Authorship

Monday, December 13, 2010

Fossil of Oregon...Not Fossil, Oregon

The process of fossilization is a time consuming task that takes millions of years to complete. The basic formula is thus, a carbon based life form dies in some type of muck, and instead of rotting away the more solid parts of the former living item are replaced by mineral deposits. 

In this case a tiny proto-Oregon died and was petrified into a rocky state. It rested undisturbed for millions and millions of years until pesky scientists found this odd fossil and thought, "Hey that looks like a very ancient version of the state of of Oregon..." And thus the scientists chipped this fossil out of rock and hung it up in a museum.


From what we can tell from this fossil of the early form of the state of Oregon, the borders were not well defined. And apparently there was a giant triangle that could we assume to be a primitive version of a mountain inside the this tiny fossil. Unlike dinosaurs and modern day reptiles, this fossil shows how Oregons actually evolved to be much larger than their prehistoric ancestors.


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1 comment:

  1. I think that the missing triangular piece was meant to show that Clackamas county is not an actual part of Oregon.

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