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1991-01-12
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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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Missouri Association for Creation, Inc.
405 North Sappington Road
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(314) 821-1234
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