Divers have discovered what appears to be a Bermuda Cedar tree root still planted in its original location - 53ft deep and nine miles to the north of Bermuda.Now the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute and the Department of Conservation Services within the Ministry of Public Works has teamed up with the local divers to further study the root and have taken samples for testing to determine its age.The root was discovered by Harold Conyers, an avid diver, well known local architect and Chairman of the Historic Wreck Authority, while diving with Triangle Diving this summer.He saw what he thought might be a tree root on the ocean floor adjacent to a tall coral reef ledge some nine miles to the north of Bermuda in 53ft of water.Mr Conyers explained: “At first I thought it might be a piece of a wooden shipwreck just emerging from the sand and wedged up against the undersea coral cliff. This of course piqued my interest but upon closer inspection it was clearly recognisable as a piece of a tree a tree stump and root in fact.“There was a central area with worn tree rings where the trunk once stood and what looked like roots spanning out from the centre much like the remnants of the cedar forests that once dominated Bermuda that we still see in undeveloped coastal areas. Tree roots on occasion can and do get swept out to sea and can be found wedged under rocks after hurricanes but this seemed different to me it did not look like it had tumbled there but that it was in situ, that it had grown there.”After contacting Teddy Tucker at the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute, who discovered submerged cedar roots in the east end of the Island around Gurnett Rock many years ago, and Dr Philippe Rouja at the Department of Conservation Services, a dive trip was organised with Triangle Diving to relocate, inspect and determine if it might be an in situ tree stump and then sample it if possible.Last month the team made up of the divers form Triangle Diving accompanied Mr Tucker, Dr Rouja, Mr Conyers and a few lucky tourists who opted to accompany the explorers, made their way on the Triangle dive boat and relocated the root.Dr Rouja said: “A new discovery is always exciting, especially one as potentially relevant as this. The anticipation that it might be an in situ root at a new and significantly deeper depth nine miles off shore had everyone ready to jump in and get a good look. It was immediately clear that the root was potentially in situ and it was decided to take a sample and bring it back for analysis.”The divers worked to cut sections of the root and took two samples to the surface where it was discovered that the inside of the root was well preserved and still held the unique Bermuda cedar smell, and, interestingly, the outside of the wood was charred in the same manner as previous samples taken from Gurnett Rock.Mr Tucker said: “This is potentially a very important find. It is the deepest sample we have to date and if we can get a clean radiocarbon date it will help us establish where the sea level had not yet reached at a given time. We could speculate that it will be significantly older than the roots submerged at Gurnett rock in 35ft but as with all things on the Ocean I am prepared to be surprised.“If the date is close to that at Gurnett rock then it could suggest that sea level rates were rising much faster 10,000 years ago than we had previously thought. Regardless of what date comes back we will have another confirmed point to help us reconstruct Bermuda’s sea level history a history that scientists consider to be an important benchmark for sea level rise in the Atlantic.”Mr Tucker explained that Bermuda’s unique mid-Atlantic position makes the Island the ideal place from which to carry out marine and ocean research, not just because of the ease of access to deep water and the cost effectiveness of running projects from here but also because of Bermuda’s unique geologic and biological history.Defining and understanding the last 10,000 years of sea level change is critical because it speaks directly to the relative rate of sea level rise.Dr Rouja explained: “For example, has sea level been smoothly and incrementally coming up over this time? Has it been coming up in a series of evenly spaced bigger jumps with occasional regress or has the rate increased exponentially in the last 1,000, 500 or 100 years? This latest find may well add yet another critical piece to the puzzle so we can better understand sea level rise.”The cedar root sample has been sent to Professor Blasco at the Bedford Institute who will carry out radiocarbon date testing over the coming months.Once the results are confirmed the team will be further documenting the root to see what else can be learned about the site in particular.Dr Rouja said: “If we get a firm date and confirm this cedar stump is in situ it could be an opportunity for coral reef specialists to develop a deeper understanding of how these tall coral reef structures came to be formed over a specific time period - specifically how they came to be formed as sea levels were rising questions that many coral dominated coastlines are asking.”