Today only 30 stumps remain visible and many were re-buried to protect them from collectors
Goddamn, people have to just ruin everything, don't they?
I need to get my ass out to see more fossils, especially now that I'm in paleontology. The only place I've really been was the tar pits in Los Angeles. So ~amazing.
Exactly. And of course the Visitor Center showed pictures of the fireplace used at the unofficial Vistors' Center (before it became a National Monument) made of petrified wood. It's very beautiful but... sad. Link to the fireplace: http://www.idareds.com/moonlightmining/fireplace.html
YES. It is way cool to see the stumps and just imagine how tall they were. Come on down in the summer (the Quarry is only open during summer to individuals/groups and serious collectors) to hunt through the paper-shale. I'm putting together my own little fossil-hunting bag. Got my hammer and a nice chisel already but I need more information on a nearby road-cut (lots of shale there too). If it is private-land I'll have to ask the owners for permission. X/
Tar-pits! Aaaaah! That is my so cool. I've always wanted to see the tar-pits. Such a unique fossil-trove lies under there. <3 You're very lucky to see them.
I love little shale fish. We had samples of shale in our rock collections in geology, for when we had to place rock types on a chart for tests and stuff, and I always loved when my group got the tray that had a fish in the shale. ♥
Yeah, I haven't been to the tar pits since I was wee, I'll have to make some time for it in the future when I go to Los Angeles again. They put some sculptures of mammoths and stuff in the pits, and I just remember being so amazed at how big they were and imagining real mammoths being in there.
Teehee! The fish are great especially when you get impressions of scales in there as well. <3
Ah man, see that's what has always amazed me. You have these huge, beasts and they succumb to something like the tar-pits and well, as a kid it was just the most amazing and frightening thing. Vertebrate paleontology just makes me smile and want to learn more. The pursuit of knowledge about the ancient world and how it affects us is amazing. And then there are the stories about the early-days of paleontology and how these scientists could decide to destroy bones so that no one else could make a claim makes me so angry. It's one of the few things that I've ever cared to learn about both in the science of it and the history of the discoveries.
Comments 4
Goddamn, people have to just ruin everything, don't they?
I need to get my ass out to see more fossils, especially now that I'm in paleontology. The only place I've really been was the tar pits in Los Angeles. So ~amazing.
Reply
YES. It is way cool to see the stumps and just imagine how tall they were. Come on down in the summer (the Quarry is only open during summer to individuals/groups and serious collectors) to hunt through the paper-shale. I'm putting together my own little fossil-hunting bag. Got my hammer and a nice chisel already but I need more information on a nearby road-cut (lots of shale there too). If it is private-land I'll have to ask the owners for permission. X/
Tar-pits! Aaaaah! That is my so cool. I've always wanted to see the tar-pits. Such a unique fossil-trove lies under there. <3 You're very lucky to see them.
Reply
Yeah, I haven't been to the tar pits since I was wee, I'll have to make some time for it in the future when I go to Los Angeles again. They put some sculptures of mammoths and stuff in the pits, and I just remember being so amazed at how big they were and imagining real mammoths being in there.
Reply
Ah man, see that's what has always amazed me. You have these huge, beasts and they succumb to something like the tar-pits and well, as a kid it was just the most amazing and frightening thing. Vertebrate paleontology just makes me smile and want to learn more. The pursuit of knowledge about the ancient world and how it affects us is amazing. And then there are the stories about the early-days of paleontology and how these scientists could decide to destroy bones so that no one else could make a claim makes me so angry. It's one of the few things that I've ever cared to learn about both in the science of it and the history of the discoveries.
Reply
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