COMSTOCK, NEW YORK, BURIED FOREST BED

Description:
Large accumulations of plant fossils are rarely discovered in New York State. Excavations at the Washington Correctional Facility in October 1994 uncovered an extensive deposit of logs and associated plant material 20 ft below the top of a terrace along the Barge (Champlain) Canal. This important find will allow study of the rates of erosion and sedimentation in a portion of eastern New York where such information is lacking, as well as an assessment of the composition of the forest vegetation of a part of eastern New York. Radiocarbon analyses establish that the fossils are Holocene. The fossil deposit may prove to contain the most diversified fossil plant assemblage ever found in New York.

Principal Investigator: Norton G. Miller

Collaborators:
· Robert G. LaFleur (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute)

Project Years: 1995-ongoing

Project Products (last 5 years):
Miller, N. G. Fossil mosses in Holocene alluvium: a case study from New York State and prospects. Jour. Hattori Bot. Lab. 82: 171-180. 1997.

Geographic Extent: Washington County, New York

Category: Holocene, plant fossils, bryophytes, wood, terrace sediments