Cretaceous Fossils Of The Dakota Badlands
Located in the northwestern region of the United States, the Dakota Badlands of North Dakota span thousands of square miles, stretching from just south of the Canadian border to the Iowa border. Specifically, Toadstool Park in the Oglala National Grassland of northwestern Nebraska shares geology and paleontology with the famed badlands in neighboring states. During the Cretaceous period, roughly 145 to 65 million years ago, this area formed the Western Interior Seaway, also known as the Inland Sea. This tropical body of water stretched from the Gulf of Mexico to the Arctic Ocean, effectively dividing North America in two.
The unique conditions present in the badlands provide an opportunity for fossil discovery and excavation. Cretaceous marine invertebrates, fish, and reptiles left an immense number of impressions in the area's vast deposits of mudstone and shale, which once existed on the floor of the Inland Sea. Fossil remains of marine animals including ammonites, belemnites, and bivalves blanketing the landscape attest to the region's aquatic history. Notable sites within the badlands such as the Hell Creek Formation, the Lance Formation, and the Pierre Shale have rendered more complete fossil specimens.
Discovery of well-preserved fossils of the Early Cretaceous squid relatives, known as Belemnitida or belemnites, are not uncommon in the Dakota Badlands due to robust geological and stratigraphic stability of the rock. Researchers also excavated several partial skeletons and large fossils of Cretaceous reptiles such as Edmontosaurus and Triceratops, further contributing to early research on the theropod dinosaurs that lived during the late Cretaceous period. Local fossils exemplify various modern-day species that can be seen at local museums, for example, the ones at the University of Nebraska State Museum.
Researchers extracted fossils from bentonite beds in the Badlands giving valuable data about Earth's magnetic field. This magnetic analysis clarifies in detail that several times the Earth's magnetic field reversed over the millions of years that the Western Interior Seaway covered this region. In depth comparisons and a number of detailed correlation have even given information as precise as the length of a specific prehistoric day. Given the overwhelming contributions to historical research discovered at the Dakota Badlands in North Dakota and many specifically in the neighboring northwest part of the U.S. State of Nebraska, this area is undeniably notable for the pursuit of scientific knowledge.
One example of advanced technology that's greatly enhanced research and collection over the thousands of square miles of badlands in northwest Nebraska and across the state borders is LIDAR (light detection and ranging) topographic scanning equipment mounted to airborne drones. Although weather greatly affects results in extreme cases, it proves effective for revealing previously hidden Cretaceous period buried bones across remote locations.
Another fascinating scientific pursuit uses the rich history contained in deposits of bentonite found here to reanalyze periods in history beyond the dates represented by their physical position on tree trunks of known age. A comprehensive review conducted using combined methods, for example, correlated findings excavated from two different states demonstrating further benefits. Over thousands of years at this particular site during Cretaceous Era had both Earth's magnetic changes, long-term sedimentation, reversal record period rates left behind as details of research as Earth had been bombarded by an ancient constant that would always add up during an era.
Located directly nearby such notable Cretaceous discovery areas the northwestern U.S. State of Nebraska has an immense body of inescapable world-class value for excavated relics from Cretaceous Badlands representing an overall conclusive natural or terrestrial basis of the planet or information such as that taken through detailed comparative dates. Local national parks remain undisturbed terrestrial samples of unaltered invertebrate, vertebrate along with terrestrial land, giving important comparison and example of historical geologic conditions.
The Oglala National Grassland in northwestern Nebraska and similar areas south and east form much smaller regions of badland or stratification resulting from water cycles but have helped numerous researchers in these and surrounding parts of town pursuing greater geological conclusions and understanding for now but in forthcoming research and examination on several topics in the coming years.
The unique conditions present in the badlands provide an opportunity for fossil discovery and excavation. Cretaceous marine invertebrates, fish, and reptiles left an immense number of impressions in the area's vast deposits of mudstone and shale, which once existed on the floor of the Inland Sea. Fossil remains of marine animals including ammonites, belemnites, and bivalves blanketing the landscape attest to the region's aquatic history. Notable sites within the badlands such as the Hell Creek Formation, the Lance Formation, and the Pierre Shale have rendered more complete fossil specimens.
Discovery of well-preserved fossils of the Early Cretaceous squid relatives, known as Belemnitida or belemnites, are not uncommon in the Dakota Badlands due to robust geological and stratigraphic stability of the rock. Researchers also excavated several partial skeletons and large fossils of Cretaceous reptiles such as Edmontosaurus and Triceratops, further contributing to early research on the theropod dinosaurs that lived during the late Cretaceous period. Local fossils exemplify various modern-day species that can be seen at local museums, for example, the ones at the University of Nebraska State Museum.
Researchers extracted fossils from bentonite beds in the Badlands giving valuable data about Earth's magnetic field. This magnetic analysis clarifies in detail that several times the Earth's magnetic field reversed over the millions of years that the Western Interior Seaway covered this region. In depth comparisons and a number of detailed correlation have even given information as precise as the length of a specific prehistoric day. Given the overwhelming contributions to historical research discovered at the Dakota Badlands in North Dakota and many specifically in the neighboring northwest part of the U.S. State of Nebraska, this area is undeniably notable for the pursuit of scientific knowledge.
One example of advanced technology that's greatly enhanced research and collection over the thousands of square miles of badlands in northwest Nebraska and across the state borders is LIDAR (light detection and ranging) topographic scanning equipment mounted to airborne drones. Although weather greatly affects results in extreme cases, it proves effective for revealing previously hidden Cretaceous period buried bones across remote locations.
Another fascinating scientific pursuit uses the rich history contained in deposits of bentonite found here to reanalyze periods in history beyond the dates represented by their physical position on tree trunks of known age. A comprehensive review conducted using combined methods, for example, correlated findings excavated from two different states demonstrating further benefits. Over thousands of years at this particular site during Cretaceous Era had both Earth's magnetic changes, long-term sedimentation, reversal record period rates left behind as details of research as Earth had been bombarded by an ancient constant that would always add up during an era.
Located directly nearby such notable Cretaceous discovery areas the northwestern U.S. State of Nebraska has an immense body of inescapable world-class value for excavated relics from Cretaceous Badlands representing an overall conclusive natural or terrestrial basis of the planet or information such as that taken through detailed comparative dates. Local national parks remain undisturbed terrestrial samples of unaltered invertebrate, vertebrate along with terrestrial land, giving important comparison and example of historical geologic conditions.
The Oglala National Grassland in northwestern Nebraska and similar areas south and east form much smaller regions of badland or stratification resulting from water cycles but have helped numerous researchers in these and surrounding parts of town pursuing greater geological conclusions and understanding for now but in forthcoming research and examination on several topics in the coming years.
