THE ART OF NATURE PHOTOGRAPHY --- FOSSILS
By: Fely Sorensen

The art of photography is more than a visual art in a sense that taking images of our nature world is an internal appreciation of balance, harmony and beauty. The beauty of nature reflected in art is just another reminder of our need to protect it. Being outdoors can lift our spirits and stoke our creativity.

For centuries, the tides of the Bay of Fundy eroding the fossils along the shore near the town of Joggins, Nova Scotia.  The cliffs are the best known record from Earth's "Coal Age" when lust forest covered the region.  According to the Joggins official website, at Joggins Coal Age trees stand where they grew, the footprints of creatures are frozen where they once walked.

The exposed layers of rock reveal the world's most complete fossil record of life in the "Coal Age"  when lush forests covered Joggins and much of the world's tropics 300 million years ago.  The swamped forests produced massive quantities of organic matter that over million years, created the coal deposits for which this period of history is named.  Joggins Fossil Cliffs was once a swamped and  as seen in the picture above looks like today and it is the 15th UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The daily high tide erodes the cliff, the stone fossils fall out of the coal and are left on the shore when the tide recedes. Fossils have also been found in the area deep shaft mines and in drilling core samples hundreds of feet down. Joggins is one of the easiest places in the world to find early Pennsylvanian coal fossils.

The famous Fundy tides have exposed layers and layers of fossil-bearing sediments including impressive fossilized tree trunks.

Just by walking the beach at Joggins, you may find numerous examples of wonderfully preserved fossilized plants, reptile and amphibian foot prints,  if you are very lucky remains of these remarkable creatures that once inhabited the Coal Age forest of Joggins. 

Fossils are art of nature in general sense that:  they are impressions of a prehistoric organisms preserved in petrified form or as a mold or cast in rock. They are indeed precious gift from the geologic past and that's the beauty and art of nature worth capturing at any  time possible.

With careful observation and interpretation, you may find your own missing piece of time's puzzle.  As you explore the beach of Joggins, remember that every rock holds the possibility of discovery.

 At Joggins Fossil Cliffs, visitors love wandering and looking fossils but not allowed to take home as keepsakes but take a picture or pictures of your discovery.  These treasures have to remain in the site to others for study and research.

Petrified forests are rather common in the West and are often made up of a wide variety of trees.  The trees in this area are ancient pines that grew here about during the great Age of Reptiles, about 150 million years ago.

Petrified Log In The Valley Of Fire

Petrified wood is wood that has laid outside long enough to become a fossil. All the organic things have been removed by sun, wind, water, and time, and have been completely replaced with minerals.  Logs and stumps washed into Valley of Fire about 225 million years ago and are visible in two locations.  The logs are several colorful tree trunks lying close to the road, safely fenced off for all to enjoy.




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