What a week we're having! We've seen extremes in weather (107-degrees on Thursday and a high of around 75-degrees today, rain on Sunday and a dew point of about 10-degrees today, no wind on Thursday and wind gusts as high as 52 miles per hour today). The crew will be back in the quarry for a half-day tomorrow and will get a little bit of "tourist time" in Red Lodge in the afternoon before he ultimate Montana experience of attending a pig race at the Bearcreek Saloon.
I'll be posting some pictures this evening, and even more tomorrow evening along with a final fossil tally for the week, but I hope that everyone has had a great experience with us.
Russ and Sandy got started right away working on a couple of interesting fossils in the softer matrix (i.e. rock) higher up in the quarry. One particularly interesting item was a coossification (fusing of two bones) by what appeared to be a possible cancerous growth. It was very delicate, but they removed the bones like a pair of pros (this is their second summer with us). Kevin and Mark tackled some of the most difficult pieces of the week, which happened to also be in the hardest rock of the quarry. They have already removed a few ribs and some vertebrae, with a few more interesting pieces coming out hopefully on Saturday. Matt has had his hands full with several cervical vertebrae that have fallen victim to the "Mother's Day Curse" in which no one bone seems to come out without first having to remove several others which have been deposited in close proximity.
Mac, Sara, Lauren and Craig have been doing wonderfully well educating this week's crew about best approaches to removing difficult fossils. Ian has been racking up miles of hiking in his attempts to map the stratigraphy of the Mother's Day Site, a time-consuming and hot job.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Hey, just got back to Missoula after stopping off at the Museum of the Rockies to look at something other than a rib for the first time in 6 days.
Sorry I missed you guys when you left but as you all know I think I got a total of 3 hours sleep the whole week due to the combined efforts of the Montana insect population.
Anywhooooo, thanks to all you guys, I had an amazing time and hopefully will be back next year to bring a bit more British-ness to the proceedings :D Look forward to seeing the pictures when theyre uploaded, but where are they being uploaded to?
Could you post the GPS position of the quarry aswell? Im looking for it on MSN live maps and failing horribly.
So long, and thanks for all the fish (if you dont get it ask Craig)
Matt
Craig,
You know I'm living vicariously thru you right now !! Hope you're working hard and having just as much fun. : )
love,
mom (whoshouldabeenanarchaeologist)
Matt--
It was a pleasure having you out this summer, and hopefully you'll be able to join us next summer for a few weeks. Pictures are being uploaded to http://dinosaurfieldschool.shutterfly.com. As for the GPS coordinates, I'll email those to you under separate cover.
Judy--
Craig is doing great. The heat and altitude got to him a little at first, but he's recovered well. He has been a quick study, and is contributing a great deal in the quarry and in camp. I'll be sure to pass along your message.
Post a Comment