Final - Fossil Project for

1. Corrinne Macleod<br />Geology<br />Mr. Lawler<br />FOSSIL PROJECT<br />Fossils are important to the Coalinga area, because where a fossil is located depending on the age of the sediment around it, people are able to locate the coal and oil which is all over this region. There has been more than a thousand different animal species located in this area. Examples of these are beavers, horses, camel, antelope and the biggest was a mosasaur. A mosasur is a dinosaur that lived in the ocean. It was considered a reptile, with a long slender body and limbs resembling paddles.<br />In the Temblor formation they have found sea cow teeth (these teeth are round in nature) that date back twenty million years. They have also found a oyster shell which dates back twenty-five million years. The oldest known criterion rock found in the area dates back one hundred million years.<br />These marine animals are found in the region because of a shifting in the plate tectonics causing the an uplift of the coast range, which inadvertently changed the climate in the region. You could find fossils in the Kettlemen Hills, and what used to be Coaling Station A, B, and C. <br />A sand-dollar is from the Clypeasteroida family. They have a rigid skeleton, which is known as a test. Sand-dollars have five paired rows of pores, making the petal-like pattern on the shell. These pores are used in gas exchange. Most sand-dollars are found in the Northern Hemisphere. They are found in temperate and tropical zones. I located this sand-dollar in the creek bed outside of Coalinga. It is said that the Coalinga area, was at one time under the ocean floor. I believe it to be 600 years old. It just looks really old.<br />Sea shells are known as brachiopods. They are a marine animal that have hard “values” (shells) on the upper and lower surfaces. Brachiopods are hinged from the rear where each side of the shell is connected, while the font can open or close when needed. The body of the marine animal only occupies 1/3 of it’s shell. Though many went extinct two hundred and fifty million years ago, a lot still remain today. I found these fossils in the creek bed south of Coalinga. I believe that they are at least 200 years old, as this area hasn’t been under water in a long time.<br />Petrified wood is the name of a special type of fossil that has remained from the terrestrial vegetation. It is where the wood (tree) is turned completely into stone, through the process of permineralization. Petrified wood is a three-dimensional representation of original organic mater. This process occurs underground and is preserved, due to lack of oxygen. Wood takes less than one hundred years to petrify. This fossil was found in the creek bed south of Coalinga. I believe that it is over 100 years old, it takes that long to petrify.<br />I find fossils very interesting. We are able to learn about extinct plants and animals, just by looking at their fossils. We are able to learn about their habits, how they lived their lives, what they did, and what they ate. It is like taking a little of the past to improve the future or change how we perceive certain things.<br />WORKS CITED<br />R. C. Baker Museum, Coalinga, California<br />