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A detailed study by Taylor and Vinn (2006) of the microstructure of fossils which have been traditionally identified as ''"Spirorbis"'' in the geological literature revealed that they consist of the remains of at least two completely different animals. Taylor and Vinn discovered that the ''"Spirorbis"'' fossils found in sedimentary strata, including the Joggins and other Carboniferous coal measures deposited from the [[Ordovician]] to [[Triassic]] periods are the remains of an extinct order of [[Lophophore|lophophorates]] (now called [[microconchids]]) unrelated to modern marine tube-worms ([[Annelid]]s) to which the genus ''Spirorbis'' belongs.<ref name=TaylorOthers2006a>Taylor, P.D. and O. Vinn, 2006, ''Convergent morphology in small spiral worm tubes ('Spirorbis') and its palaeoenvironmental implications''. Journal of the Geological Society, London 163:225–228.</ref> This contradicts arguments made by Harold Coffin and other creationists that ''"Spirorbis"'' fossils within strata containing polystrate fossils indicate their deposition in a marine environment, because these fossils are classified as the remains of extinct fresh and brackish water microconchids instead of the remains of the marine genera ''Spirorbis'' as they have been misidentified in the geologic literature.<ref name=ZatonOthers2012a>Zaton, M., O. Vinn, A.M.F. Tomescu, 2012, ''Invasion of freshwater and variable marginal marine habitats by microconchid tubeworms – an evolutionary perspective.'' Geobios. vol. 45, pp. 603-610.</ref>
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Scientists interpret ''polystrate fossils'' as fossils buried in a geologically short time span - either by one large depositional event or by several smaller ones. Geologists see no need to invoke a global flood to explain upright fossils. This position of geologists is supported by numerous documented examples, a few of which are discussed in the paragraphs below, of buried upright tree-trunks that have been observed buried in the Holocene volcanic deposits of [[Mount St. Helens]], [[Skamania County, Washington]], and Mount Pinatubo, Philippines; in the deltaic and fluvial sediments of the [[Mississippi River Delta]]; and in glacial deposits within the midwestern United States. These buried upright trees demonstrate that conventional geologic processes are capable of burying and preserving trees in an upright position such that in time, they will become fossilized.<ref name="DiMichele+2011a"/><ref name="KaroweOthers1987a)">Karowe, A.L. and T.H. Jefferson, 1987, ''Burial of trees by eruptions of Mount St. Helens, Washington: Implications for the interpretation of fossil forests'', Geological Magazine 124(3):191-204.</ref>
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