MANTUA TWP. — Paleontologists and geologists have been uncovering fossils in Inversand’s manganese greensand pit for years, and — according to Ken Lacovara, a Drexel University associate professor of biology and director of the paleontology and geology¬ program — the site could represent “the very last moment of the Cretaceous Period.”
Evidence for that hypothesis comes from the scientists’ discovery of a bone bed with articulated skeletons distributed through each meter. One way this can happen, said Lacovara on Tuesday, “is if all these animals died at once, which appears to be the case.”
A meteor impact is thought to have caused mass extinction at the end of the Cretaceous Period 65 million years ago, and Lacovara said paleontologists and geologists working at the site “are starting to find cosmogenic indicators here” like elevated levels of iridium.
Fossils from the Cretaceous Period unearthed at Inversand in Mantua, June 26, 2012 Paleontologists and geologists work to uncover fossils in a bone bed at Inversand's manganese greensand pit in Mantua Township, Tuesday, June 26, 2012. A meteor impact is thought to have caused mass extinction at the end of the Cretaceous Period 65 million years ago, and Drexel University associate professor Ken Lacovara said paleontologists and geologists working at the site âare starting to find cosmogenic indicators hereâ like elevated levels of iridium. Findings at the Inversand site over the years have included large prehistoric crocodiles and sea turtles, various fish and invertebrates. In June 2011, a team found skeletal remains of a mosasaur â a large carnivorous marine reptile from the Cretaceous Period. (Staff Video by Lori M. Nichols/Gloucester County Times) Watch video
“That would make this site the only place in the world where you could touch a skeleton and know the creature died on that very bad day,” said Lacovara. “It would make this a place of global importance."
http://www.nj.com/gloucester-county/index.ssf/2012/06/mantua_townships_inversand_sit.html
Evidence for that hypothesis comes from the scientists’ discovery of a bone bed with articulated skeletons distributed through each meter. One way this can happen, said Lacovara on Tuesday, “is if all these animals died at once, which appears to be the case.”
A meteor impact is thought to have caused mass extinction at the end of the Cretaceous Period 65 million years ago, and Lacovara said paleontologists and geologists working at the site “are starting to find cosmogenic indicators here” like elevated levels of iridium.
Fossils from the Cretaceous Period unearthed at Inversand in Mantua, June 26, 2012 Paleontologists and geologists work to uncover fossils in a bone bed at Inversand's manganese greensand pit in Mantua Township, Tuesday, June 26, 2012. A meteor impact is thought to have caused mass extinction at the end of the Cretaceous Period 65 million years ago, and Drexel University associate professor Ken Lacovara said paleontologists and geologists working at the site âare starting to find cosmogenic indicators hereâ like elevated levels of iridium. Findings at the Inversand site over the years have included large prehistoric crocodiles and sea turtles, various fish and invertebrates. In June 2011, a team found skeletal remains of a mosasaur â a large carnivorous marine reptile from the Cretaceous Period. (Staff Video by Lori M. Nichols/Gloucester County Times) Watch video
“That would make this site the only place in the world where you could touch a skeleton and know the creature died on that very bad day,” said Lacovara. “It would make this a place of global importance."
http://www.nj.com/gloucester-county/index.ssf/2012/06/mantua_townships_inversand_sit.html