One of U.S. state of Alabama’s natural wonders features in a new documentary.
The 50,000-year-old sunken forest was first discovered in the wake of Hurricane Ivan, which tore through the area in 2004, and moved enough sand to reveal the ancient riverbank environment.
The thousands of ancient Cypress stumps lie at a depth of 18m/60ft and are teaming with marine life. Although scientists have raised some of the logs, they were unable to carbon-date the older ones; newer logs have been dated to between 42,000-45,000 years old.
The forest was discovered by local dive shop owner Chris Broughton, who received a call in the wake of Hurricane Ivan about the potential of a new site lying 15 miles of the coast. When he first dived it he was shocked, stating:
“Right then you knew you had something just totally different than what you’ve ever seen in the Gulf in 25 years of diving, so it was quite magnificent.”
Scientist in the team examining the forest are excited about what potential revelations the sunken forest may have about the effects of rising sea levels.
You can check out the documentary about the sunken forest below.