World's Largest Fossil Forest, and One of the Oldest

solitas writes in with news from last week of the discovery of a fossilized forest in Illinois. The forest was found in the ceiling of a working coal mine, 250 feet below the surface. It was drowned 300 million years ago in an earthquake, its discoverers speculate — here is a graphic of its formation. Geologists are excited because the huge fossilized forest, over 25 square miles in extent, preserves trees and other plants upright, as they grew.

Comments

Re:There's no way it's 300 million years old

[WheelDweller]

Nope; as a Christian, I have to step in:

        There's no way it's 6,000 tops, and I'll tell ya why.

A well-meaning, and very solidly-scientific priest named Usher in 1532 looked into the book of Numbers, made some assumptions, and did the math. Unfortunately every one of his five assumptions were wrong.

In the old days, the days of the old testament, telling one's family tree was done in a special way; and a very human way, at that. When telling how someone relates to Adam, they skip generations: generations no one ever heard of. Not to mention that people used to live sometimes *much* more than the 30-40 years as man has for most of it's time, and much more than the 70 expected years, these days.

Ya see, the Bible isn't intended as forensic data; it has a message to tell. You won't find the 16,900,000 species of mammals in there, 'cause it's just not important. It'd make the final work a house, not a book. And it distracts from the point. However the description of the development of plants does match the fossil records.

There's an important message in the Bible; a book written like Shakespeare with it's different language and different style of speaking, but it's heavily cross-referenced with multitudes of layers all pointing to a single truth:

        One world: Earth
        One race: Human
        One nation: Isreal*
        One purpose: Recovery from misery

        Nothing in the Bible suggests racism; this isn't only for Jews or Caananites or any one particular kind of person. And it's intended to bring us joy, harmony, and a better life for those who follow it. He makes every effort to keep the message passed down from generation to generation, as well as from continent to continent with only typeo-style differences, even across 1,000 years when paper wasnt an easy option.

        You can choose to look for that single message of acceptance and good, or you can ridicule it, ignore it, and find yourself no longer bothered by Him for eternity. ...and Isreal? It's a relationship to God, not a stretch of stinkin' sand. We're wrong to suggest the Jews go back to there...they need the new Jerusalem. But then, everyone does.