The mysterious forest rings of northern Ontario

The mysterious forest rings of northern Ontario

www.cbc.ca

It is a strange phenomenon: thousands of large, perfectly round "forest rings" dot the boreal landscape of northern Ontario.

From the air, these mysterious light-coloured rings of stunted tree growth are clearly visible, but on the ground, you could walk right through them without noticing them. They range in diameter from 30 metres to 2 kilometres, with the average ring measuring about 91 metres across. Over 2,000 of these forest rings have been documented, but scientists estimate the actual number is more than 8,000.

What causes these near-perfect circles in the forest?

Since they were discovered on aerial photos about 50 years ago, the rings have baffled biologists, geologists and foresters. Some explanations put a UFO or extraterrestrial spin on the phenomenon. Astronomers suggest the rings might be the result of meteor strikes. Prospectors wonder whether the formations signal diamond-bearing kimberlites, a type of igneous rock.

(visit the link for the full news article)

I don't know if this has been posted before but it's interesting.

I have been reading up a lot recently on fungi and mushrooms; thanks to another recent post, and it calls to mind the massive single honey mushroom infestations in both Michigan and Oregon, that cover 34 (and up) acres... It could be an unidentified fungal infestation that kills the trees in its area as it grows out... in the same manner as a fairy ring... its far more likely than little green men.

www.cbc.ca
(visit the link for the full news article)

Yeah, somebody already posted this. It seems a geologist has kinda figured it out. I though of gigantic fairy rings when I saw the photos from norther ontario

plantpathology.tamu.edu...

Got co-ordinates so we might Google earth it?
Got no clue as to what it may be but would be neat to see.

these weird anomalies may have a relationship to the scores of
'Carolina Bays'. (you'll need a high-speed connect for these dozen pics)==
abob.libs.uga.edu...

they may be sillouetes of ancient meteorite impacts, eventually grown over, or the outlines of past sink-holes which have subsequentally refilled
and trees grown up in those round fields !

just suggesting stuff

[edit on 28-5-2008 by St Udio]

reply to post by grover


Whoa. I followed the link and saw the picture of one of those rings...it was huge.

Perhaps a mother ship of some kind??

I read that story with great interest grover. The rings were picked up from aerial reconnasance. It was said methane is aerating out of the ground in perfect circular patterns. 8k are known of. Up to 20k might exist. What mystifies scientists are the strange magnetic fields emanating from them. One hypothesis is methane feeding microbes are somehow contributing to the magnetic anomalies. There has been bandied about plans to drill there for the gas.
According to the story I read meteorites, ufo's have been ruled out.

[edit on 5/28/2008 by jpm1602]

They are from a form of fungus that grows unground and outward and makes the circle look like that.


There are two theories regarding the process involved in creating fairy rings. One states that fairy ring is begun by a spore from the sporocarpus. The underground presence of the fungus can also cause withering or varying colour or growth of the grass above. Many fairy rings are believed to be coenocytic[citation needed], meaning that an entire ring is just one large cell with multiple nuclei.

The second theory, which is presented in the investigations of Japanese scientists on the Tricholoma matsutake species, shows that fairy rings could be established by connecting neighbouring oval genets of these mushrooms. If they make an arc or a ring, they continuously grow about the center of this object.

[edit on 28-5-2008 by alienstar]

Fairy rings are caused by the fungi in question devouring the nutrients (it needs) in an area and expanding outwards. A lot of mushrooms from fairy rings given the right circumstance... I have seen 30 foot across amanita muscaria (fly agaric) fairy rings. The forest rings in question could, like I said be a fungi that kills the trees it infests and expands outwards from there. What i would be interested in knowing is are they expanding... if they are then it is almost certain they are biological in origin.

Originally posted by jpm1602 According to the story I read meteorites, ufo's have been ruled out.

That land up there is nothing but muskeg, stumps, and black spruce bogs. Oh, and mosquitoes and blackflies and deerflies and horse flies...
I'm guessing that the rings are ultimately associated with meteorites. They recently discovered that New York's Finger Lakes, and the Chesapeake area, etc, are features derived from a large meteor strike. It wouldn't surprise me if these forest rings come out of geological 'splatter' from that event.

As to fairy rings, if you happen to step into one during a full moon, you'll be immediately pulled down into the feast of the Fairy King. You might think you're only there overnight, but it could be years before you come back. The only defence is to carry a fairy stone...a stone that has had a hole worn into it by running water.

Now you know.

As to fairy rings, if you happen to step into one during a full moon, you'll be immediately pulled down into the feast of the Fairy King. You might think you're only there overnight, but it could be years before you come back. The only defence is to carry a fairy stone...a stone that has had a hole worn into it by running water.

I wondered how I aged so quickly. And i thought it was from excessive partying in my youth.

I would have put my money on a mycological explaination but having read the article I am not so sure. Why is the growth stunted? Something is limiting nutrient and or water uptake.

I think we will find that a large meteor event happened in North America in 13000 BC (ish). The impact had an effect on life not shielded by topography.

Very interesting article!

reply to post by stikkinikki


A large mycological infestation could possibly do that by clogging roots... for example.

I left a post in the other thread about this.
www.abovetopsecret.com...
To me, the most interesting thing is the electric field that is being created in the space above the circles.

Originally posted by stikkinikki


I think we will find that a large meteor event happened in North America in 13,000 BCE. The impact had an effect on life not shielded by topography.

Whoa................... thats ?strange? of you to put that timeline on a meteor event that ravished the ice-age sheet sometime around 12,900 BCE
according to studies & analysis by scientists...
?
see: www.canada.com...


but, i feel the fungus crowd has an agenda & is voiceferious enough to shout others out.

~whatever ~ eh?

I was more or less thinking they could be the scar's of ancient super volcanoes or calderas. It seems as if it might not be far from the fact.
Canadian Volcanoes;

Canada has examples of almost every type of volcano found in the world, including stratovolcanoes, shield volcanoes, calderas, cinder cones, and maars. Although none of Canada's volcanoes are currently erupting, several volcanoes and volcanic regions are considered to be potentially active. In addition, volcanic eruptions in Alaska or along the west coast of the United States (Washington, Oregon, and California) can have a significant impact on agriculture and air travel across much of western Canada. Large-scale eruptions anywhere in the world have the potential to affect weather patterns in Canada.

Eruption Types;

The seriousness of the hazard represented by a volcanic eruption depends on many things, but especially on the style of eruption. Volcanoes dominated by passive, lava-forming eruptions (like those typically seen in Hawaii) generally only threaten immobile objects such as buildings, but are not a serious threat to human life. However, poisonous gases such as sulphur dioxide and fluorine are released during some passive eruptions and can be life-threatening. On the other hand, large (and fortunately rare) eruptions such as those that formed the calderas underlying Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming (600 000 years ago) can have a devastating impact on literally hundreds of thousands of square kilometres of land downwind from the volcano. Such large-scale eruptions may also cause worldwide shifts in weather patterns, including a lowering of global average temperatures; it has been suggested that a huge eruption in Indonesia 74,000 years ago started the last ice age.

Source:
gsc.nrcan.gc.ca...

here is a map of the known volcanic hot spots of the western Canadian area.Here is description of legend for explanation and locations of known volcanic hot spots.

Figure 4. Volcanoes & their tectonic settings in Western Canada
Quaternary (triangles) and Holocene (stars) volcanoes in western Canada and their tectonic settings. Holocene volcanoes are discussed in detail in the Catalogue of Canadian Volcanoes

Map of description from above:

gsc.nrcan.gc.ca...

With the a typical chemicals and gases omitted from volcanoes, it could possibly explain the deficiencies of nutrients of the ground itself.
But it is only my thought.


[edit on 073131p://4874 by Allred5923]

I assume you mean me St. Udio.

A mushroom agenda?

Hardly. It is the one that makes the most sense to me.

If it is a meteor strike, it shouldn't do this... even Tungaska grew back relatively quickly.

If were a natural gas leak of some kind why is it spread out over such a large area producing such large circles.?

It doesn't make sense. Perhaps in one or two isolated cases perhaps.

Something is stunting growth and killing trees in those circles and the odds are its biological.

As for volcanos... again why over such a large area? Even Yellowstone, unless you are told its volcanic nature, you wouldn't know by looking (for the most part) its so heavily forested.

[edit on 28-5-2008 by grover]

reply to post by grover



The vegitation growth around the infamous volcano of Yellow Stone is anything but populated by fauna, it is a baren place around the eruption areas, for acres and acres.

Recent satellite pictures of Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming from 2004 through 2006 are showing that an ancient volcano is starting to rise once again. Molten rock is currently pushing up the remains of the volcano's caldera, which sits over the top of Yellowstone lake, but scientists are stressing that there is no immediate threat of an eruption or explosion. The molten rock field is estimated to be the size of the city of Los Angeles, California.

here is an aerial view of the area. It is not as vegitation covered as you think.

maps.google.com...

reply to post by Allred5923


I know the immediate area is barren but the surrounding areas (still in the Caladrea) are lush.

And yes I have heard that the lava dome is rising again and that as it pushes up the Grand Tetons (ahh yes those horny Frenchmen ) are losing elevation.

[edit on 28-5-2008 by grover]

Your arguments grover is exactly why it is so xfile. It is not logical these perfectly round circles of deforestation in an otherwise lush forest 'should' exist.