Paleontologists have found a place to study the development of life on Earth over 120 million years

Paleontologists discovered the only place on Earth that allows you to study the development of life during the 120 million years of the Paleozoic era. This period is a particularly important geological era in the history of the planet, also known as the era of ancient life.

The place itself is on the shore Peel River near the border of American Alaska and Canada. The river stretches northward and joins the Mackenzie River Delta, which flows into the Beaufort Sea and the Arctic Ocean.

The scientific journal Science Advances, which reported the find, writesA long-term record of early to mid-Paleozoic marine redox changethat the rocks in this place can tell a lot about life on the ocean floor from 490 to 370 million years ago. Scientists hope to get data on marine redox changes from the Early to Middle Paleozoic.

«It's incredible to observe such a large layer of Earth's history in one place."- said Dr. Eric Sperling of Stanford University. He added that even when the conditions are initially right for the fossil to occur, geological processes destroy everything, leaving us only fragments of history. Here, everything has remained practically untouched.

This treasury of the Peel River captures the Upper Cambrian period, a time when there was too much oxygen small to support the life of many animals, and end in the Middle Devonian, when the fish mastered seas. In addition to some short breaks, all Ordovician and Silurian eras are included. Further research should tell a lot about the species that lived in these seas, which then were not yet on the border of the Arctic Circle, as they are now.

«This continuous historical record can act as a calibration tool for other sediments, helping scientists provide more accurate timing."Sperling added. The only problem is that this treasure is located in one of the most inaccessible places on Earth.

To get to this stretch of the Peel River, Sperling and his colleagues had to fly a long helicopter and walk part of the way through dense thickets on foot. Field work on site was only possible for a short time before the onset of winter.