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2.5m Water Scorpion Stalks Southern Africa
MeredihtJT writes: "The giant water scorpion well over two metres long made its way slowly over the sea floor, about 100m to 200m below the surface of the water. It would take another 260 million years for South African Palaentologist, geologist and 'pizza-maker' Roger Smith to find it."
Miraculously, the blobs were the tracks left by the water scorpion, perfectly preserved as fossilised rock despite the passing of millions of years and the huge re-arrangement of Earth's surface involving massive geological forces like volcanoes and earthquakes.
Noooooo, perfectly preserved because they were made only a few thousand years ago. Perfectly preserved because powerful currents from a giant flood of biblical proportions dumped a pile of sediment on them before they could lose their shape. The process of fossilization occurs rapidly and has been observed both in the laboratory and in nature. (The motto of the linked site is: Your window into the Mesozoic. Can you see the incredible, widespread myopia of our culture?) It begins within months and is usually complete in a number of years (usually less then ten) depending on the environment. This is widely known and documented fact, not theory.
More breathless myopic statements:
Article by Jame E. Francis. "Arctic Eden," Natural History, January 1991, p.57 and 60:
"The remains of lush forests near the North Pole give a glimpse of the Arctic's subtropical past....Despite the passage of 45 million years, the wood retains its original color and is still flexible and burns easily. I quickly discovered that my geologic hammer was useless for collecting samples of the fossil wood; the next season I came better prepared with wood saws."
How do you think a magnolia leaf would change as the result of having been buried for 17-20 million years? Consider this remark from Nature, V.344, April 12, 1990, p. 587:
"When rocks containing these fossils are cleaved open, the freshly exposed leaf tissues are often bright green or 'deep autumnal' in colour, though they rapidly curl away from the substrate as they oxidize and dry out."
The author says that it was even possible to isolate the DNA of the leaves:
"But even the most optimistic estimate of the longevity of this molecule would not have predicted that fragments of substantial length would survive after tens of millions of years at the bottom of an ancient lake." (p. 587)
The Discovery Channel needs to have the same disclaimer that Miss Cleo has. For entertainment purposes only.