Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1914-03-05
FOSSIL FLORA.
Tinnts show Climate of Arctic Circle to
Have Bcen Almost Tropical.

rinnts show Climate of Arctic Circle to
Have Bcen Almost Tropical.
Peculiar and absorbing interest attaches
to the study of the fossil foras of the
Arctic regi' MS, for they indicate condi-
tons very unlike those now existing
there. In place of the present snow and
ice and the scant almost perpetually
frozen soil which supports but a hand
full of depauperate plants, the conditions
from at least late Paleozoic to middle
Ceneozoic geologic time--many millions
of years ago. before the development of
mammals-made possible, at least dur
ing certain periods, an abundant and
luxuriant vegetation, consisting of ferns
and palmlike plants that could grow on
ly in u mild and probably frostlees elm
ate. Although these lands arc now so
iuhospitable, and hence but rarely visi-
ted, an astonishing amount of informa-
ton concerning their fossil floras has
been accumulated, and to this knowledge
Alaska has contributed its full quota,
says f. H. Knowlton, a paleontologist
of the United States Geological Survey,
in short paper on the "Jurassic Flora
of Cape Lisburne."
The fossil plants described by Mr..
Knowlton We're collected by "A. j. Col
licr, a geologist of the Survey, while
engaged in the study of the coal re-
sources of the Cape Lsburne region.
The coal deposits are extensive and are
the only mineral resources of the region
known to be of commercial Importance.
a little mining has been done by ves-
sells short of fuel which occasionally lie
off shore and load on a few sacks of
coal. This. however. is a rather danger
Gus practice, as there is no harbor.
Cape Lisburne is the bold headland
which marks the northwestern extremity
of land mass projecting into the Arctic
ocean from the Awestern coast of Alaska
between latitudes IS degrees and 60 de-
grees. 1t lies 100 miles north or the Arctic
circle, about 500 miles directly north of
Nome and is the only point in Alaska
north of Berng Strait where hills above
1000 feet in height approach the sea.
The Jurassic section to which the name
Corwn formation has been given is said
by Collier to consist of shaes, sandstones.
conglomerates and coal beds. Fosil
plants occur in the shale beds wherever
reaches the enormous thickness of over
900 feet and contains 40 to so coal beds
which range in thickness from one or two
to over 30 feet, 10 Of them being four feet
thick and suitable for mining. The varl-
Gus beds aggregate at least $50 feet of
coal
Mr.. Knowlton correlates the Jurassic
flora of Alaska with that of eastern ST.
IBERIA and concludes that the land con-
nection between North America and Asia
at this early period of the world must
have been practically continuous. In re-
viewing the character and geographic
range of Jurasslc fioras, especially as de-
veloped in Arctic and Antarctic regions,
he states that the wide areal distribution
of middle and upper Jurassc fioras has
long been one of the marvels Of plant
distribution. The living flora of today. of
course. affords many individual examples
of wide distribution, such as those found
throughout the tropics of both hemi-
spheres, and others, chiefly weeds, that
have. largely through human agencies,
spread widely over temperate lands, but
altogether these plants form but an in
significant part of the whole flora, where
as in Jurassic time a large percentage Of
the whole fora was practically worldwide
In its range.
Even Cape Lisburne is by no means
cal vegetation: it has been found pre-
served for all time in the rocks, $50 miles
northeast of Cape Lisburne