Coffin,  Harold  G.   "Sonar and Scuba Survey of  a 
Submerged  Allochthonous  "Forest" in Spirit  Lake, 
Washington"  Palaios 2: 178-180, l987.

[Coffin,   a  well-known  creationist,  is  at  the 
Geoscience   Research   Institute,    Loma    Linda 
University, Loma Linda, CA 92350.]

ABSTRACT--A  log raft (>5.1 km2) covering more than 
half the surface of Spirit Lake formed as a  result 
of the eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980.  Since 
then,  erect  floating  stumps have settled to  the 
lake  bottom.   In August,  1985,  side-scan  sonar 
transects  covering approximately 0.8% of the  lake 
bottom revealed 154 erect stumps.  Extrapolation to 
the  entire bottom area indicates that there  would 
be    about   19,500   submerged   erect    stumps.  
Observations at Spirit Lake suggest that lacustrine 
environments    receiving   trees    uprooted    by 
catastrophic  events have the potential to preserve 
accumulations of erect trees that are difficult  to 
distinguish from in situ forests.

[Under  the  heading,  "Comparisons with  Petrified 
Forests," Coffin discusses some of the implications 
of his observations.]

The observation of standing allochthonous submerged 
"forests" in the process of being buried may aid in 
the   interpretation  of  petrified  forests   from 
similar settings.   Questions concerning the origin 
of  the  Yellowstone Petrified  Forests  have  been 
raised   and   mechanisms  for  the   allochthonous 
emplacement    of   upright   stumps   have    been 
suggested...Thirty to 75% of the petrified trees of 
the     Yellowstone    Petrified    Forests     are 
erect...compared  to  approximagely  60%  for   the 
sunken  forest in Spirit Lake and the trees in  the 
surrounding  blowdown  area are usually broken  off 
but the small roots may be intact.

The  petrified  forests in the  Paleocene  Sentinel 
Butte Formation of Theodore Roosevelt National Park 
and adjacent areas in western North Dakota provided 
an opportunity for a density count of 45  petrified 
erect stumps in a 4697 m2 area, which translates to 
96 trees per hectare.

If   these   North  Dakota  petrified   trees   are 
allochthonous,  they  were  probably  deposited  by 
fluvial  processes...as were the trees in the North 
Toutle River Valley west of Mt. St. Helens.

...

The  allochthonous or autochthonous origin of  some 
petrified forests may never be settle conclusively, 
but  the floating mat and sunken "forest" of Spirit 
Lake   illustrate  a  viable  mechanism   for   the 
transport and deposition of upright stumps.   Trees 
uprooted  by catastrophic events may settle to  the 
bottom   in  an  upright  position  in   lacustrine 
environments with sufficiently deep water.

[It's  very encouraging to see this publication  by 
Coffin,  with a plain acknowledgment of the work of 
ICR  staff  member  Steve  Austin--"I  thank  Steve 
Austin   for   much  assistance   with   underwater 
photography,   field  research,  calculations,  and 
interpretations"--in   a  journal  which   recently 
published  a  rather  bitter editorial  by  William 
Bennetta against creationists, and non-evolutionary 
theories of origins.]


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