page_title: Ghost forest
section_title: Sea level changes
hierarchical_section_title: Ghost forest / Formations / Sea level changes
caption_attribution_description: When the Colorado River, TX is dammed to form Inks Lake, a forest was immersed in water and thus killed, resulting in a ghost forest.
context_page_description: Ghost forests are areas of dead trees in former forests, typically in coastal regions where rising sea levels or tectonic shifts have altered the height of a land mass. Forests located near the coast or estuaries may also be at risk of dying through saltwater poisoning, if invading seawater reduces the amount of freshwater that deciduous trees receive for sustenance.
  Looking at the stratigraphic record, it is possible to reconstruct a series of events that lead to the creation of a ghost forest. Where, in a convergent plate boundary, there has been orogenic uplift, followed by earthquakes resulting in subsidence and tsunamis, altering the coast and creating a ghost forest.
context_section_description: When there is a change in sea level, coastal regions may become inundated with sea water. This can alter coastal areas and kill large areas of trees, leaving behind what is called a “ghost forest.”  This type of ghost forest may develop in a variety of environments and in many different places. In the southern US coastal marshes are expanding into dry wooded areas, killing trees and leaving behind areas of dead trees called snags. 
  Regions of the US at or below sea level are more susceptible to tides. Coastal features affected by changing sea levels are indirectly affected by climate change. With global sea level rise, the coastlines in the southern US are being altered and leave behind salt marshes filled with dead and dying trees in some areas.
caption: Forest immersed in water at Inks Lake State Park, Texas, USA
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