Rootless Trees

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Forty years ago, when Mount St. Helens erupted, geologists watched a catastrophe rapidly reshape the environment. For example, a forest that grew on the side of the volcano was broken off at the roots and washed into a nearby lake. Within just a few years, the rootless trees had sunk upright to the bottom of the lake. They were then partly buried in layers of sediment.

Now, this is significant because we find fossils of trees without roots, buried standing up almost as if they grew there. It’s thought this was a slow and gradual process. But Mount St. Helens showed this can happen fast! Those other trees were buried by a much bigger catastrophe—Noah’s flood.

Dig Deeper

• Five Mass Extinctions or One Cataclysmic Event?
• Mt. St. Helens and Catastrophe