First Of Many Frags

Ah yes, Thursday! The last day of my work week! Now onto the 3 day weekend :)

Today, Angela, Dan, and I (who are all interns) dug at the BS quarry all day. In the morning, we had to "clean up" the quarry which consists of removing all the loose debri off the quarry walls and on the ground. It's hard being such a neat freak in a quarry because you try to clean it and there is always dirt and more rock pile just waiting...

The day went by pretty fast and I found my first sauropod bone fragments today! It's really exciting finding bone because you never know how large it is. Problem is that I get really impatient and want to get the whole bone out right that second! But you can't since it's so fragile. I got to keep the first one since no one could identify it. Anyway, the next fragment I found I couldn't keep and had to record it in collections. 

I also went to McDonald's today! The first time I ate fast food in 2 weeks! I ate a McFlurry because I was craving ice cream and it was delicious! I am really excited to sleep in tomorrow and enjoy the nice weather this weekend. It's going to get HOT. So far, it's only gotten to about mid 70s and its going to get into the 80s this weekend. Hopefully I will have something interesting to post about this weekend since my aunt and cousin are coming to visit me. I can't wait!! 

In reference to my earlier post about the velociraptor, here is our display at the WDC. This is how small it actually was.

A Paleo Hodgepodge

Yesterday was my first Dig for a Day!! Wahoo! The day started early at about 7:30am. We loaded up our SUV and took a mom, dad, and 6 year old son up to the WBS (West to Beside Sauropod) quarry. The family had a blast. The little boy wants to be a paleontologist when he grows up and knew so many different dinosaurs. He was a trouper, we were out in the field for about 6 hours!

The particular quarry we were at has been known to produce Camarasaur bones (below). These dinosaurs can weigh up to 20 tons and can be up to 50 ft in length.

It was fun to be with a family who was enthusiastic about paleontology. This week I also did work in the prep lab on a humerus. None of us are quite sure what dinosaur it is from, but we know it's from some type of Sauropod. I have been using air tools, such as a chisel and stylist. I enjoy being in the prep lab and getting experience, but it really hurts your hand after a while let me tell you. Also, the noise is pretty bad too. Especially when the sand blaster is on, the air ducts, and all the air tools.

Today was a laid back day to say the least. Another intern Dan and I went to the BS (Beside Sauropod) quarry. We tease him that he has the quarry with the most crap...

We forgot many things today as we went out into the field and wound up going up and down the hill numerous times, which cost us about 1 hour since it takes about 20 min to get up and down. We finally mapped different bones using radial mapping, where we measure from north stakes at the sites to certain points on the bones. We have to map out where all the bones are for each quarry and record it. We also used the total station, which is an expensive piece of mapping equipment that probably costs more than I'll make all summer. Here is me next to a sauropod bone today in the field. I made Dan my personal photographer for the day.

Chaos Theory

I've been here for a week officially since it's 34 minutes into Sunday. A lot has happened. I settled into my new home with 8 other roommates, none of whom I had met before this. There are 3 guys and 5 girls, another girl to come in 2 weeks. It takes a little getting used to let me tell you. I went from one roommate with my own bathroom and room to sharing one bathroom with 5 girls. Ahhhh! Anyway, everyone is pretty nice but we are an eclectic group to say the least. We are all very different and come from different backgrounds, yet we are all brought here by one thing: paleontology. And dinosaurs. 

This week I have been introduced to Wyoming's crazy weather rollercoaster. It was 80s when I got here and sunny. The first day on the dig sites I was dying. We shoveled dirt and put up a safety fence. The second day it was low 70s and windy. The digging was a bit easier and we listened to the hill supervisor's phone music. We had everything from Weird Al to B.o.B. to Snoop dog to Green Day.... yet another eclectic mix...

It has now been rainy and 50s for 3 straight days. 

We did a run-through of a museum tour this week, which is to be an hour long. The museum here is very impressive for such a small town. Its got tons of specimens, meaning we have to memorize tons of information! I've been trying to study my packet and used today to go to the museum and cram everything from the Precambrian to the Cretaceous. I thought school was over after graduation...I was wrong. Nonetheless, I'm glad to be learning new things and using it as a refresher course. After all, this is the stuff I love.

I also was introduced to some new things in the prep lab. I worked on Diplodocus ribs while using a simple dental pick and toothbrush. I worked on a Diplodocus coracoid that requires moving A LOT of matrix and the use of airbrush tools (it's still in the jacket it was brought down from the hill in). Last, I sandblasted Diplodocus vertebrae. It's kind of nervewrecking when you're a newbie. You don't want to ruin anything or chip away the bone. 

This first entry is slightly boring to many of you. I apologize. Anyway, here are some pics and highlights. 

Three main dinos are found in our quarries: Allosaurus, Diplodocus, & Camarasaur. Above is the Allosaurus, in my opinion the coolest. Because he's a carnosaurus and ruthless.

This is where I get work. The view is spectacular.

One of the quarries "BS" (Beside Sauropod) that we had to clean up before the dig for a days. 

Okay, one last thing. Did anyone know that the velociraptors in Jurassic Park are not supposed to be that big? They are much smaller and have feathers. They are actually modeled after Deinonychus, but velociraptor just seemed like a more terrifying name to use. Kind of a bummer for me. Also, T-Rex's vision may not be based on movement. If you don't move, he'll still eat you.......