What is significant about finding the fossils of tropical plants in the arctic?

Svalbard, Norway is known for it's splendid Arctic scenery, frigid weather and polar bears. But it wasn't always like this. In a study published recently in Geology, researchers announce the discovery of a fossilized tropical forest in Svalbard.

Chris Berry and other researchers from Cardiff University found tropical tree stumps--the remains of an ancient tropical forest--during field work in the frigid latitudes.

380 million years ago, the continents were in vastly different places. The solid part of the Earth that we live on is broken into sections called tectonic plates. Over time, these plates move, pushed around by the Earth's mobile interior. Svalbard was near the equator 380 million years ago. (Watch this great animation to see where your home was back then.)

The fossilized tree stumps found by the researchers were lycopsids, early trees that are related to club moss.

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Trees in fossil forest

Trees in fossil forest

Cardiff University

Scientists think that the explosive growth of these trees during this period helped to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.