July 18, 2023
Volcanoes, Skeletons, and Embellishments
Guess what happened last night????? IT RAINED……..AGAIN!!!!!!
By 9 am weather radar was showing the storm had passed, so I headed west to see the Ashfall Fossil Beds (https://ashfall.unl.edu/). This was an 18 mile ride back over territory I had already covered and back over that finger of Sandhill hills that break up the flat prairie out here. Glad I didn’t just take off in that direction yesterday as I found out they are closed on Mondays. I also was intrigued by the brick story told to me by Lyle yesterday and wanted to find this said brick that lies in the mend room.
The ride was pretty nice as I was not carrying any gear and had a bit of a tail wind. The road is a bit rough but very low traffic. The driveway to the visitors center has a short steep 11% grade which I pulled off with ease since I was riding light. It’s $8 to get in and you are supposed to also pay a fee for Nebraska State Parks but I was only charged the $8.
So what’s an ash fall? It’s ash from a volcanic eruption. Well this particular ash fall is from an eruption of the super volcano we now know as Yellowstone. Of course as the tectonic plates of North America have moved in a westerly direction, when the eruption that covered this area in ash occurred, “Yellowstone” was west of where it is now. There are other similar sites throughout Nebraska but this particular area was once a watering hole for all sorts of now extinct creatures like rhinoceros, camels, dogs of all sorts, as well as all sorts of small amphibians. So the volcano exploded and sent ash all the way across North America depositing thick (many feet thick) layers in areas closet to the eruption. This ash is no longer found in areas east of about western Iowa as the glaciers of the many ice ages has washed/pushed it away.
This event happened quickly and basically killed a host of animals just chillin down at their favorite watering hole. After which apparently these bone crushing dogs scavenged the remains scattering many of the bones. Some of the skeletons remain fully intact but most bones are scattered about. Interestingly the skeletons are only partially fossilized I assume because the ash was not as concentrated with trace elements needed to fully penetrate bone and harden them. So the outside of these skeletons are hardened and fossilized but the insides remain soft and bone like. This makes my wonder if any DNA has been extracted from any of them??? I didn’t ask.
As for that brick. Seems my friend Lyle embellished his story a bit. Well maybe he didn’t actually come out and say his brick was laid right where one stands at the urinal, but he sure gave that impression and didn’t correct me when I asked. It IS at the bathroom building, but it is part of a wall of other similar bricks that are off to the side of the bathrooms and serve as a place to sit in shade and watch a video about the excavation here. Too bad. I was really hoping it was in the mens room at my feet! Still, the way he told it made a fantastic story and we both had s good laugh.
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Today's ride: 36 miles (58 km)
Total: 1,977 miles (3,182 km)
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