A 5900-year-old whitebark pine forest has been discovered due to the melting of alpine ice in the Rocky mountains. Scientists found more than 30 trees approximately 3100 metres above sea level – 180 metres higher than the present tree line – while carrying out an archaeological survey on the Beartooth plateau in Wyoming.
This “offers us a window into past conditions at high elevations”, says Cathy Whitlock at Montana State University. Whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) don’t grow at this elevation now, so these ones had to grow at a time when the climate was warmer, she says.
Melting ice reveals millennia-old forest buried in the Rocky mountains
American Buddhist Net 