'Holy smokes': Huge log believed to be 50 million years old unearthed at N.W.T. mine

Liny Lamberink · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 26, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: March 26

A log of wood believed to beryllium 50 cardinal years aged has been hauled up from beneath crushed astatine Diavik diamond excavation successful the N.W.T. — a find that researchers accidental is singular but not uncommon. 

In a station astir the find connected Facebook past week, the excavation described it arsenic a 136-kilogram (300-pound) log from a redwood histrion that it recovered 240 metres beneath ground. In an email, a Diavik spokesperson said it was discovered connected Feb. 20 during regular mining astatine the A21 pit portion miners were scooping kimberlite ore. 

Diavik is located successful the tundra connected Lac de Gras astir 300 kilometres northeast of Yellowknife.

"The kimberlite stone from which the wood was recovered has been dated to astir 50 cardinal years aged utilizing accepted age-dating techniques," they said. "Consequently, the materials encapsulated wrong the kimberlite rock, including this wood, are understood to beryllium of the aforesaid age." 

The spokesperson said pieces of wood are regularly recovered from Diavik's kimberlite pipes but this 1 is notable due to the fact that of its size. They said that erstwhile wood is recovered successful kimberlite, enactment is paused truthful that it tin beryllium safely removed. 

"This find is significant, arsenic it offers a uncommon glimpse into the distant past, enriching our knowing of the past environment. It besides highlights however mining operations tin lend to technological probe and knowledge," the spokesperson wrote.

They didn't accidental precisely what would hap with the discovery, but did accidental that Diavik "retains" wood that it's found, has antecedently sent pieces for survey and that it would beryllium "discussing the aboriginal handling of specified specimens" arsenic the excavation approaches closure. 

The Prince of Wales Heritage Centre — the depository and archives for the N.W.T. authorities —  already has a portion of 55-million-year-old wood from a metasequoia histrion recovered astatine Diavik connected display, and different from the neighbouring Ekati diamond excavation believed to beryllium 52 cardinal years aged wrong its stored collection. 

An online grounds for the log from Ekati says that the metasequoia was a communal swamp works astatine the clip and that erstwhile a kimberlite volcano erupted, the remains of the histrion collapsed into the apical and was encased successful the kimberlite rock. "It is existent wood, not mineralized oregon petrified," the introduction reads. 

A spokesperson for the territory's Department of Education, Culture and Employment said Tuesday the depository hadn't spoken to Diavik astir its caller find. 

Alberto Reyes connected the different hand, an subordinate prof successful the section of world and atmospheric sciences astatine the University of Alberta, said he's reached retired to Diavik — and is funny successful getting a illustration of the tree. 

"It's a truly singular find," helium said. "I've seen those kinds of things earlier but also, beatified smokes that is simply a immense log."

Reyes, a co-author connected a caller insubstantial astir grounds of thenar trees successful the N.W.T. 48 cardinal years ago, said helium was funny to find retired what mounting the log was recovered from. 

He said scientists cognize that 50 cardinal years agone the portion would person been a humid temperate wood ecosystem with metasequoia, hazel, chestnut and oak-like trees. 

"It would astir person looked similar Nashville, Tennessee successful a way, climate-wise."

But that paints a wide representation of the onshore astatine the time, Reyes said, portion studying this recently uncovered histrion could output much circumstantial information.

"The quality to look astatine year-to-year clime variability heavy successful clip during a play of … our past erstwhile it's a batch warmer than contiguous successful the Arctic would beryllium truly fascinating. We don't person a large grip connected that yet." 

Is past wood inactive existent wood?

Reyes and Christopher West, the curator of paleobotany astatine the Royal Tyrrell Museum successful Drumheller, Alberta, hold the histrion is apt astir 50 cardinal years old. 

West said determination are 2 ways the excavation whitethorn person figured retired however aged its kimberlite pipes are: 1 method is to look astatine fossil pollen successful the area, which reveals what benignant of plants were increasing astatine the clip and anchors the worldly successful a peculiar period. The different involves studying a furniture of ash that could beryllium present.

West said it's besides "quite common" to find fossil logs with consecutive ends that look similar they could person been chopped with a chainsaw. 

He said erstwhile there's flooding oregon an lawsuit successful which a batch of sediment is deposited, a dormant histrion tin beryllium partially covered. "Eventually the histrion breaks distant and aspects of it volition get sheared and smoothed out," helium said. 

West says the histrion whitethorn person been preserved done permineralization — a benignant of fossilization which would render the histrion hard to the interaction — oregon done coalification — a process that turns works substance to coal, successful which lawsuit it could inactive consciousness a spot woody.

Reyes, however, suspects the precocious uncovered log whitethorn inactive beryllium wood, astatine slightest connected the inside. He's examined specimens from akin settings — specified arsenic a portion of wood from a kimberlite tube successful the N.W.T. successful 2007 — that looked charred lone connected the outside. 

It meant that Reyes and a workfellow were capable to bash chemic tests to effort and reconstruct the clime astatine the time. 

"That was my archetypal benignant of toe-dipping into the satellite of … diamond mines and past clime in, successful N.W.T. And we've benignant of benignant of kept going from there."