This Beach Used To Be A Forest — What’s Left Today Is Haunting

In Oregon, there lies something rather haunting: a natural look into the ancient past and possibly the future. In Neskowin, a small coastal town, an old forest was once buried beneath hundreds of years’ worth of sand. After being unearthed in 1998 due to a storm that eroded much of the beach away, these ancient tree stumps have become a permanent fixture on the coast.

The stumps of this ghost forest found under Neskowin Beach are estimated to be nearly 2,000 years old.

They were unearthed after a storm in 1998, which eroded much of the coastline.

It is believed that the forest was buried between the years 1680 and 1720 by a massive tsunami that enveloped the trees.

Other evidence points to an earthquake that may have hit Oregon around the same time that would have caused massive landmass changes.

No matter how it happened, it stands as a reminder that Mother Nature is nothing to mess with.

(via Amusing Planet)

What a beautiful and haunting reminder of the destructive (and redemptive) forces of nature.