Visit to fossil fish site

Fossil Dig June, 30,2009

Fossil fish site North Dakota


As you recall, this summers' fossil dig experience was to have been the once in a lifetime opportunity to help excavate a juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex. Though Tinker's fate is still is the hands of the judges of the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, the extraordinary fossil fish site became this year's focus. The students from Gainesville College have been working for six long days and I decided it was time for a trip north. A few of the "fossil prospectors" have visited the site before today and I wanted to be sure and see the fish before they are covered in the white plaster jackets.

We left the motel around 9:30 this morning and I drove my car with Esther and her son, Ben, and one of the students, Rob. Just outside Buffalo we turned off onto a gravel road and for the next hour drove on dirt, gravel, asphalt and grass. It felt a bit like a scene from an Indiana Jones movie, minus the high speeds and special effects. Since I learned to drive on a tractor and a Jeep, it was not all that unfamiliar.

Once we arrived at the site, the terrain is very similar to that of the areas we collect in around Buffalo. The Hell Creek formation spans the borders of North and South Dakota. The fish site is presumed to be a large, deep lake bed in which all the fish died simultaneously. Many of them are preserved in such a way that they are three dimensional. It is hard to see that as you view them in situ, but I imagine after they are restored they will be very striking.

The site has been laid out in grids and the students work in teams clearing the overburden with rock hammers and shovels. When they reach a certain level the work slows down as the tools get smaller and the attention focuses on revealing fossils, with minimum damage. I received a brief tour and description from Amy and then I let her return to her grid and the fish she revealed yesterday.

I took a brief walk around the surrounding area to get a better idea of the exposure and the grasslands beyond. Every vista is so expansive it is hard to describe or capture on film. It was another beautiful day with a breeze and moderate temperatures in the low 80's. After my quick tour I found Esther, Ben and Rob and asked them if I could be of any help. Rob jumped to his feet, gave me his rock hammer, and briefed me on the instructions for this grid.

We were perched on the edge of a bluff and had a great view of the other grids and the valley below. I started picking away at the hard clay with the rock hammer and soon found the indication of fossil fish: dark rust scales. The rock hammer is retired and out comes a scalpel. In fact there is a variety of scalpels to choose from and when those are too large for the work a pick is used which is comparable to a large needle stuck into a small wooden dowel. To say this work is detailed is an understatement. One slip of the hand and you cut into precious scales and bones.

I had thought gardening would be appropriate practice for this work. Wrong. Imagine perched high on a ledge that has hard clay overburden (thank heavens for kneeling pads), the wind blowing the dust in your face, and you are bent over a 65 million year old fish, or perhaps fishes, trying to unveil them for the first time. There were three of us sitting in this grid that was about four feet by six feet. The tight quarters and expanding size of the fossil material did not allow for much elbow room, let alone leg stretching space.

In spite of these aspects, the work is strangely compelling. After two and a half hours when Steve shouted for a lunch break, people continued to work, and that included us. It is fascinating to see these ancient finned creatures emerge from the clay and sand that has encased them for so long. But we did lay down our tools and unfold our bodies (slowly and somewhat stiffly) to head down the hill to the vehicles for lunch. The students are very congenial and have a great time together. What an amazing experience for all of them to have this opportunity to excavate the first lake bed in the Cretaceous of Hell Creek.

After a 45 minute lunch break we headed back to our perch (no pun intended) and went back to our labors. The afternoon session ran about two hours or so and though I did not get bored, my back was not happy. I would find it very challenging to do this same work day after day. We are fairly certain we found the fossil boundaries of our grid. We uncovered some of the fossil which Steve sealed as protection against the elements. It appears that it is important to uncover much of the fossil with as little damage as possible, but then the fossil and matrix will be jacketed with plaster for transport to Georgia for restoration. Our grid probably contains more than one fish and perhaps one of them is three dimensional. At this early stage it is difficult to state that with authority.

After we packed up our personal belongings and the site tools, I took a peek at some of the other grids. One site in particular contains a most amazing creature that appears to have a curved beak like nose or mouth. It is long and tapered and points down just like a beak. I am so curious as to what it might be. It contains other anatomical features which are most likely from other animals. This layering of animals makes the work challenging, and to my untrained eyes, almost incomprehensible. The student working this site is doing a fantastic job.

Steve finished up coating the fossils with preservative and then tools and people were loaded into vehicles for the hour drive back to the Tipperary. I returned, tired, sore, and dirty, but filled with a sense of accomplishment (albeit a small one). Given the size of this site and the many grids still yet to be started, I imagine there will be an opportunity next year to continue working the lake bed of Hell Creek. Sign ups available at PaleoProspectors.com.

That wraps up today's adventures except we had the most amazing storm blow over us with a threat of a tornado. It came from North Dakota so I hope the fish are still there and did not get washed away. That would be ironic if, after all these millions of years of safe keeping in their matrix of sand and clay, they might be washed away just months before their debut. Let's hope the preservative and drainage channels did their jobs.

Please note that the summary entry finally got posted tonight thanks to Daria's assistance. I couldn't get all the photos uploaded that I had hoped to, but the text is there...finally!

Cheers.