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Raindrops Frozen in Time

23 November 2024
Geology, Palaeontology

William sent in the link and Robert was aware of the story as well. See for example https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/experts-stumble-on-sandstone-slabs-with-footprints-of-entire-280-million-year-old-ecosystem-that-predate-dinosaurs/ar-AA1uzyvN … a discovery in the Italian Alps of a fossilised prehistoric ecosystem, otherwise a landscape, dating back 280 million years ago. This was the Permian period on the geological column. Dinosaurs first emerged in the Triassic, becoming dominant in the Jurassic. So, it was very early – the age of reptiles and amphibians.

The fossils included plant imprints, animal tracks, and water bodies – trapped and preserved between layers of sand and clays. There are also tracks of animals themselves – including foot imprints and the slithering of tails. Leaves, stems, and seeds, and the ripples of water were also preserved. Later, we are told the fossils included, after analysis, the imprints of fingernails, claw marks, and trails of sinuous tails, ripples or waves of water possibly from a lake shore – and even rain drops preserved in mud. Think about that – the preservation of rain drops. This represents a catastrophic event of some kind – and instant preservation in sediments of sand and clays. In fact, the possible evidence the whole sedimentary layer was created rapidly.

See also https://dailygalaxy.com/2024/11/280-million-year-old-ecosystem-italian-alp/ … this specifically mentions rain drops. Some sites with the same story omit the rain drops.

 

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