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Weather or not, we made it to Alberta in good shape. I don't know about the
wild roses; Alberta seems to evoke images of ranches and oil fields.
Sometimes, both in the same place.
Having arrived safely at the flying convention, we found that its first day's schedule was mostly "on-your-own" activity. So we decided on our own to visit Drumheller, about 75 miles southeast of Red Deer. Drumheller is home to some very unusual geological formations in the Alberta badlands. Many significant fossils, some of them quite large, have also been found there.
Drumheller has a good airport, but you can't rent a car there.
We needed a car in the area, so we drove to Drumheller from Red Deer.
But we did stop to visit the airport there.
As you can see, they have a mascot. Some
airports have birds to advertise them. In this prehistoric place, a pterosaur
is a natural choice. Better yet if it's also a wind vane, like this one.
Here's an aerial view of the Red Deer River valley near Drumheller, and the
same spot as seen from the ground. The lighter colored fields are canola, a
crop that was developed in Canada (the name is derived from the words
Canadian oil). A couple of weeks earlier, those light green patches
were brilliant yellow.
They grow a lot of canola in the southern part of Canada's
prairie provinces and in the north central United States.
It was bred for a favorable fatty-acid profile, to
be used as a healthy source of protein. We humans use it for cooking oil and
margarine, but the product is also a key ingredient of livestock feed, pet
food, and fertilizer.
Over the course of a few million years, the Red Deer River has carved a broad
valley, interacting with the particular rocks near Drumheller to form the
Alberta Badlands.
There's a larger photo of the valley
here.
To appreciate the badlands, you really have to get right up next to the
hills. These are
hundred-foot hills.
We were in this part of Alberta to see the hoodoos. These odd rock
formations are the product of ten thousand years of wind and water erosion.
Acting like umbrellas,
protective caps of hard sandstone have prevented the hoodoos from wearing
away as fast as the surrounding rock. Erosion of the pillars is slowed down
but not stopped; eventually, the hoodoos will collapse.
The brown shale layer at the bottom of the hoodoos was a sea floor 73
million years ago. Signs of marine life may be found here. The upper grey
sandstone section was formed by sand deposited by rivers and streams about 70
million years ago – a time of swamps and dinosaurs.
Hoodoos in progress. The word hoodoo is from the West African Hausa
language, meaning "to arouse resentment, to produce retribution."
Hoodoo was a distinct magic practice introduced to North America in
the 18th century, different in nature from the more familiar voodoo.
Aboriginal people used "hoodoo" to refer to evil, supernatural forces. Some
believed these hoodoos were giants turned to stone by the Great Spirit
because of their evil deeds. In Blackfoot and Cree tradition, they come
alive at night to hurl rocks at intruders.
There are a few
potholes here and there among the
hoodoos.
These boys have found a cave to explore. Nearby, a mother and son build
an
inuksuk. We have seen inuksuit all over southern Canada, where they're
a bit out of place. People seem to like the idea of leaving a marker that
isn't graffiti.
Ancient sea, marine life, dinosaurs. Yes, there are fossil fuels in the
Badlands. The black seams are obvious here; the area was a significant
source of coal during the early and middle 20th century.
The coal mine at Rosedale was productive, but hard to reach; so the company
built this suspension bridge for the miners to walk across the Red Deer River on
their way to and from the job. Between the latticework walkway and the
bridge's natural swaying motion, watching the river flow directly beneath you
can be an enhanced experience in vertigo.
Of 139 coal mines in the area, only one remains, the
Atlas Coal Mine in East
Coulee. It's now a National Historic Site. When the mines closed, the towns
that had sprung up around them quickly became ghost towns.
Not surprisingly, many fossils have been found around Drumheller. The
city's visitor center claims to have the world's largest dinosaur, and
they'll let you climb up into its mouth for a couple of dollars. The kids
are at ground level, just behind the dinosaur's right hind foot.
There are dinosaurs all over town, like this Triceratops guarding an ice
cream shop.
Just outside of town is the
Royal Tyrrell Museum, which is worth a visit all by itself.
This active research center has exhibits of some of the fossils that have
been found in this area. The display is organized as a winding path.
The visitor walks through the museum from one geological era to another,
oldest to modern times. The gatekeepers are replicas, of course.
Once you're inside, they show you where and how ancient bones are retrieved
from the ground. There's a video camera above the young volunteer here, so we
can watch the screen over her head to see how she brushes the dirt away from
some very old bones.
Some exhibits encourage visitor interaction.
These are reassemblies, not replicas.
Ornithomimus edmontonensis
After death, this Ornithomimus body lay exposed under the hot
Cretaceous sun.
Theory suggests that the flesh decomposed, muscles dried and ligaments
tightened, pulling the skeleton into a dramatically arched position. Soon
afterwards, sediment buried the body, protecting its striking posture for
over 70 million years.
Stegoceras validus
These animals are about knee-high.
The assortment of bony knobs protruding from its skull gives this dinosaur
its name, which means "horned roof."
The domes are larger on what are believed to be the males. They may have
been used to ram other individuals. In this mount, a male Stegoceras
prepares to butt a rival in the ribs.
Plesiobæna antiqua
Found only in North America, Plesiobæna was unable to draw its
head into its shell the way modern turtles do. The streamlined shell and
long tail suggest that Plesiobæna was an efficient swimmer.
Throughout the museum, the reconstructions stand in front of murals that
duplicate the scenes.
At right, a pair of Dimetrodon bask in the sun,
their bones in three dimensions and the artist's conception on the mural.
There is speculation that these creatures used their sails like
peacocks' tails, to attract mates or discourage competitors.
Some exhibits show what this area might have looked like when it lay at the
bottom of a prehistoric ocean.
The Royal Tyrrell Museum also houses a few "living fossils" – animals
that live today, but have very ancient features. The Axolotl, native to
Mexico, is one of the ugliest examples of these. The creatures are only
two or three inches long. These amphibians are unusual because they
remain in their larval form with gills and fins, but are able to reproduce.
Sort of like prehistoric teenage mothers.
Ammonites were squid-like creatures that lived from about 350 to 65 million
years ago, when they died out with the dinosaurs.
Although the fossil is found in many locations,
the unique conditions in southern Alberta have combined to render some samples
of ammonite into a gemstone that is only found here. In addition to burial
beneath many layers of sediment, the fossils were heavily compacted during ice
ages.
Rene Vandervelde founded Korite
International to mine, produce and distribute Alberta's unique prehistoric
jewel.
In 2003, he donated this prize specimen (valued at $50,000) to the
Royal Tyrrell Museum. It was polished and lacquered for display, but
otherwise left alone. It's about four feet
across.
In the course of searching for more ammonites, the Korite company has
discovered two previously unknown dinosaur species.
on to Red Deer
Calumet
Peace Garden
Drumheller
Red Deer
Convention
Bow River Pkwy
Lake Louise
Moraine Lake
Field
Yoho NP
Icefields Parkway
Jasper
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