Veres János: A bükkábrányi 8 millió éves mocsárerdő (Múzeumi Mozaik 7. Miskolc, 2007)

upward from the ground surrounding the host tree, we can only identify by oval shaped markings. But what seems like a failure in the paleobotanical field can help interpreting geological and taphonomical processes. By digging deep enough we lose the structure of the cypresses the roots of which became one and the same with the mineral environment. In the cracks are shiny deposits of marcasite. In „root-depth"there are markings of movement which means that the depositing of the peat had been going on before the complete burial. The cypresses, we can conclude, lived in a swamp in wich the bottom was made of thick layers of decomposing plant material and where the last living biotope atop was the taxonium forest. The stumps are all the same height which is also the height of the grey deposit around the trees. Above this is a yellow sandy layer in which the forest cannot even be traced. It is quite clear that this grey deposit helped preserve the stumps by creating an airtight layer over the millions of years, but the same layer evidently killed the trees also. The 6-metre thick deposit quickly covered the forest and hugged the trees. These trees lived for a long time after that and the normal decomposition of the forest is evident in the deeper layers. We uncovered plenty of branches and tree bark which shows the dying of the canopy whereas the lower parts of the tree trunks were preserved by the silty deposit around them. ECOSYSTEM, EARLY MEN, ENVIRONMENTAL STRUCTURE It is quite simple to record the parameters of the forest, the living processes and the environment with the methods of natural science. What cannot concieve by these methods is the huge gap in between ancient times. As there is still a missing link exists in the evolution of mankind we also have gaps in geographical history. The scientific studies of the bald cypresses