Our Indonesian guide, with a parang (machete) in hand, dropped vertically in front of me, just brushing my face, while out of my peripheral vision I saw someone cartwheeling down through the trees. Then, within about two seconds, six people had vanished. I was alone in the forest. *** We were geologists, daily exploring the… Continue reading Geologising in the Rainforests of Aceh, Indonesia
Tag: rainforest
The Amazing Miocene Fossil Leaf Pack of Mata Creek, New Zealand
I was crouched in a long boat somewhere up a rainforest-swathed river in Kalimatan, Borneo, when I saw it – a ‘living’ example of a fossil leaf pack I had once seen in New Zealand. Several years before, I had been exploring down a little stream near St Bathans, New Zealand. I was looking for… Continue reading The Amazing Miocene Fossil Leaf Pack of Mata Creek, New Zealand
Black Sea rainforest? Gorgeous, green, Georgistan
Rainforest in Georgia? (as in Georgistan, Black Sea, by the way, not as in ‘Good-Old-Boys’). I saw it marked on a Wikipedia map and it seemed like a damned good excuse to go and have a look-see…. Some background: The word ‘gorgeous’ is reputed to stem from Georgian women. Evidence I gathered supports this, from the passport… Continue reading Black Sea rainforest? Gorgeous, green, Georgistan
Canary Islands – ‘Last’ Rainforest in Europe (?)
The fossils are clear – just a few million years ago Europe was covered in broad-leaved, evergreen forest. There were palm trees and numerous other trees that are now only found in the tropics. Under almost any definition, this would be called ‘rainforest’. The climate then cooled and dried and the evergreen forests were mostly… Continue reading Canary Islands – ‘Last’ Rainforest in Europe (?)