The first ferns appeared on Earth more than 400 million years ago. Thanks to the stable warm and humid climate that prevailed on the planet at that time, ferns spread very quickly around the globe. This was also facilitated by spore propagation. The result was a huge variety of fern species.
Ferns formed the most ancient forests that covered a significant part of the earth’s surface, and reached their peak in the Carboniferous Period. In height, the ferns reached 40 meters, and their trunks were more than two meters thick. Ancient plants greatly changed the composition of the atmosphere saturating it with oxygen, which made possible the subsequent development of land animals.
Ancient ferns also had a beneficial effect on the composition of the soil. In particular, it is thanks to them that coal deposits were formed. The trunks of fallen, broken ferns were flooded with water, and drifted by silt and sand. This made it difficult for oxygen to reach them. As a result, the remains of plants were preserved. And gradually, under the pressure of the overlying layers, they compacted and turned into coal.
The Tugnuyskiy Section in the Republic of Buryatia is one of the largest locations of coal in Russia and, accordingly, the prints of ancient ferns. The Irkutsk Region also has a large deposit of fossil coal. This is the Irkutsk Coal Basin, which stretches 500 km along the North-Eastern slope of the Eastern Sayan from the city of Nizhneudinsk to Lake Baikal.
Modern ferns are one of the few ancient plants that have preserved a significant variety. Ferns vary greatly in size, life cycle, structural features, and other characteristics. Their appearance is so characteristic that people usually call them all the same “ferns”, thus not suspecting that this is the largest group of spore plants.
Ferns are different from other plants. They do not have real leaves and consist of a system of modified flattened branches located in the same plane. They are called flatheads or fronds. On the underside of the frond, sporangia are formed in which the spores mature.
Ferns formed the most ancient forests that covered a significant part of the earth’s surface, and reached their peak in the Carboniferous Period. In height, the ferns reached 40 meters, and their trunks were more than two meters thick. Ancient plants greatly changed the composition of the atmosphere saturating it with oxygen, which made possible the subsequent development of land animals.
Ancient ferns also had a beneficial effect on the composition of the soil. In particular, it is thanks to them that coal deposits were formed. The trunks of fallen, broken ferns were flooded with water, and drifted by silt and sand. This made it difficult for oxygen to reach them. As a result, the remains of plants were preserved. And gradually, under the pressure of the overlying layers, they compacted and turned into coal.
The Tugnuyskiy Section in the Republic of Buryatia is one of the largest locations of coal in Russia and, accordingly, the prints of ancient ferns. The Irkutsk Region also has a large deposit of fossil coal. This is the Irkutsk Coal Basin, which stretches 500 km along the North-Eastern slope of the Eastern Sayan from the city of Nizhneudinsk to Lake Baikal.
Modern ferns are one of the few ancient plants that have preserved a significant variety. Ferns vary greatly in size, life cycle, structural features, and other characteristics. Their appearance is so characteristic that people usually call them all the same “ferns”, thus not suspecting that this is the largest group of spore plants.
