Plant fossils are one very important thing that scientists use to find out how the environments of different areas of the world have changed over time. The fossils of plants can be useful in this because certain plants can only survive in certain environments. Usually you can tell about what kind of plant the fossil is just by looking at it, or at least be able to tell what kind of environment it would have lived in because of features such as its leaves.
One example of how plant fossils have been helpful in finding out about the past environments of the Earth, is the fossils that were found in Antarctica. Deep into the ice of Antarctica preserved fossils were found of plants. The plants were actually tropical! This shows that Antarctica was most likely much warmer than it is now, which also means that is must have been much closer to the equator. This is also evidence for continental drift. As you can see, plant fossils can be used to understand what our Earth was once like, and can be used for a lot of other things in science as well.
One example of how plant fossils have been helpful in finding out about the past environments of the Earth, is the fossils that were found in Antarctica. Deep into the ice of Antarctica preserved fossils were found of plants. The plants were actually tropical! This shows that Antarctica was most likely much warmer than it is now, which also means that is must have been much closer to the equator. This is also evidence for continental drift. As you can see, plant fossils can be used to understand what our Earth was once like, and can be used for a lot of other things in science as well.
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