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..cont'd
8:00am
The lone
hand of the truck driver gives a final push
to the Suchomimus jacket as it is
loaded onto his 30-foot long, desert-hardy
flatbed
9:00am
This Nigersaurus
jacket weighs more than 1000 pounds. Moving
plaster jackets that weigh hundreds of pounds
without access to a crane, forklift or even
a ramp ramp is a problem paleontologists
have had to deal with for nearly two centuries.
The technique has hardly changed and requires
two simple, but critical, pieces of equipment:
a tripod and block and tackle. Armed with
these, a winch to pull the dangling jacket
into the truck, and extra gloves, the trio
of Hans, Greg and Chris headed up our "fossil
loading team."
9:30am
Greg winces as he winches.
Although the tripod and block and tackle
enabled the team to lift the bones up off
the ground, a winch with a cable, and even
a car jack, were necessary for maneuvering
the jackets horizontally into the truck.
10:00am
His shesh blowing in
the wing, one of our guards, Ibrahima, watches
intently as the jackets from Camp 1 are
loaded on moving day. Ibrahima and Omar,
were enormously helpful in the loading process.
Omar moved more than his share of bones
- and cracked more than his share of jokes.
10:00am
With the "big truck"
due to arrive shortly, team members dismantle
the last of three tents as other people
pack and organize the expedition tools and
equipment. We plan to be at Camp 2 for only
a week and are sending the vast majority
of our things back to Agadez.
10:00am
In addition to collecting
supplies, camping gear and food, we bring
medical supplies, extra car parts, electrical
equipment (for use with our solar panel),
and even chairs. On the morning of the second
day the tents came down. In addition to
the jackets, we loaded nearly 5,000 pounds
of sediment in 100-pound bags (in the top
right of the photo). Greg, our fossil mammal
hunter, plans to sort through the sediment
in hopes of finding a mammal tooth. It is
hard to be a mammal worker surrounded by
dinosaur paleontologists and he has suffered
the brunt of many jokes. But if his quest
proves successful, he will make waves with
his discovery.
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