Fossilised Leaves

The fall is one of my favourite seasons in the year, mainly because of the colours. My kids love it, too. They collect the prettiest leaves and try to keep them in the house as long as possible, but inevitably they start to shrivel, brown, and crumble because we all know that’s what happens to leaves over time.

So, if leaves are so fragile and only last a short time, why are leaf fossils so common in the rock record? These are fully intact, flattened impressions of living leaves, not crumbled dead ones, where in many cases the microscopic veins and other structures are still intact and visible. These plant fossils are not only found in abundance here in Alberta but all around the world in vast quantities.

How do you create these leaf fossil impressions? Well, that’s the fascinating part because it requires a unique set of conditions.¹

First, the leaves must be stripped off while the plant is still alive. Second, they must be carried in water long enough so the still-living cells will start to swell (turgor pressure) and therefore flatten out. Then, the flattened leaves must be buried before the water exits the plants.

Normal processes today cannot account for the incredible amount of leaf fossils in the rock record. There must have been an equally incredible event in the past that was unique, catastrophic, and rapid.

This exactly describes the Biblical global flood that matches these unique criteria, and also explains why they find similar fossilised plants buried in Eastern USA, Europe, and Western Asia.

Yes, it was indeed a global flood as described in Genesis.

1. Wise, K.P. Four: Amazingly Preserved Leaves, Answers In Genesis, 1 January 2010, https://answersingenesis.org/fossils/how-are-fossils-formed/four-amazingly-preserved-leaves/. Accessed 30 March 2022.