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...continued
The Storm…
The weather was, in fact, deemed
so bad - and the possibility that
we might experience more of this
weather during the remaining field
season so good - that Tan Lin
rented two additional rooms from
the Mongolian family living beside
our campsite.
The
calm, dust-free library was a
popular
hang-out during the windstorm.
By midday
we evacuated all our belongings
from the tents and relocated to
the security of the mud brick
building. Throughout the day we
watched from the library window
as the tents billowed. The "boys"
tent, situated at the corner of
the house and most exposed to
the east wind, suffered the brunt
of it. Already weakened by one
loose wall, it was particularly
fragile and swelled like a huge
balloon.
The
Mongolian family who rented us
rooms during the storm pose for
a photo in their living room.
In calm of
the library we worked on our journals,
read scientific papers. Andy plied
Paul with questions about anatomy;
Mike edited photos; Paul told
stories of hair raising events
on previous expeditions; we watched
as the Chinese team played game
after game of mahjong with heavy
ivory-colored tiles; we bothered
Gao at work in the kitchen; talked
about how the whole experience
felt like a surprise snow day
at school; and over and over we
chewed on the data from the site.
What scenario - or combination
of events - would produce the
unique preservation we have at
S1?
Hard
work at the pit is already wearing
out tools and gloves, but Fabrice
has new friends to keep him company.
To understand
the site better we are mapping
the bones. In addition, Dave has
been describing a geologic section.
The section will document the
depositional environment of the
site - what the environment was
like and how the sediments accumulated
and preserved the bones of these
dinosaurs.
I spent
some time talking with Dave about
his work as a geologist and how
a dinosaur site is interpreted.
To read our conversation - and
review some of Dave's field notes
from the S1 site - click here.
If the storm
dies down soon we won't lose too
much time. Even if it doesn't
die down completely, we are committed
to getting back to S1 as soon
as possible. In 1997 we excavated
Suchomimus during a 10-day sandstorm
in Niger. At that time we used
the trucks to block the site and
used canvas bags over our heads
and goggles over our eyes to protect
our faces. We think we can employ
similar techniques here.
By
dawn one side of the "boys"
tent had come completely
undone from the constant battering
of the wind.
Gabrielle
Lyon
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