On Saturday, September 12th, members of the BETA team set off to scout out a potential rock collection site. Dr. Sedlacek, Dr. Sebree, Bobbi, Brittnie, Carissa, and Katie all set out near Rockford, IA to visit the Fossil and Prairie Park Preserve in Floyd County. This park once was owned by the Rockford Brick & Tile Company, but has since been changed to a park, open to the public, with beautiful prairie surrounding the quarry.
The team had a specific mission to accomplish:
"We scouted the area, looking for direct contact between the ocean and terrestrial environments of the Devonian area" -Bobbi
This contact, or boundary between layers, was a very specific one. They searched for the resistant bed in the Cerro Gordo member of the Lime Creek Formation. The discovery of this bed would mean this site would be an ideal place to start collecting samples to send off to NASA for analysis.
The trip wasn't just a walk in the park, however. There were a few hiccups.
The trip wasn't just a walk in the park, however. There were a few hiccups.
"Finding the contact did take a little time, but that wasn’t unexpected and we actually found it fairly quickly. Finding a safe way down to the bottom of the pit also took some time." -Katie
"You wouldn’t think of Iowa as a very clay-rich state either, but the quarry was almost entirely clay and mud. I got my feet stuck ankle-deep in a particularly wet spot." -Bobbi
While the team did have some obstacles to overcome, the trip was an absolute success! Each person was surprised by how abundant the Devonian age fossils were. For some, that was their favorite part of the day, for others- they had something else in mind.
"You could pick up any rock you found, and odds are, there would be a fossil in it." -Bobbi
"I learned a lot about how field work works. I learned that it is a lot of trial and error. And to not get discouraged if you can’t find what you’re looking for right away." -Carissa
"Getting to look at all the fossils was really cool. There were way more than I expected and they were better preserved than I thought they would be, considering the site used to be a working quarry." -Katie
"My favorite part of the day was when I was on top of one of the tallest slopes in the quarry, and it overlooked most of the park. It was beautiful!" -Brittnie
The team was able to find the contact that would be used in the rock collection of the next trip to the Fossil and Prairie Park. While it did take some time, the team learned so much along the way and brought back some excellent fossils. Besides, the primary goal of the trip being met, the team also got to know each other better.
"The most fun part of the day was getting to know everyone that was on the trip because I didn’t know a lot of the members of the team prior to this experience. I enjoyed the little talks we all had shared amongst each other." -Brittnie
All in all, it was an excellent day at a beautiful location that team is very excited to return to in the near future!