Man captures 'weird anomaly' of Storm Babet lifting forest floor in Scotland | Hacker News Reader

Man captures 'weird anomaly' of Storm Babet lifting forest floor in Scotland

theguardian.com

91 pointsmkl41 comments

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Direct link to source: https://twitter.com/dsnugentmalone/status/171535699852548549...

https://nitter.net/dsnugentmalone/status/1715356998525485498...

There is a thin layer of soil and tree roots on top of solid rock.

The trees are bending over in the wind and lifting up the roots and soil.

Just some trees with roots that don't go deep down.

That makes sense, but I still find it to be an interesting visual phenomenon

At the edge, why are they not just tipping over?

The roots look intertwined, so even trees at the edge are bending roots that are long horizontally.

See also: How wide do tree roots spread.

> Arborists often recommend a tree protection zone with a radius of one foot for every one inch of trunk diameter — a 12 to 1 ratio.

https://www.deeproot.com/blog/blog-entries/how-wide-do-tree-...

They are also pushed by the wind in the opposite direction, i.e. away from the edge.

It looks eerie but it is not uncommon for this to happen. It also means he should not have been in the forest since those root clumps will only withstand so much punishment before they tear loose and the trees start falling. It is not uncommon for people to get hurt/killed by falling trees in stormy forests. Even worse than root clumps with the trees still attached are clumps with stubs, i.e. when the trunk has been severed from the root. Those stand up invitingly but can snap shut at any moment like a man-eating Venus Fly trap.

Here's some more footage:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSpyGJRONfI

Maybe I'm a bit weird but I immediately thought of MacBeth

   Bring it after me.
   I will not be afraid of death and bane,
   Till Birnam forest come to Dunsinane.

Pedantic point of order: it's Macbeth, not MacBeth. "Macbeth" is his personal (first) name, not his patronymic. His father was Findláech mac Ruaidrí.

"Beth" means "life". (Gaelic "beathad", cognate to "uisce beatha", water of life, which gives us the word "whiskey"). His personal name means "son of life". (Not entirely unlike the Hebrew name Chaim, which means "life".)

Of course none of that is mentioned in the play. But Shakespeare did at least spell it right: "Macbeth".

/end pedantry

Excellent, genuine thanks.

https://www.neatorama.com/2018/10/25/Breathing-Forest/

Good time for archeology. Once in life opportunity to take a peek before to return and dig another day

Also an example of how damaged was the soil layer after the many wildfires that obviously happened in the past

Honestly not sure that there would have been any wildfires in this forest. It’s in Scotland where it is generally pretty wet and not prone to wildfires in forests.

I'm 100% sure of that. The absence of a decent soil layer under the trees in such favorable conditions to make soil is the proof of past wildfires.

Scotland is overgrazed (at least in some places) but they removed a lot of forest first.

Is there a bog involved?

I think that's a dog.

He clearly needed to wear a helmet

I'm serious, when you walk in the forest, branches often fall and you need to look up and protect your head. That's why climbers wear construction helmets. And the situation in the video is quite dangerous. Therefore, always protect your head. I climbed to the top of a mountain of 800 meters and I know what it is.

Trees with shallow roots blowing in the wind is a “weird anomaly” now?

Having an explanation doesn't mean it isn't a weird anomaly.

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