Visit 50,000 Year Old Underwater Primeval Forest Found in Gulf of Mexico (VIDEO)

Hispanically Speaking ^ | Wednesday, July 10, 2013 | unattributed

[SunkenCiv]

Imagine swimming in an underwater primeval forest that nature has preserved for over 50,000 years. Now you can if you are willing to dive 60 feet below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico, 10 miles offshore of Alabama.

Experts believe 2005's Hurricane Katrina unveiled what had been buried under ocean sediment for centuries. And it took some curious fishermen to discover it by questioning why there so many fishing congregating in one area.

The discovery was made in 2012 but only recently became public knowledge. The find was confirmed when a dive team and experts from Louisiana State University took the 60 foot plunge and found a primeval cypress forest nearly one mile wide. The thriving eco system has stood devoid of oxygen for over 12,000 years. Some of the tree stumps found are half-a-mile in diameter. Scientists from Louisiana State tested some of the samples brought up by divers that proved to be 52,000 years old. That means these trees were probably thriving during an period earlier than the Ice Age. Incredibly researchers say the inside of the tree appears to still be hard.

That's the good news and now for the bad.

Experts believe the primeval forest has two years to survive now that it is exposed to the ravages of the sea that include burrowing sea life uprooting the ancient tree stumps. There are some fallen logs that are already covered by sea crustaceans.

What's next for the primeval underwater forest that is owned more by the sea than it is by the U.S. or Mexico is another mystery. Divers can only access this underground treasure 40 minutes at a time to derive any useful information.

Go for a dive and check out this Live Science video for yourself before its too late.

[Windflier]

The Latino’s at

Death to all misplaced apostrophes!!

[amihow]

Shudder is correct. Not shutter.

[Rebelbase]

Correct. And that quote wasn’t even in the article.

[null and void]

Still you could make a lot of shutters with a half mile wide tree...

(Should I have said "alot of shutters"?)

Courtesy of Hyperbole and a half

[Don W]

I too find apostrophe abuse abhorrent!

I’m still trying to figure out why my English teachers always advised against alliteration.

[The Cajun]

Experts from Louisiana State University took the 60 foot plunge and found a primeval cypress forest nearly one mile wide. Some of the tree stumps found are half-a-mile in diameter.

Willing to bet them scientist names' were *Boudreaux and Thibodaux*.

Sounds like the work of them boys :)

[Wuli]

“What’s next for the primeval underwater forest that is owned more by the sea than it is by the U.S. or Mexico”

It is 10 miles off the coast of Alabama. Apparently the author in “Hispanicly”speakingnews did not look at a map. There is no way the area is “owned” by Mexico, though under international law standards there is no doubt it can be claimed to be in “U.S. territorial waters”.

The “Hispanicly”speakingnews author must be something of a “racist”.

[Wuli]

Here’s the first report that the “Hispanicly”speakingnews reporter cut and pasteed from:

http://blog.al.com/wire/2013/03/ancient_underwater_forest_off.html

adding his own spin at the end that they might be “owned” by Mexico

[Wuli]

Here’s the first reports that the “Hispanicly”speakingnews reporter cut and pasteed from:

http://blog.al.com/live/2012/09/ancient_forest_lies_10_miles_o.html

http://blog.al.com/wire/2013/03/ancient_underwater_forest_off.html

adding his own spin at the end that they might be “owned” by Mexico

[ApplegateRanch]

Shudder is correct. Not shutter.

...but not if you're a "graduate" of journalism "school".

They shutter their minds at any thought or mention of proper English, grammar, diction, reality, or common sense: they "shutter at the thought".

[ApplegateRanch]

Never mind the squirrels; think about the size of the beavers!

[amihow]

Lib schools do this to our kids if we let them.

[logitech]

The money quote:

“... but if I didn’t tell you that it was over 50,000 years old, you wouldn’t know it,” said Kristine DeLong, the Louisiana State University researcher

Call me skeptical but Mobile Bay and southward is full of dead trees washed out of the delta.

[BrewingFrog]

I remember a story about some guys doing cores off the Florida coast and pulling up pine wood with the sap still in it, under a thick layer of mud.

Estimated age: 12,000 years.

[blam]

Thanks.

I have some 7,000 year old wood from a cypress forest off the coast of West Florida (locally know as LA, lower Alabama).

Ten years ago, I appealingly packaged some with documentation and gave it to my family members for Christmas.

Now, I'd like to get some of this older wood.

[The Cajun]

A friend was developing a subdivision about 3 miles away from me.
They were running a D-8 dozer with a shearing blade to knock down regular vegetation/trees and as they dug in deeper, began hitting giant cypress tree stumps with a diameter of 12 to 15 feet.
Pretty sizable, have one on some property I own and it's about 9 ft. in dia. and it's a big'en.
Said they appeared to have been cut, but nobody knows or has records of when this was originally logged.

[TnTnTn]

The ‘journalist’ who penned this article will be the next White House press secretary no doubt! Incompetence at its worst!

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Well, it’s clear you are NOT a j-school student because you got it right.

[Windflier]

I too find apostrophe abuse abhorrent!

We used to laugh at apostrophe abuse when I was a kid. It was the sure mark of an illiterate. Now, I see well read adults making that error all the time.

[1010RD]

And I never quite got around to thanking you properly.

I’ll forever remember that long burning fire and how that log sparkled and popped. It smelled like a primeval forest.

Can’t wait for this Christmas’ gift from blam.