It was the year 1986 when a shepherd, Félix Sáez Arnedo, found a fossil conifer in the municipality of Igea, although it was Angel Gracia and Elena Torrijos who gave the deserved importance to the discovery. Located about 4 km. from Igea, in the direction of Cornago, at the same point where it was located. This magnificent specimen is located on the hill in front of the Ermita de la Virgen del Villar, well signposted and with easy access.
Characteristics
This fossil trunk dates from the Secondary (Lower Cretaceous), more exactly, from 120 million years ago. Its dimensions are 10 meters in length and it has a diameter of 40 cm at the base and it is reduced to 20 cm at the highest part.
This fossil trunk was classified as a new species, from which it received the name of Dadoxylon Aracaurioxylon Riojense.
This trunk in perfect state of conservation contains even the most delicate structures of which we could see the internal structure of the plant.
How fossilization occurs?
It is called fossilization the process by which the remains of an organism, or its activity become part of the fossil record, encompassed in the rocks of the earth's crust.
Once the organism produces a remainder, its decomposition begins.
The rest can be transported by fluvial currents, to a zone of accumulation of sediments, where it is buried.
If the right conditions exist, the rest can fossilize. For this to occur, organic compounds must be replaced by more stable mineral compounds.
In this case of the trunk, the organic matter was replaced by XXXXXXX, and the pressure of the sediments compact the trunk, deforming it to give it the elliptical section that we see today.
Habit and Holotype
In the epoch in which it existed, the zone of vegetation was of drag by the currents of the rivers that transported them until the deltaic plain by where they ran rivers channels and lagoons. They arrived floating from the highest continental areas, that's why there are constantly fragments of this type of trees that show that they belonged to much larger ones. The DADOXYLON seems to go back to the Primary era, had its peak in the Jurassic and were scattered throughout the planet in the Cretaceous.
Holowhat ...? An holotype is a type of a sample selected to describe the characteristics of an entire species and the fossil trunk in front of you is considered the holotype of this species, there are only two of this fossil specimens in the world and they are located here in Igea.
EARTHCACHE
The concept of this Earthcache is that the geocacher discover this incredible place. I could explain more about the subject but I like my Earthcaches to be brief and concise so visitors leave the place having learned something new. Enjoy it!
To validate your log, please send me the answers to the following questions. You can log without waiting for my reply, if a problem occurs we will try to find a solution together.
Log this cache as a "found it" and send me your answers via my profile or via message on geocaching.com, and I will contact you in case of problem.
1-. How do you think the trunk got here?
2-. Replace the XXXXX of the text with the word you will find in the information panel.
3-. What is a holotype?
|