We have sponsored several fossil digs for interested science club members and adults in recent years. Here are some details about them.
As a part of the H.M.S. Beagle Team for the 1st Annual TrilobiteJam outside of Delta, Utah, you will experience four full days of uninhibited fossil collecting on over 300 acres of trilobite and fossil-bearing rocks in the Wheeler Shale and Marjum Formation. Come and try your luck at some of the incredible sites, such as, Hemirhodon Hill, Modocia Madness, Marjumia Mound, and Olenoides Meadows!
Details:
For full information, please consult the PDF, and please contact us with questions!
|
|
|
|
|
It's back! Our highly popular summer fossil digging sessions return for their fourth year, and now you can get in on the action as well. Join us on any of the following Wednesday mornings for all of the muddy, buggy fun you can stand!
* * * * PLEASE NOTE: All sessions are full! If you do not already have a reservation, there is no remaining space on any of the sessions. If you have a reservation for the 23 June and 30 June sessions, you will receive an email confirmation no later than 18 June. If you don't receive an email, we do not have your reservation, and regret that we cannot take any more. Apologies. * * * *
Plan to come for one of the following sessions:
Details:
Join Paleontologist Gil Parker on our fossil outings at a special dig site on the Park University Campus. Participants will be looking for fossils and, with some exceptions, will be able to keep the fossils they find. The dig area is rich with Pennsylvania era plant fossils. Mr. Parker will provide assistance in searching and identifying the fossils. Parents are encouraged to accompany their children. Participants will be provided a list of supplies to bring with them to the fossil outing.
There is no fee for parents.
We will meet at H.M.S. Beagle at 9 am and then car pool together to the dig site.
 |
|
 |
H.M.S. Beagle hosts a number of regular fossil digging activities. In June, with the approval of the Geology Department of Park University (and with the kind assistance of Professor Scott Hageman), we visit a site behind the university from which it is possible for our Science Club members to collect a variety of fern fossils. This is a great opportunity to get our hands dirty and pull out some nice fossils at the same time.
The rock found in the Kansas City area is from the Pennsylvanian series of the Carboniferous system, much of which was seafloor 300+ million years ago. Much of the limestone and shale therefore is filled with marine fossils. But in the limestone layers behind Park University, we find a variety of ferns and other early plants, including the very pretty alethopteris, and the occasional wing of an ancient cockroach!
Watch this space, our events calendar, or sign up for our mailing list to get notifications of our next fossil digging event.
To see more of what this day is all about, take a look at this entry on our blog from the 2008 dig.
In July 2008, about a dozen lucky individuals were able to travel to the famous Hell Creek Formation near Jordan, Montana. With the expert guidance of Smithville-based fossil enthusiast and collector Bruce Wake, our erstwhile fossil hunters brough back some remarkable finds, and participated in the excavation of several interesting animals, including hadrosaurs, tyrannosaurs, and triceratops.