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Fossil Forest, Dorset: England's 145 million-year-old tree stump fossils preserved by ancient microbes

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80% Informative

The Fossil Forest is a 145 million - year-old clump of dead trees on the Jurassic Coast .

It dates back to the late Jurassic period, when dinosaurs still roamed Earth .

Microscopic algae-like microbes trapped and encrusted particles of calcium carbonate onto the trees.

Eventually, the trees' trunks broke off, leaving behind rounded mounds known as "algal burrs".