Peruvian Fossil Tree

In Down to Earth geological magazine of November 2020  we have a story about a fossil tree found on Peru's altiplano [the central Andean plateau]. The tree was buried in what is now a cold grassy plain, a high altitude site in southern Peru. The find is said to contradict current mainstream thinking about past climate in the region – between ten and five million years ago. See also www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-8674567/ … and the research was published in Science Advances. The tree was one part of a greater whole which included hundreds of pieces of fossilised wood, leaves and pollen samples that were investigated, not all laid down at the same time. Some of these plants were living in a more humid environment, probably at a lower elevation, one might assume. The ecosystem was subsequently buried, and preserved. The petrified wood [perimineralised] was very much like wood in modern tropical forests but the problem here is that mainstream uniformitarian theory assumes the altiplano was already half way up to its present altitude at the time the fossilised wood was laid down This is, in essence, the mystery staring mainstream in the face. Logically, if tropical trees were present and then they lived in a tropical ecosystem – at a lower elevation. That contradicts the prevailing mainstream theory of gradual tectonic uplift. The other part of the mystery is that 5 million years ago the ecosystem was not a lot different to what it is today. Either there was elevation on a rapid time scale or it was very much hotter than the modern world 10 million years ago, hence tropical forest at an elevation of 2000m [the uniformitarian calculation]. Pollen samples suggest a high elevation ecosystem, grasses and herbs. The fossil record is telling us, we are told, the environmental mix changed dramatically over a short period of time. They suggest tectonic uplift of the Andes occurred in rapid pulses – but even that does not explain it. Fudge.