Spring semester is over, let’s go back to the field!

Spring weather in Texas is pretty unpredictable, after a series of severe conditions alerts including tornado, flash flood and thunderstorm, we were able to revisit some sites after a hiatus of 6 months! We first went back to the VFW site. There, the owners decided to move forward with their project to turn the dinosaur track site into a parking lot. Although they will not let cars and trucks park onto the track site yet, the urgency to document that site became even more real. Two weeks ago, Dianna, Thomas, Justin and I met at that site again, with the help from Kate Benoit, a UTSA undergraduate student and intern at the Witte Museum, to measure parameters such as individual track length, width, and trackway stride and pace. Dan and his wife also spent some time with us, it was really nice to meet in person after over a year of virtual meetings and social distancing because of the pandemic

The first step is to identify tracks with tiles.

We then outlined them with chalk and defined trackways.

Using the morphogy of tracks, we determines if they corresponded to a left or righ foot.

Thomas and Justin decide where they want to measure the pace of that trackway.

Dianna and Justin mesure the angle between toes to characterize each track.

Dianna and Justin mesure the angle between toes to characterize each track.

Dianna and Justin mesure the angle between toes to characterize each track.

Kate and Alex measure the angle between toes to characterize each track.

Dan explains some sedimentary features he observed when he measured the section, here a small channel above the track layer.

From left to right: Dan, Alex and Thomas.

Field work is also a great opportunity to share ideas and observations to make the project move forward.

This visit at VFW was an opportunity to use the model Dianna put together from the numerous pictures she took in the Fall with the spud!

The following Monday, Dianna, Justin, Thomas and Alex drove back up to the site at Leander. According to the literature, additional tracks should be located on the other side of the bridge, and this study could further our understanding of the mechanisms of preservation of dinosaur tracks. We found them, on the river bank and directly under the contact between the Glen Rose Formation and the Walnut Formation, however they are located so close from the river that they are covered in mud deposited during floods. The preservation of some impression rims is beautiful though.

Theropod track in the last bed of the Glen Rose Formation.

This theropod track is filed with mud deposited during a flood.

Deformation rim around a sauropod track, last bed of the Glen Rose Formation.

Dianna and Justin scouting along the river bank for more dinosaur tracks.