Dinosaur research is a very important work, it is directly related to the evolution and disappearance of Jurassic and Cretaceous dinosaurs, as well as the accuracy of the geological landform of the living environment, and at the same time, it also has a very important reference significance for the quality of human life today. However, the basic work of all this is field exploration and excavation, only by doing this work conscientiously and obtaining rich paleontological data, then we can obtain first-hand real information, can we do a good job in dinosaur research, otherwise, it is all empty words.
Field exploration comes first. Where are the dinosaur fossils? Where are the abundant dinosaur fossils? This is the first thing we should explore and understand. That year, I and my colleagues from the Institute of Ancient Spine of the Chinese Academy of Sciences embarked on the basic work of field exploration.
We went to the Erenhot Grassland in Inner Mongolia. In this vast prairie, there is no edge to be seen. We wore sun hats, overalls, a bag on our shoulders, a geological hammer in our hands, and our shoes on our feet, like eagles on the prairie, staring around, but not in the air, but on the boundless prairie. How does this explore?
First of all, we sent the vanguard "troops" to visit the local herdsmen in advance, understand and ascertain the paleogeography here, and determine the exploration range.
Then our big "troops" went into the exploration range. We split into small groups, acted separately, set the place and time for the dinner, and then everyone began to act.
Finally, everyone went down the cliff and down the ditch, running around. Holding a geological hammer in his hand, he kept banging everywhere, looking for "baby" dinosaur fossil specimens.
Dinosaur fossil specimens will inevitably be exposed to us in a certain period of time with the joint efforts of everyone. There are many scattered dinosaur fossils here on the surface, unlike Shandong. However, there is not much to discover. Once it is found that it can be excavated, then everyone can be ready to excavate and start.
Inner Mongolia is different from other areas such as Shandong and Liaoning, Inner Mongolia is a plain, while Shandong and other places are ravines or mountains, so it is still different in terms of excavation, we mean now.
The purpose of exploration is to find dinosaur fossil points that can be excavated. After finding it, the excavation plan was made and the formal excavation work began.
In Inner Mongolia, we choose the location and extent of the excavation, and then, with a hammer and a chisel in our hands. We first tried our best to remove the floating soil layer as soon as possible, and when we reached the fossil layer, we began to slow down the excavation speed, and very seriously did not dare to slowly clean up the surface of the dinosaur fossil and glue it in time. We accurately identify the exposed dinosaur fossils in the field, and according to the requirements of excavation technology, we will expose the lower strata of the excavated dinosaur fossils, and then dig down to do a good job of the distance stratum from which the fossils are exposed. In this way, you can glue the dinosaur fossils on the paper, the long bones are reinforced with wooden sticks, and then smeared with a layer of plaster, and then "packaged" with sack pieces of plaster dipped in the closed plaster, so that the dinosaur fossils are wrapped inside, and the dinosaur fossils will not suffer damage.
After the dinosaur fossils are dried, they are taken out and transported back to the workshop for restoring dinosaur fossils, and the field excavation of dinosaur fossils is officially over.
It's hard for us researchers to do this in the field. Facing the scorching sun, facing the wind and sand and whirlwinds and the invasion of wild animals, it is extremely difficult.
That said, we feel from the bottom of our hearts that we have done something very meaningful. We have obtained a large number of dinosaur fossil specimens, these specimens are the real specimens of our study of dinosaurs, dinosaur researchers can be based on these specimens, we can study the evolution and disappearance of dinosaurs, more than 100 million years ago the distribution of the earth's geological landform distribution of the natural conditions. Of course, the dinosaur fossils excavated in the wild, although they have been identified in the wild, are not necessarily very accurate, so it is necessary to take the packaged dinosaur fossils out of the package, repair them well, and restore the original appearance, so as to provide researchers with extremely important real physical information.
The reason why we say that field exploration and excavation are the basis of dinosaur research, through the above statement, we will naturally realize that this is indeed the case. The summary is as follows:
First, through the strata, determine the age. Dinosaur fossils are buried in the Late Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, dating back more than 100 million years, all determined by the knowledge of the exploration strata. When a fossil is detached from the strata, it is difficult to distinguish which geological age it is.
2. Through excavation, the genus species are determined. Only the dinosaur fossils excavated in the wild can provide researchers with exact information, what genus of dinosaur fossils have been excavated?
3. Through excavation, the physical object is provided. Only through field excavations can we know which creatures were produced with dinosaurs? Pack live plants, which provide valuable physical information for studying the creatures that lived with dinosaurs.
Fourth, through excavation, understand the geology. Only through field excavations can we know the period of dinosaur survival, what was the state of the earth's geological landform at that time? It provides researchers with extremely important scientific research value.
5. Study dinosaurs through excavations. Only through the physical data of excavated dinosaur fossils can provide empirical evidence of the evolution and disappearance of dinosaurs, volcanic eruptions, and the possibility of dinosaur extinction caused by other planets colliding with the earth.
In short, field exploration and excavation is the basis of dinosaur research, without which our dinosaur science is basically empty talk. Therefore, we have always grasped this foundation and insisted on it, so that we have today's dinosaur research results! And walk in the forefront of the world!