Dinosaur cliffs

2013-05-25 016The bare and colorful cliffs of Dinosaurland were once a steaming marsh filled with wildlife.  We seldom find dinosaur bones, but when we do the location is sent to the Natural History Museum in Salt Lake City so the professional paleontologists can excavate the animals that lived here over 100 million years ago.

Petrified log at the end of the Jurassic

Petrified log at the end of the Jurassic

This is called the Morrison Formation, named for the tiny town in Colorado where the first fossils were found.  At the top of this formation is the Brushy Basin Member, a hard conglomerate of agates, fossils and other goodies.  Geologically speaking, this is the very end of the Jurassic era.  Above this sits the Cretaceous era.  The transition is remarkable.  In this picture, you see a petrified log sticking out of a cliff of Brushy Basin sandstone.

Post a Reply

Top