal amounts of nutrient bases remain. Forest communities adapted to oligotrophic clayey substrates in humid climates existed at least 305 million years ago.

Submitted on January 31, 1994
Accepted on May 23, 1994


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