I don't trouble m'self too much about how that was. It's a miracle.
But when I was about ten years old, I started discovering fossils in shale along the faultline that runs through Portsmouth RI. Collected samples of about half a dozen ferns and leaves over the course of a summer.
I did a little reading and found out that these types of fossils and the shale were pegged at about 56 million years-old....Carboniferous Era.
One day it occurred to me that some of this 56 million year-old rock I was splitting had what seemed to be organic remains of the plant membranes in them...greeny stuff. Many were more with crystalline deposits...sort of asbestos-or pyrite-looking material. But others had goo....green goo... that I could wipe away...like fresh grass stains.
I started to wonder just how old this rock and these fossils were, so I was spurred to make a survey of the plants growing around the area to see how many specimens I could find that 'matched' or at least closely resembled the fossil imprints I was finding in split 56 million year-old shale.
That year in grammar school, I put together a science project that displayed the fossils and their counterparts I found growing in the same area.
The teachers were scratching their heads. It was rumored that I had talent as a sculptor...that I fabricated the fossils. Except for my science teacher, who knew the fossils were authentic...we later went together to collect more....and just shrugged his shoulders as to how it could be that several 56 million year-old fossils were still growing, and that seemingly organic material remained in some discoveries. He related that we don't know more than we know.
Since, I've become aware of Creationist assertions that fossils are not as old as the geologists say....largely poo-pooed by real geeks in white lab coats. I don't know...nor do I care much. But I think there's some merit in the argument, based on what I saw.
My story...stickin' too it.
If you're a fossil expert, I'm still curious about the explanation for my observations. I never did become a fossil scientist. I got into a band. There were girls.
There's a typo here, the Carboniferous was 355-290 mya. The last dinosaur was 65 mya.
Interesting story. Do you still have any of these fossils? Did you ever show any of them to a prefessional? Could you tell someone how/where to find some? Do you remember what species were represented? Thanks.
Simple answer.
Shale splits easily and plants insert roots and other root-like structures into the splits. Also green algae can get in and goo-ify
I'm pretty good on plants, both live and fossil. If you have and can post pictures or id info I can probably help explain.
Generally, many plants of the Carboniferous era do resemble to some degree many modern species. This is especially true of fern-y looking stuff.