Argentina

November 6-29, 2009

November 23: Lago los Barreales and Proyecto Dino: Project Dino - Dig Site

Where there’s oil, there are dinosaurs, and Neuquén’s sedimentary steppe is one of Argentina’s late-Cretaceous hot spots. Sine 1988, the area around Neuquen has become a hotbed of activity, with paleontologists here uncovering fossils of both the largest herbivorous sauropod and the largest carnivorous dinosaur ever found. As you drive through the area its easy to imagine dinosaurs roaming the stunted plains and pterodactyls launching themselvers into the air form the imposing cliff-faces.

The best place to see an on-site excavation is at the Lago Los Barreales reservoir northwest of Neuquén, where paleontologists demonstrate the separation and rescue of fossil deposits, as well as the cleaning and extraction of the fossils themselves. Beasts in the sediments here include the sauropod Futalognkosaurus (a long-tailed quadruped with a long neck and small head), teropods (bipedal carnivores with huge claws such as Megaraptor), and ornithopods (small bipedal herbivores), as well as bivalves, crocodiles, turtles, and pterosaurs.

At first we were a little worried that we wouldn't get to see the site because we were the only ones there and there was no tourist guide available. However, this turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Instead of getting a typical Argentine tourist guide who spoke no English and knew little about the actual science, we ended up with a scientist as a guide who spoke English and had first-hand experience with everthing at the site! The guide was also able to cater his tour to our level so when he realized that we already knew the basics of how fossils are formed, he was able to skip much of that part of the tour and go more in depth on other parts. The tour was also very hands-on... we got to touch and hold many of the actual artifacts found here, including a dinosaur claw and a dinosaur egg!

As we were just about ready to give up on ever finding Proyecto Dino, we found a sign!

Sheep... of course.

More evidence of oil drilling and refining in the area.

There's gotta be bones up in them thar hills!

We arrive at the parking lot... which is absolutely empty.

The kids head off to see the greeter at the parking lot... Mr. Dinosaur Bones.

With all those layers of dirt, how DOES one decide where to first dig?!

The parking attendent has been here for a while. ;-)

The kids are all ready for this visit... Christopher has his dino shirt and Samantha her fossil shirt.

Foreigners pay a bit more to get in. But the kids were free. :)

Apparently the tour is only by guided visit and you have to ring the bell.

A lookout to the lake... we'll have to check that out after the tour.

As we look back at our lone car in the parking lot we start to get worried
that we may be out of luck to see the dig site today.

The futalognko path - the futalognko path is the dinosaur this dig became famous for.

Our guide shows us some of the amazing finds that have been made at this dig.

Some birds are watching us from their perch on the little hill.

The first part of the tour is a little geology lesson on the
types of rocks (volcanic, metamorphic, sedimentary) and how fossils are formed.

OMG! A dinosaur! Ruuuuuunnnnnnn!!!!!!

This display is to show how when an animal dies by a river its bones eventually may be washed up by a lake, which explains how this area around the lake is so rich with fossils. The excavation Futalognko, corresponds to an environment of a meandering river, where many bones piled up along one of the bends in the river. Eventually the bend is cut off from the main river, forming an oxbow lake where other vertebrates (fish) and vegetable waste are deposited at death.

Bones, bones, and more bones.

The black vultures seem disappointed that there's no meat on those bones!

Jote de cabeza negra (Coragyps atratus) (Black Vulture)

Fossils buried in the mud ready to be excavated.

Petrified wood.

They look like real logs but all the plant matter has been replaced with rock.

More tree fossils.

A beautiful tree fossil.

We took this opportunity to remind Samantha of the tree fossils we'd seen in Nova Scotia last year.

Some of the logs have been pieced together to show large tree trunks.

The spring waters of Lago Los Barreales are rising.

The priority right now is to cast what fossils have been uncovered and then
carefully move them to higher ground before the area is completely flooded for the summer.

Once partly excavated on field, the fossiles are plastered, in order to be transfered to the lab or workshop, where they will be cleaned properly by the technicians and then studied by the paleontologists.

Pictures from the Futalognko excavation.

Some of the excavation tools in a little makeshift shed.

Samantha next to a dinosaur nest.

A display to show what the nest might have looked like with a little hatching dinosaur.

Christopher was enjoying seeing all the dinosaurs.

Watch out Samantha, there's a dinosaur right behind you!

Christopher does not seem impressed that Rubby is offering him up as dinosaur breakfast!

Samantha next to a pterydactyl.

This display shows how these birds would have made tracks that are very unique.

Iguanodontid foot prints from about 100 million years ago during the Cretaceous period.

These herbivores left prints in the shape of a heel and three robust and round-shaped fingers.
This species walked in a balanced way, so its prints do not follow a straight line.