Norfolk: ancient forest found under water - video

A remarkable discovery has been made in England. In the coastal waters of Norfolk, located in the east of the country, the remains of an ancient forest were found. The find, which dates back several thousand years, has aroused considerable interest in the scientific world and is currently being investigated. Hidden just 8m below the surface of the water, it could have been hidden even since the last glaciation!

-- Advertisement --

The forest was part of a region known as ‘Doggerland’, which was part of an even larger area before it was flooded by the waters of the North Sea. According to researchers, the area was huge and stretched over thousands of acres. Hunters or gatherers living nearby could have reached the area of present-day Germany by land. It probably came under water when the glaciation receded and the water level rose rapidly.

“It was amazing. I’ve been diving for 16 years now, but I’ve never seen anything like this. All this forest has been here all this time, hidden from human sight for thousands of years! A find like this is not something you can expect when going for a quick d ive,” said Dawne Watson

A prehistoric submerged forest has been found by two divers: Dawne Watson and Rob Spray just 300m offshore. Both men represent Sea Search East, a marine life research organisation, and made their find during one of their project dives.

“We are now planning to do some more dives so we can map the area where the forest is located. We need to establish how big an area it covers. Even more exciting is the vision of all the fossils we can find in this forest,” explains Rob Spray

The submerged forest may be more than 10,000 years old. It was hidden under the bottom of the North Sea until late 2014, until it was exposed by the very strong storms that hit the region in December 2013.

Source: edp24.co.uk, bbc.com Photo: Rob Spray/Geoff Robinson Photography