Carolyn goes places : What Rocks and Fossils tell us

One of the most interesting topics I have learned about this summer is how to read rocks and the fossils that you occasionally find in them. We learned about all types of rocks, but specifically focused on sedimentary. This is or the particular reason the fossils are only found in this type of rock, which is one of the main subjects of this course. We practiced identifying types of sedimentary rocks such as limestone, sandstone and mudstone as well as observing the grain size, sorting, weathering patterns, color, etc. These observations allow us to understand how the rocks were formed, possibly how old they are, and what type of environment they were created in. All of this produces a story which we can interpret and understand how the earth has changed over million of billions of years. But the best part is when you find the remnants of an actual organism from a past era.

Dinosaurs are fascinating. Always have been always will be. From childhood through adolescent to adulthood most people will always be captivated by the idea of giant prehistoric creatures roaming the earth (i.e. Jurassic Park, Land before time, etc.) So as a normal person would be, the prospect of finding and excavating dinosaur bones was tantalizing. Would I find a T. Rex.? What if I made a new discovery? A NEW DINOSAUR! Then as with any fantasy that becomes mired with reality, I realized these dreams were not that simple and that its an incredibly complex process to dig up and identify Dino bones. But with the expertise of our wise instructors, old and new bones were found, things were broken and fixed, and I have a new appreciation of what it really means to be a field paleontologist.