Dear Readers,
An update to let you know that now I am adding photos to the blog entries. I was not able to include them while we were in South Dakota, but now that I am home and have stronger internet access I can provide you with some pictorial accents. The above photo is a true mystery (at least to those of us who have not studied geology). We have had fun speculating what this formation represents. Perhaps remnants of an alien invasion??
We are really being challenged by the heat this year. The temperatures this week range from 92-99 degrees every day. The cooling vests and bandanas are essential, and with such high temperatures, we re-soak them during lunch. The afternoons are particularly difficult because the air is still and the formation surfaces reflect heat: your basic solar oven experience, from the inside perspective. If we don't hit pay dirt finding fossils, we at least congratulate ourselves for surviving.
Tuesday the group was split again with some students working the T. rex site and the remainder returning to the hadrosaur site to continue excavating vertebrae. We went with the hadrosaur group and set out to try to find the various bone spills that Ron had seen earlier. We reached the butte named "Samson" and walked around the perimeter looking for the telltale spill of fossil bone that can often indicate a larger fossil is hidden nearby.
We climbed up a little higher and soon found weathered chunks of bone about the size of a walnut. In fact, as we continued our search there were little spills every few feet. Though we tried to find a potential source (the hidden bone), neither of us could see any indication of a bone peeking out of the bluff. This is a high, relative steep bluff, and Laurel and I are not really comfortable climbing on the crumbly and sharp dried bentonite. I found a relatively easy path to climb a bit higher to follow a spill Laurel found, and I discovered a large group of fossil spill pieces sitting on a flat stone projection. I could not determine if someone had placed them there, or if they are coming out of the bluff from an even higher locale. We know where this spot is on "Samson", and will return later this week with reinforcements.
Returning to the hadrosaur site we met Ryan and the students, gathered the tools and drove the vehicles back up the hill and to the home base (T. rex site) for lunch. Laurel's rally driving skills improve with each pass up and down the steep and rutted "road". The students, Ryan and I are very proud of her. Lunch found us loosely gathered under the tent to get some relief from the sun. During that 45 minute break, we learned that we would be returning to the hadrosaur site. The T. rex site is so narrow that it cannot accommodate all the students, so we will split the group again.
Ryan leads the vertebrae excavation effort again aided by some of the students. William, a guide and excavator, took the afternoon shift to collect. We headed out in the same basic direction he wanted to go, and soon enough he headed for much higher ground. Though he encouraged us to join him since he was finding fossils and artifacts, our attempts to get up to his location were thwarted by our fear of the dreaded bentonite bluffs. Oh to be under 30 and sure footed. We are of the over 30 and wise.
Laurel and I retraced our steps down the hill and continued our searching along the base of the bluff. We had visited this area on Monday, but you never know what you might have missed. Not finding anything, we located the only shade for miles (slight exaggeration), and sat down for a little rest. The breeze would pick up occasionally, but more than once, it felt like someone had turned on a heater fan. The 30 minutes in the shade with our boots and hats off really did the trick, and we headed out again to hunt for fossil treasure.
The only collecting I accomplished was bags of fossil chunks to be donated to the Waldorf School of Orange County. Laurel was equally slighted in her search, but we had a wonderful time being out in the Hell Creek. William was eager to share his finds which included partial artifacts, a huge crocodile (maybe alligator) crusher tooth and 8 fossilized pine cones. We returned to the cars, loaded them with tools, back packs and hadrosaur verts and returned to home base.
A special note here to impress upon you how hard everyone works on these dig sites. The afternoon sun is baking the formations and the heat reflects upon the body in that solar oven way. That just describes what it feels like to stand there. Those who work are chipping away with rock hammers or chisels the incredibly hard matrix which surrounds the somewhat entwined vertebrae. You really have to love paleontology to do this work. Each day the team at the hadrosaur site worked almost 4 hours in these conditions. Well done!
Back at the ranch, we cleaned up, laundered clothes and cooked dinner. It was an early to bed kind of night. The heat drains you and without the distraction of great fossil treasure, your spirits lag a bit. That being said, we are so happy to be here and look forward to another day.
Here is Laurel sitting calmly on the bizarre "rock" which could have fallen from the bluff in the background. The Natural wonders amuse and amaze us.
Cheers,
Momasaurus
No comments:
Post a Comment