Transcript DinosaurNationalParkProjectMadisonB

Madison Bryce
1
Dinosaur National Park
Dinosaur National Park is a desert
located within both Colorado and Utah.
With its amazing wall full of the coolest
fossils and it’s breathtaking views, Dinosaur
is sure to have you amazed. Love hiking or
nature? Try Dinosaurs hikes through the
desert or nature trails through the woods
and mountains. Overall Dinosaur is a great
place to see some amazing stuff!
2
What year did your park become a
official National Park and why?
Dinosaur National Monument protects a
large deposit of bone remains of the so called
“terrible lizards” that lived millions of years
ago. Today many ideas about how Dinosaurs
are changing and the fossils at Dinosaur
National Monument continue to help us learn
more about these amazing animals.
President Woodrow Wilson heard about the
great quarry that Earl Douglass had started
and proclaimed the site as Dinosaur National
Monument in 1915.
3
How was your national park formed
(from an earth scientist perspective)?
The processes of how dinosaur was formed.
First a river collected and
buried thousands of bones. More
layers of mud and sand covered
the bones and hardened them
into rock. Strong currents bent
and tilted the rock layers.
Erosion wore away many layers
and exposed a few bones. Earl
Douglass saw them and dug into
the rock to find more. The
Quarry now protects the bones
still in the rock.
4
What types of rocks can be found
inside your park?
The two main rocks you would find in Dinosaur
National park is the quarry sandstone and
sedimentary rock. Fossils of main dinosaurs
have also been found. A wall in the Quarry
visitor center displays 1500 fossils. These
rocks are also found in the
mountains and canyons.
5
What special landforms or
features are inside your park?
There is the wall in an exhibit hall protecting
and displaying 1500 fossils including those
from many different dinosaurs like
Achelousaurus (shown below). There are
many hiking trails including Cold Desert Trail,
Plug Hat Trail, Ruple Point Trail, and Harpers
Corner Trail, but don’t forget your water,
Dinosaur is a desert!
6
How is the land inside your park
currently changing?
The visitor center (Quarry) was built in 1957
on unstable soil and the building has had
structural problems for many years. The detailed
inspection identified some unknown conditions
that have serious health hazards. Because of
those concerns park management made the
difficult decision that the building would close.
7
What environmental issues
are affecting your park?
The environmental issues Dinosaur is facing is
invasive species. Tamarisk has taken over river
banks along the Green and Yampa Rivers. They
crowded out native plants like willow and
cottonwood trees. This also effects the animals
that depend on these plants. Dinosaur
scientists use several methods to reduce
Tamarisk in the monument. They hand remove
the plant or they use a insect that eats the seed.
like wasps or lady bugs.
8
How is technology used to help
preserve and maintain your park?
To help maintain there insects eating the in
invasive species they use technology. They map
out the Tamarisk using GPS devices and then put
the data on a computer to make GIS maps. This
allows them to monitor their
success. This is just one
way they use technology
to tackle environmental
issues.
Tamarisk
9
Topographic Map
10
Resorces
http://www.nps.gov/archive/dino/dinos.ht
m
 http://www.nps.gov/dino/index.htm
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinosaur_Nat
ional_Monument

A park ranger also gave additional help and
facts on my project.
11
Works Cited



"Dinosaur National Monument Homepage." U.S.
National Park Service - Experience Your America. Web.
25 May 2010.
<http://www.nps.gov/archive/dino/map.htm>.
"Dinosaur National Monument (U.S. National Park
Service)." U.S. National Park Service - Experience Your
America. Web. 27 May 2010.
<http://www.nps.gov/dino/index.htm>.
Hoesch, William A., and Steven A. Austin*. "Dinosaur
National Monument: Jurassic Park Or Jurassic Jumble?"
The Institute for Creation Research. Web. 27 May 2010.
<http://www.icr.org/article/106/>.
12