2. The La Brea Tar Pits
The La Brea Tar Pits are a cluster of tar pits in Los
Angeles. They are inside of Hancock Park. The tar
pits are areas where petroleum oil is pushed up
through the Earth into pools. This petroleum is
eventually turned into tar when the lighter materials
in the petroleum are evaporated.
3. Animal Deaths
Tar is a heavy and sticky material. Thousands of years ago, the pits
would be covered with leaves and things that landed on the tar,
making it look like it was just more ground. An animal would venture
out into the tar pit and eventually become stuck. It would later die of
lack of food and water and the bones of the decaying animal would
sink into the tar pit. Often predators would run into the tar pit to try to
eat dead or dying animals and become trapped themselves.
4. Fossils
As I said tar is a sticky and heavy substance. It also
has the ability to hold out water and air, something
important in the forming of fossils. When the bones
sank into the tar the tar would soak the bones. The
tar not letting in any water or air doesn’t allow the
bone to erode.
5. Animals
The animals that are found in the tar pits are a wide
range. There are dire wolves, mammoths, sloths,
bison, horses, camels, coyotes, simlodon, and many
others. Simlodon are saber toothed cats.
6. Climate Change
We know that Los Angeles used to be a very different place.
Scientists have found spores in the tar pits, meaning it used to
be a very wet environment with many ferns. But also there are
camels in the tar pits, so I think that there may have been years
where it was a much drier environment. We also know that the
mammoths and simlodon were alive when the climate was
much colder.
7. Climate Change Part 2
This leads me to believe that at the end of the ice
age, there were still mammoths and simlodon, but
the ice was melting and making the environment
wet. After most of this water had dried up I think
they went through a drier period and the climate
hasn’t changed much since.
