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Geology
Fieldwork in the Western Interior
(South Dakota, Wyoming and Montana)
June 2008
Mark
A. Wilson (Wooster Geology Professor), John A. Sime (Wooster Senior
Geology Major)
and Paul
D. Taylor (Paleontologist, The Natural History Museum, London)
Our June 2008 trip to the Western Interior had two purposes:
Paul Taylor wanted to find examples of Late Cretaceous bryozoans, and
John Sime was starting his Senior Independent Study research on Late Cretaceous
marine paleoecology and taphonomy. This was the first time in this area
for any of us. We were greatly helped by Neal Larson (Black
Hills Institute of Geological Research), Bill Wahl (Wyoming
Dinosaur Center), and Mike Ross, an avid amateur paleontologist in
Casper, Wyoming. We also had assistance from Walter Stein (PaleoAdventures)
and another clever South Dakota amateur, Jamie Brezina.
This webpage
is designed to show the viewer highlights of our work in the Western Interior,
and to serve as an organizing point for our digital photographs. Click
on each date for that day's worth of photos; a favorite from each day
is linked in the text:
June
15: First day in South Dakota. John and Mark examined a Cambrian
shoreline in the Black Hills.
June
16: Paul, John and Mark spent the day
in the collections of the Black Hills Institute of Geological Research.
June
17: Studied and collected from Late
Cretaceous seep deposits on ranchland in southwestern South Dakota.
June
18: A productive day on the Chance Davis Ranch in western South Dakota
collecting Baculites
specimens.
June
19: Worked with Walter Stein on another
South Dakota ranch. Impressive hail storm in the Black Hills.
June
20: Visited the Little
Bighorn Battlefield in Montana, site of Custer's Last Stand in June
1876.
June
21: Working with Mike Ross (ammonite tatoos!) in the Middle Jurassic
and Late Cretaceous of Wyoming.
June
22: Another day in the Late Cretaceous with Mike Ross, this time
near Ekalaka in southern Montana.
June
23: At the 33-Mile
Road section in Natrona County, Wyoming, looking at the Sundance Formation
(Jurassic).
June
24: Day spent in the Thermopolis, Wyoming, area, including time at
the Wyoming Dinosaur Center.
June
25: A visit to Mount Rushmore and The Mammoth
Site in Hot Springs, South Dakota.
June
26: We shipped specimens from Rapid City, and then spent too much
time with our favorite presidents!
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