Why North America Is Becoming the Go-To Destination for Amazing Dinosaur Fossils
Dinosaurs have always been a subject of interest for researchers. Paleontologists have been trying to get as much information about these elusive creatures as possible, the American Museum of Natural History reported. They have focussed on locations where the dinosaur fossils have been located, to understand their needs and habits when alive.
For most researchers, North America is their hotspot for exploring dinosaur fossils from the Cretaceous period, Newsweek reported. Eric Roberts, head of earth and environmental science at James Cook University in Australia explains why this particular area is in its "Goldilocks Window" when it comes to finding dinosaur fossils.
Cretaceous period was a geological period that started 145.5 million years ago and lasted until 65.5 million years ago, Newsweek reported. The period came to an end with a catastrophic event, that wiped dinosaurs from earth.
Dinosaurs that lived in the last 10 million years, during the Cretaceous period in North America, have become some of the most famous specimens of dinosaurs. Sharp-toothed Tyrannosaurus, the horned Triceratops, and the duck-billed hadrosaurs have captivated popular imagination.
Roberts in a study shared that an exceptional number of dinosaur fossils from the Cretaceous period are being found in North America's Western Interior Basin in recent years. The reasoning behind these appearances was not because dinosaurs were more inclined to make the area their habitat compared to other places.
According to him, the abundance of fossils in the region is because of the prevalent volcanic activity in the area, which caused a huge amount of sediments to set in and preserve the fossils, Newsweek reported. In other areas, fossils might have been damaged due to various natural causes.
"The tectonic setting involving active arc volcanism, as well as intraplate volcanism, produced voluminous and widespread volcanic sedimentary deposits, primarily in the form of ash fall deposits, that we were able to apply the highest precision dating techniques currently available to start to unravel questions like this," Roberts explained, Newsweek reported.
Roberts also pointed out the diversity in the fossils, stating that the remains of various kinds of dinosaurs have been located in North America's Western Interior Basin, Newsweek reported. He believes this happened because of the sedimentary burial action taking place across vast environmental differences from north to south along the western basin.
Roberts also believes that the timing of exploration has also played a key role in finding such a large number of fossils, Newsweek reported. Many rocks that contain these fossils are being eroded due to natural processes, making it easier for researchers to locate them.
"In lay terms, we are in the Goldilocks Window for finding fossils in the Late Cretaceous of Western North America because the rocks have been recently uplifted, geologically speaking, due to uplift of the Colorado Plateau, coupled with a generally arid/semi-arid climate across much of the region—meaning that the exposed rock record is conspicuously poorly vegetated, allowing for enhanced erosion and fossil discovery," Roberts explained, Newsweek reported.
Researchers cite the example of a drying river exposing enormous dinosaur footprints as proof of natural processes revealing fossils. The waterbody shrunk in size due to drought, causing the previously unseen footprints to reveal themselves.