In the 1930s, during the construction of West Alameda Parkway, dinosaur tracks were discovered on the east side of Dinosaur Ridge in the 100-million year-old rocks of the Dakota Group, representing the Cretaceous Period. The tracks are those of Iguanodon-like plant-eating - or herbivorous - dinosaurs and ostrich-sized meat-eating - or carnivorous - dinosaurs. Recent research has revealed that these tracks represent only a small part of the extensive track-bearing beds that can be traced along the Colorado Front Range. Because this strata represents the shoreline sediments of an ancient seaway that was frequently trampled by dinosaurs, these beds have been called the "Dinosaur Freeway."
Field trip that takes you through the towns of Morrison Colorado and ending in Golden, Colorado. We will start at Dinasaur Ridge, walk a few trails, look at fossils and trace fossils that are at these locations. From here, we will do a quick tour of Red Rocks and study the geology of the fountain formation. We will then head to golden to to walk the Triceratops Trail.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
In the 1930s, during the construction of West Alameda Parkway, dinosaur tracks were discovered on the east side of Dinosaur Ridge in the 100-million year-old rocks of the Dakota Group, representing the Cretaceous Period. The tracks are those of Iguanodon-like plant-eating - or herbivorous - dinosaurs and ostrich-sized meat-eating - or carnivorous - dinosaurs. Recent research has revealed that these tracks represent only a small part of the extensive track-bearing beds that can be traced along the Colorado Front Range. Because this strata represents the shoreline sediments of an ancient seaway that was frequently trampled by dinosaurs, these beds have been called the "Dinosaur Freeway."
Friday, March 30, 2007
Red Rocks Park
Pkwy. End at Red Rocks Park. Distance is 2 miles.
After these rocks were tilted by the Laramide mountain uplift, erosion shaped these great monoliths. These rocks stand so tall because they were cemented a little better here than anywhere else.
The rocks are red due to the presence of the mineral hematite.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Triceratops Trail
CO 26, CO 26 becomes US 40 E. Turn left onto Heritage Road, then left on 6th Ave and then a slight right onto 19th Street. Turn right on the first street which is Jones Street and follow that road until you reach the parking for the trail.
The Triceratops Trail is a 1/2 mile hike that leads you on a walk through 68 million years of Colorado History. Along this trail you can see footprint, traces, and impressions left by dinosaurs and many other creatures that lived 68 million years ago.
The picture on the left are called "bulges". These of impressions of dinosaurs walking in the area. When the dinosaur walked here, he was so heavy that he left big impressions in the mud. Very neat to see.This picture on the right is a left foot of the Triceratops.
The picture on the left gives a brief overview of Golden's landscapes. The picture on right, you can see palm impressions here. This wall was so amazing to see. Many, many fossil impressions here.
The picture on the left you can see from this picture the extreme uplift of the Rock Mountains. This is a near vertical uplift. The picture on the right, there are small animal trails and burrows.
I thought this was a pretty picture of the surrounding area.
At the end of this trip we also went into the School of Mines Museum. This is a great museum and I highly recommend going. We also stopped at another museum in the town of Morrison that was very small, but had some great dinosaur fossils on exhibit. I might put those pictures up at a later time on this blog.
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Side Trips
Here are some random side trips we took along our journey. I actually had to do the field trip in three days due to our great Colorado weather. Everytime I planned for the a certain day, it snowed or rained or was foggy. Most pictures on all previous posts came from the one sunny hour of one of the trips. The museum photos are when I gave up because of weather.
Nevermind! I can't upload any pictures. I keep getting the box with the red X in it when I try to upload photos. Urgh. Maybe these links will work.
http://picasaweb.google.com/michellezale/UntitledAlbum02
http://picasaweb.google.com/michellezale/TownOfMorrisonAndGoldenFieldTrip