A new petrified forest is brought to light in the area of Kerasia in northern Evia, the important excavation carried out by the Museum of Natural History of the Lesvos Petrified Forest. It should be noted that the Museum of Natural History of the Lesvos Petrified Forest, given its important expertise in the preservation of natural heritage, undertook the excavation research at Culture Ministry Lina Mendoni’s decision.
Excavation research in northern Evia began in October 2022 and continues to this day. It has brought to light a large number of fossilized trunks and leafy horizons. In particular, the excavations are being carried out in the fossil-bearing area of 1.7 hectares, which belongs to the Region of Central Greece and has been fenced off. And during their time, numerous fragments of fossilized trunks and foliar horizons were found lying within lake sediments. The excavation research is being carried out at the sites where there were clues and has so far brought to light more than 160 fossilized trunks and parts of trees.
The director of the Museum of Natural History of the Petrified Forest of Lesvos, Professor Nikos Zouros, who directs the excavation works, said to Athens-Macedonian News Agency that, “in the first of the fossil-bearing areas that have already been excavated, 58 fossilized trunks and large parts of them were discovered and preserved. During the excavation, numerous detached parts of trunks and twigs were collected, which were preserved for their preservation. The new fossil-bearing sites that have come to light compose the image of the subtropical forest, mainly with coniferous and broad-leaved trees that existed in the area of today’s northern Evia during the Miocene period.
“The creation of this important monument of nature, continues Zouros, is due to the favourable conditions for fossilization of plants that were covered by sediments. The preservation of fossils is due to the fact that the process of primary fossilization took place, i.e. replacement of plant matter molecule by molecule by silicon. It should be noted that during the above process the morphological features of the fossilized trunks (bark, growth rings) are very well preserved. Also, the internal structure of the petrified wood is very well preserved with the microscopic study of which determines the genus and species of the tree from which they come.”
The promotion of the Petrified Forest of Kerasia is expected to contribute to the stimulation of the visitation of the area and may be a reason for the attraction of schools for the implementation of educational activities. The project to highlight the petrified forest of Kerasia includes the realization of excavations and projects to highlight the outdoor fossil-bearing sites that are revealed as well as a series of actions for their promotion, which includes the organization of a periodic exhibition to present the findings.
The project “excavation, protection and highlighting of petrified logs in the Kerasia petrified forest of Evia”, is financed by the Green Fund within the framework of the action “BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION ACTIONS INNOVATIVE ACTIONS – SMART CITIES – OTHER ACTIONS” which has been included in the Plan of Actions for the Reconstruction of North Evia.
SOURCE; ANA-MPA
