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| Storms Expose Ancient Forests, Wrecks |
 Pacific storms expose ancient oddities.
Oregon's storms have caused the evacuation of several communities and over $60 million in damages, but the ancient relics emerging from the severe surf are drawing residents to quite a coastal spectacle.
High seas from the storms caused beach erosion and, by November, ancient tree stumps were peeking through the sand. Up to 17 feet of sand at Arch Cape eroded away. "It's really an unusual event, the magnitude of it" Chris Havel or the Oregon Parks and Recreation District, told CNN.
December's Pacific storms rattled the waters and, soon after, the circus began. New Year's Day exposed a ship identified as the George L. Olson, a 223 foot long schooner, said to have run aground in 1944 after hauling lumber for nearly thirty years.
The George L. Olson became such a tourist attraction that authorities had to reroute traffic around the ship and warn visitors that the site was now an archaeological research area.
More shipwrecks began to emerge. On the southern coast, a wooden ship, another ship where the Siuslaw River flows into the ocean near Florence. Almost nothing is known about either ship and the shifting sands have already covered the Siuslaw ship.
Additionally, eerie groves known as "ghost forests," have emerged. According to NPR, geologists speculate the stumps range in age from 4,000 to 80,000 years old and were impeccably preserved by a combination of sand and mud. Tiffany Boothe of the Seaside Aquarium told the AP that the original forest floor has been uncovered.
"You can see the floor," Boothe told CNN. "There's like these mud cliffs. As you're walking on it, it resembles clay. It's definitely not sand at all."
Natural three foot tall formations of red iron oxide called "red towers" usually are found at depths 10 feet below the surface but now lie uncovered, dotting the coastline.
Until the 1930's, Oregon's beaches were highways, which explains the emergence of a mail truck on the shore. Other vintage oddities include two cannons dating back to the 19th century and dozens of million year old fossils.
By the end of March or quite possibly next week, the treasures will once again be blanketed with sand.
"That's how fast the coast changes," Boothe said.
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