Remnants of submerged forests at the end of the Ice Age are resurfacing, enticing visitors to England | Biodiversity

In England, a previously submerged forest is revealing its secrets to scientists studying how the climate collapsed at the end of the last Ice Age (about 10,000 years ago).

The site is at bed level on the southeast coast of the country. It is one of the largest underwater forests ever discovered in the UK and once formed a coastal forest that stretches for tens of kilometers east and west. At low tide, fallen logs and logs can be seen between the boulders and natural pools. Small animals like clams make these trunks their homes.

These natural remains date back at least 6,500 years, when sea levels rose and made Britain an island separated from the European continent – ​​and, in the process, drowned the region’s trees.

Scott Timpany, a palaeoecologist at the University of the Highlands and Islands and an expert on submerged forests in Britain, said the forests at Bed Level contained significant numbers of oaks, as well as elms, beeches and yews. “It was a wet forest. It would have been a swampy and wet environment, with intervals of surface water in places. “It may become wetter as sea levels rise and glaciers melt,” he explains.

As forest remnants return to the land, debris carried by winter storms, renewed sea-level rise, and the connection of three rivers that join the Rye region a few kilometers to the east create increasing gravel drifts. A problem with the nearest port.

At Rye Harbour, a concrete arm protects the harbor entrance to prevent gravel from clogging the mouth of the Rother River and obstructing navigation along the coast. Rounding out the effort is a fleet of dump trucks that remove up to 80,000 tons of trash each year. Man vs. Nature, run by the UK Environment Agency.

“Without this effort, I estimate that within three years a hole would have been torn in the sea wall and the entire bed level would have become a salt marsh,” says Barry Yates, former manager of Rye Harbor Nature Reserve.

The effects of human activities on this coast, incidentally, may be one of the main reasons for the emergence of submerged forests in recent decades. Constructing a concrete arm to catch sliding gravel reduces the amount of gravel reaching the western cliffs, exposing them to the sea and increasing erosion.

Such rocks have been pushed further into the island, giving more room for gravel to creep in, and Yates explains that this has removed the cover that once hid old bed-level trees.

The revelation of these natural secrets, as well as the wear and tear of the British authorities in their struggle to prevent natural processes, led researchers observing the scene to reflect on the inevitability of such processes for a long time. Local author Gareth E. Rees, whose forthcoming book Sunken Lands, explores humanity’s long relationship with climate disruption.

“When we look at the submerged forest – this incredible thing that was and was powerful, full of life, animals and hunters, we see that it has disappeared. It’s done,” says Reese. “Sometimes we have to let things take their course. And there’s a false sense of security in building too many dams and barriers. You can’t always add engineering solutions.”