Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 10, 2026

Methods of Soil Resampling to Monitor Changes in the Chemical Concentrations of Forest Soils
Published on: November 25, 2016
A tropical rainforest in Colorado 1.4 million years after the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary
1Department of Earth Sciences, Denver Museum of Nature & Science, Denver, CO 80205, USA. kjohnson@dmns.org
Abstract:
An extremely diverse lower Paleocene (64.1 million years ago) fossil leaf site from Castle Rock, Colorado, contains fossil litter that is similar to the litter of extant equatorial rainforests. The presence of a high-diversity tropical rainforest is unexpected, because other Paleocene floras are species-poor, a feature generally attributed to the Cretaceous-Tertiary (K-T) extinction. The site occurs on the margin of the Denver Basin in synorogenic sedimentary rocks associated with the rise of the Laramide Front Range. Orographic conditions caused by local topography, combined with equable climate, appear to have allowed for the establishment of rainforests within 1.4 million years of the K-T boundary.
More Related Videos
08:09Measuring and Mapping Patterns of Soil Erosion and Deposition Related to Soil Carbonate Concentrations Under Agricultural Management
Published on: September 12, 2017
10:14Reconstructing Terrestrial Paleoclimate and Paleoecology with Fossil Leaves Using Digital Leaf Physiognomy and Leaf Mass Per Area
Published on: October 25, 2024
Related Concept Videos
Migration
Global Climate Change
Threats to Biodiversity
Ecological Succession
The Fossil Record
Rab Cascades