Progress Notes

This is a camel track fossilized in Miocene lakeshore mud, around 13,000,000 years old.
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Camel tracks are found in the Rainbow Basin area. Early camels lived in North America in the Miocene then became extinct here. This area has been the source of many of the fossil samples of Miocene animals and plants on the continent.
Pressure along fault lines has uplifted and exposed older levels beneath today's surface topsoil.

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The line running through the far hillside is a layer of ash. It looks darker but it is really lighter and casting a shadow. The layer of ash is called the Skyline Tuff. It dates to about 15,000,000 years. So, fossils found in soil below the Skyline Tuff are older and those found above that layer of ash are newer.

Owl Creek 023.jpg

Passing animals left their tracks in the mud and in this case a layer of volcanic ash filled them in, making a perfect casting. later, uplift pressure pulled the hardened layer of ash away and up, leaving a positive imprint of the camel footprint upside down underneath the ash layer.

Continued...