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Carnegie Museum of Natural History

One of the Four Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh

antarctica

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AP3 Expedition 2016

Q: Will you be digging under deep layers of ice?

A: We will not be digging through ice for our expedition. Our expedition is timed for the end of the Austral summer, when most rock along the northernmost tip of the peninsula is readily available. There will be glaciers where we will be working but they will not be covering all of the islands where we will be working. Unfortunately, the possibility of a snow storm can still limit the amount of exposed rock with fossils.

Matt Lamanna, is a paleontologist and the principal dinosaur researcher at Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh. Matt and his team of researchers blog frequently from the field at antarticdinos.org.

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AP3 Expedition 2016

Antarctica

 

Q: How do you find fossils in Antarctica?

A: In brief, there are basically two ways by which one can determine where to look for fossils. The first has to do with the fact that most of the Earth’s surface has been mapped from a geological standpoint. Geologic maps show what rocks are exposed at the surface. Fossils are found almost exclusively in sedimentary rocks (e.g., shale, mudstone, sandstone) as opposed to igneous and metamorphic rocks. So the first step would be to examine the map for those. Next, for those interested in dinosaurs, scour the map for sedimentary rocks that were deposited during the Mesozoic Era or Age of Dinosaurs ( we know that dinos evolved more-or-less 235 million years ago and died out (except for their descendants, birds) 66 million years ago). So search the map for sedimentary rocks that were deposited during that time. Lastly, dinos were almost exclusively land-dwelling animals, so look for Mesozoic sedimentary rocks that were deposited in bodies of water that were near land (i.e., rivers, ponds, lakes, ocean coastlines). If all three criteria are met, and you can get to the place, you might have a fighting chance of finding dino fossils there.

The second way is simpler — you just go where people have found fossils before.

Matt Lamanna, is a paleontologist and the principal dinosaur researcher at Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh. Matt and his team of researchers blog frequently from the field at antarticdinos.org.

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AP3 Antarctica Peninsula Paleontology Project 2016

A few recent images:

Camp Set Up

SnowDay Camp Set Up (we were putting up additional tents for additional people coming into Vega) and coffee in camp on a snow day (coffee thanks to Steven Salisbury).

Matt Lamanna, is a paleontologist and the principal dinosaur researcher at Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh. Matt and his team of researchers blog frequently from the field at antarticdinos.org.

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Antarctica Peninsula Paleontology Project: Robertson Island

February 14, 2016

Part of the team (Eric Roberts, Matt Lamanna, Julia Clarke, and Pat O’Connor) went down to Robertson Island. The weather was perfect. We flew out over the ice in our first helicopter flight with pilot Jim. Seals scampered across large bergs far below us leaving striking tracks.  The helo landing was smooth and the outcrop was impressive–a tiny piece of earth exposed on an ice covered island.

The whole group collected abundant invertebrates while Roberts focused on the geologic context. The first thing we saw when prospecting were abundant weathered penguin feathers (not fossil). Mostly, contour feathers, they seemed to have been moulted. Trace fossils were especially common.

Near the end of the day we ended up on the top of the bluff. I hiked out far to the north along the edge of the glacier that covered most of the island. About 20 m out, a tiny differntly-colored object glinted slightly. It turned the end of a harpoon-shaped metal point. It was apparently quite old. The tip was somewhat blunted by design.

I started researching the history of Robertson Island as much as I could with limited resources shipboard that evening.

In 1893, Carl Larsen (of the Larsen ice sheets) named Robertson after supposedly ascending to the top of the volcano to verify its island status. He is supposed to have skied down the glacier–apparently the first ski trip in Antarctica!

I’m facinated that I might have found a tiny piece of anarctic exploration history. Perhaps a flag planted high on the glacier during that trip? Much-weathered wood is preserved in the hollow base of the point and we might be able to carbon date. In another tie-in to our current trip, Larsen’s expedition reported the first fossils from Seymour Island.

Julia Clarke

Julia Clarke is a paleontologist and evolutionary biologist who studies birds and theropod dinosaurs. The lead principal investigator and project director of the AP3: Antarctic Peninsula Paleontology Project is Matt Lamanna. Matt and his team of researchers blog frequently from the field at antarticdinos.org.

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AP3: Antarctica Peninsula Paleontology Project 2016

sea bird Front of a ship at sea sea bird
February 10, 2016

Day 3 of our cruise and we’re in the Drake Passage–the body of water between South America and Antarctica–which is said to be home to the roughest seas on Earth. Unfortunately for us, the Drake is living up to its reputation. It’s hard to estimate wave heights, but I’m thinking they’re between 15 and 20 feet. Happily, the waves were higher earlier today, and things seem to be calming down a little now. Let’s hope so, ‘cause seasickness is no fun.

Though getting bounced around in the Drake isn’t much fun, the silver lining is that the Passage is home to some super-cool seabirds that often follow the ship. Here are pics of an albatross and a giant petrel that I took today.

 

Matt Lamanna, paleontologist and the principal dinosaur researcher at Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, and his team of researchers, are sailing to Antarctica in search of dinosaur fossils. They blog daily on Twitter at @antarcticdinos.