The director of the Museum and head of the excavations, Professor Nikos Zouros, informed the participants and presented the new findings
The Museum of Natural History of the Lesbos Petrified Forest organized the first information and presentation event of the new fossil park in the western part of the island, at the location of Phylakio. This is one of the first sites of fossils that have already been highlighted along the new road axis Kalloni – Sigriu and which is now accessible to the public.
The director of the Museum and head of the excavations professor, Nikos Zourosinformed the participants and presented the new findings that this important location hosts, as well as the fossil protection projects and the vision for the creation of a new outdoor Museum along the new Kalloni – Sigri road axis!
“At the new Phylakio fossil site,” noted Mr. Zouros, “a standing fossilized trunk dominates with its root system in full development. Its roots have been preserved in excellent condition and seem to penetrate the old soil. This site is part of a characteristic destruction horizon that was created after a violent volcanic eruption. The explosion caused the release of large amounts of ash and pyroclastic materials which covered the forest of that time.”
This horizon is rich in fossils of leaves and twigs and today it is an emblematic geosite that speaks of the composition of the forest and the process of fossilization!
“A little further on,” continued Mr. Zouros, “the lower part of a giant sequoia trunk with impressive purple colors is encountered. The trunk was uprooted and broken by the violence of the volcanic eruptions, and today at the Phylakio site part of the trunk and the root system is preserved in the southern part of the park.”
According to Professor Mr. Zouro “a cluster of large and smaller trunks of coniferous trees, probably pines, have been swept away by a large flow of mud and large unrounded lava boulders, indicative of the great destruction that followed the volcanic eruption. On the slopes of the site, paleo-soil horizons can be seen, with the characteristic dark color, which are covered by successive horizons of ash and pyroclastic materials. A fossilized trunk, standing in its natural position, seems to have experienced two different catastrophic events. In the first, he survived and continued his growth, while the second, more violent, seems to have led to the cutting off of the trunk and the end of his growth.”
In the same fossiliferous position standing and lying fossilized trunks of fruit trees can be distinguished in two distinct overlapping horizons of fossilization!
Characteristic are the oak trees that were found cut off and carried away by the violence of the mudslides that cut the trees from their original position. They are also found in the same place in large numbers of cinnamon trees and daphnias.
It is characteristic that at each horizon the trunks of the trees have a different orientation that shows the direction of the mud flow.
Thesi Fylakio is the first of a series of 15 places that are to be raised and made accessible along the Kalloni-Sigrio road axis. These positions reveal information about the composition and the way the Petrified Forest was created. It is a unique set that presents the visitor with unknown aspects of the history of the creation of this special monument of nature.
A monument that preserves the memory of the subtropical ecosystems of Aegis that developed 20 million years ago in the area of the current Aegean.
“These are different overlapping forests that were petrified due to volcanic eruptions and preserved in the ash and volcanic rocks for 20 million years,” concluded Mr. Zouros.
The Phylakio site is located 3 kilometers east of the settlement of Sigri, includes an area of 3.5 acres which has been fenced off, special corridors have been built to access the fossils and protective walls of the fossils. The site identification projects were financed within the framework of sub-project 2 “Identification and utilization of fossilized sites from the execution of large public works in the area of the Petrified Forest of Lesbos” of the Action “Activities to identify protected areas of Lesbos” included in the Operational Program “North Aegean 2014-2020” ».
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