Alaska glacier thaws revealing ancient forest that hasn't been seen in over 1,000 years, according to NBC News.

Southern Alaska's Mendenhall Glacier thaws while it is melting and now there are stumps and logs that have been popping out. There was a 36.8-square-mile (95.3 square kilometers) river of ice flowing into a lake near Juneau for nearly the past 50 year until within the past year that researchers based at the University of Alaska Southeast in Juneau have noticed considerably more trees popping up, according to the Juneau Empire. The report said that the trees are actually in their original upright positions with roots and bark still in place.

"There are a lot of them, and being in a growth position is exciting because we can see the outermost part of the tree and count back to see how old the tree was," Cathy Connor, a geology professor at the University of Alaska Southeast who was involved in the investigation, told LiveScience's OurAmazingPlanet. "Mostly, people find chunks of wood helter-skelter, but to see these intact upright is kind of cool."

The trees have been identified as hemlock or spruce trees, which are the trees that are currently growing in that area and region.

A protective tomb of gravel likely encased the trees more than 1,000 years ago, when the glacier was advancing, Connor said, basing the date on radiocarbon ages of the newly revealed wood.