Fieldwork Friday #6

Here is an oldie to tie us over till I have something new to share.

I had the opportunity to do field work with the University of Utah's Paleo group in Grand Staircase/Escalante National Monument from October 22- 29, 2004. It was a great time, and I appreciate the chance to work with some wonderful paleontologist, while also having a new field experience and making some new friends.

I did this field work while trying to complete my next to last semester of grad school. It was a very stressful time in my life and I needed a chance to run away and get out of town. This fieldwork was just what I needed. It came at a time when I needed to just relax and work on something else. My friends were doing some work in the Kaiparowits and Wahweap Formations (Campanian; Upper Cretaceous in age), much of which will be talked about next week at the Advances in Late Cretaceous paleontology in the Escalante/Grand Staircase National Monument meeting. Check out the abstract book to see some of the research details.

Shot of the Kaiparowits (above)

The Wahweap Formation (if I remember correctly)

Jella & Eric working to winterize a site where a theropod was later excavated.

At this site I helped the crew remove a very large, beautiful hadrosaur skull that had skin impressions perserved around the neck region. This specimen was perserved in a Kaiparowits sandstone. You can read more about dinosaur skin impressions that have been found on many specimens within Grand Staircase on page 38 of the program and abstract book for the Advances in Late Cretaceous paleontology in the Escalante/Grand Staircase National Monument meeting here.

The morning of the 29th we awoke to this! About a foot of snow had fallen overnight and that ended the field season for that year.

Sorry I do not have more to share from this trip. It was 5 years ago (hard to believe!) and difficult to remember to many details. Here are some more pictures from this trip.

© ReBecca K. Hunt-Foster. Please see the "Field Work Friday Rules" about the work I do and collection practicies.