fandomhigh | Paleontology, Jan 30th, Period 7

"Okay, so this week we start learning things in preparation for our excavation field trip." Tommy says, once it's time for class to start.

"The first step when excavating a site is to remove the topsoil. After that, we draw a site plan- which used to be done with the aid of tape measures, but these days it's more common to use something called a 'total station'.

A strategy for sampling the features can then be formulated which may involve total excavation of each feature or only portions. It is normal to excavate the latest features first and the earliest features last. A grid is usually set up, dividing the site into 5m squares to better aid the positioning of the features on the overall site plan.

Small fossils are easily excavated with small hand tools. Large fossils require more effort and bigger tools in order to expose the specimen; these tools include shovels, picks, jack-hammers, or even explosives.

Small and large fossils are excavated differently, but both have to be treated with care to avoid breakage. Before removing a crumbling or fragile fossil, a quick-setting glue can be brushed on to it. Then the fossil can be removed from the surrounding rock.

After being found, a fossil must be carefully freed from the rock where it's been for millions of years without damaging it. First the fossils should be labelled and photographed while still encased in the rock. Its position should be carefully noted on the site plan.

Most of the overlying rock is removed using large tools like picks and shovels, but the 2-3 inches of rock closest to the fossil are removed with smaller hand tools like trowels, hammers, whisks, and dental tools. The exposed fossil is photographed and labeled again. Frequently, only some of the overlying rock is removed at the dig site. The rest of the overburden can be removed later, in the lab.

The fossil must be packed very carefully to be moved to the lab. Small fossils can be packed in boxes or bags. Large fossils can be first wrapped in paper or burlap, with a layer of plaster applied, much like setting a broken bone.

Any questions?" Tommy looked around the class.

"Second order of business today is presentations, as per usual. Any volunteers?" Tommy asks.

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Today? Tommy has brought dinosaur shaped cookies for everyone. Because he's a dork.

For all your during-class needs. Ask questions, talk to each other, pass notes, throw cookies...

Get up in front of the class. You know you want to.

If you didn't hand it in in Wednesday's thread, put it here.

Come on, talk to Smart Glasses Dude!

Because everyone else has it.

Janet signs in and takes two dinosaur-shaped cookies. She certainly doesn't make them fight a wee dinosaur battle to the death before she eats them. And oops, they're both herbivores and so therefore likely wouldn't have a wee dinosaur battle to the death.

"Is there any way to scan under the ground to see what's there before excavations start?" asked Janet. "Or do you just extrapolate based on geographic factors and then hope for the best?"

"Well," Tommy says after some consideration, "it's possible to use ground-penetrating radars in some cases, in order to detect the presence of anything interesting."

"But it would only detect large fossils, I presume," said Janet. "So extrapolation would be the primarily-used method of determining where to dig. Or so I'm guessing."

"Yup. We look at geologic maps to determine where the best places to dig would be. It's also entirely possible that fossils could be found by accident, by someone who wasn't even looking for them." Tommy shrugs.

Janet nodded and took more notes on the subject.

Rory took a dinosaur-shaped cookie and quite possibly made little "Rarrr!" noises with it as she made it stomp across her desk.

Because she's a dork too.

Stegosaurus reached up to 40 feet in length and may have weighed up to 5.5 short tons. However, most specimens never exceeded 23 feet and 2 short tons. The plates of Stegosaurus were highly modified bony-cored scales, similar to those seen in crocodiles and many lizards today. The largest plates were found over the animal's hips and measured 2 feet wide and 60 centimeters tall. The skull of Stegosaurus was long and narrow, and its head was carried close to the ground, probably no higher than 3 feet. Stegosaurus had a small brain, about the size of a walnut. And, of course, they were herbivores.

Molly signed in and took a cookie. As she turned to go to her seat she bit it's head off. It was then she noticed that Janet and Rory were playing with their cookies. She looked down at her headless cookie, sad that she hadn't thought of that too. She sat down at her desk and finished her cookie as she giggled quietly at Janet and Rory.

Rose signs in and takes a cookie with a smiel to Dr. Tommy.

~~*kills her frakking browser*~~

Sharon signs in, still a little nervous about her presentation, but willing to give it a go. Taking a cookie, she smiles at the shape, but ends up pulling it into little pieces before eating it while the professor lectures.

Sharon is a little nervous, but she can't stop smiling as she stands in front of the class. Briefly, she'd considered some sort of projections for the presentation, but just ended up with a slightly blown-up photos of the grouping she plans to discuss.

"First, I'd just like to note that I find the concept of dinosaurs fascinating. And think they would have come in handy to fight snow monsters. Especially the Ankylosaurus." She pauses to considers the snow sharks being whacked with the ankylosaurus' tail and feels a little sad they hadn't shown up for the fight. Shaking her head, she continues before the pause can become noticeable. As she mentions their names, she holds up the photos.

"The Ankylosaurus is a member of the Thyreophora family, which consists of small to quite large armor-plated," which, again, would have been useful. Really, she should have her mind on her presentation, "dinosaurs. Um, most of them were four-legged, and they were herbivores. The most commonly-know, are the Stegosaurus (http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a269/AnaDeZorga/stegosaurus.jpg) and the Ankylosaurus (http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a269/AnaDeZorga/Ankylosaurus.jpg). The smallest Thyreophora was the Scutellosaurus (http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a269/AnaDeZorga/Scutellosaurus.jpg), and he was only about as long as ~~Twiki~~ Dr. Tommy's desk is.

"Er, that would be about a meter or so long." Sharon glances at her notes, then continues, "Scully-saurus was found as early as the Jurassic, while Steggy-saurus were most well-known during the late Jurassic, and Ankylosaurus was found generally during the crustaceous."

With a final smile, Sharon glances around, "Any questions?"

[ooc: info shamelessly ripped from: http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/diapsids/ornithischia/thyreophora.html, also, reposted to fix html. *mutters*]

Kawalsky signed in and took a cookie.

Kawalsky raised his hand. "You said small fossils can be dug up using explosives. Will we be using them on the field trip?" Somehow, he knew he'd be doing all of the heavy lifting on this field trip.

Kawalsky didn't have any questions, but he liked the idea of the armored dinos.

Paleontology, Jan 30th, Period 7

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