"Taphonomy of the Mother's Day Quarry"

Since we have a wide-range of users visiting this blog, let me first start by defining taphonomy. Taphonomy (tuh-fahn-uh-mee) refers to the circumstances and processes of fossilization. For example, a study of the environmental conditions present when bones or other materials were first deposited and how those conditions affected the process of fossilization.

In 2007, Timothy Myers and Glenn Storrs published their Taphonomy of the Mother's Day Quarry, Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation, South-Central Montana, USA which examines the conditions present at our primary dig site in Montana when the bones of these sub-adult sauropods were deposited some 140-million years ago. This isn't light reading, but for those of you who will be joining us this summer (or who have joined us in the past), it might be of interest.