Earth Science Field Trip 2019!
Our trip to the Black Hills and Badlands of South Dakota.
Lewis and Clark Visitors Center, Chamberlain SD
by Brenna & Kat
The Lewis and Clark visitors center in Chamberlain, SD is an educational rest stop near the interstate. At the Lewis and Clark visitors center you can see a replica of the keelboat Lewis and Clark used to cross the Missouri river. We also saw some of the stuff that they might of used, like the clothes, food, tools, and gifts for the natives. This stop is also the stop that they stopped at. There is also an interesting and large Sacagawea statue. There was also a lot of taxidermy animals that Lewis and Clark saw and wrote about in their journals. We had a great time and hope to visit again.
Wind Cave National Park, Hot Springs SD
by: Sydney and Rachel
The Wind cave is a national monument that was found by the Lakota people. They used the wind to find there way around. Some of the cave creations are honeycomb, box-work, frost crystal, and ave popcorn. You'd think all caves look the same but they don't. This was formed by water, the box-work was formed by animal shells seeping in to the cracks which makes 90% of it. The whole cave is 500 feet deep but we walked 200 feet down. The Lakota thought the first people came out of the cave and still visit today.
The Mammoth Site, Hot Springs SD
By: Landen and Mavik
The Mammoth site in Hot Spring South Dakota, has 22 feet of 47 dug out in the hole. 61 male mammoths of 2 types such as 3 woolly mammoths and the rest of the mammoth fossils are the Colombian mammoth. There are volunteers that can work in the field give tours and many other things like working on the cleaning machine (for shell fossils and many other small fossils that are in prep.
The Badlands
By: Sadie and Claire
The Badlands National Park occupies 244,000 acres of land, stone, vegetation, and wildlife. The Badlands Wall constantly retreats north as it erodes into the White River Valley below. Humans have been known to Cliff Shelf for more than more than 11,000 years. More than 50 plant species and 100 bird species have been identified in the Cliff Shelf Area. The reason vegetation is thriving in the Cliff Shelf Area, is because the dense compacted area of geologic slump retains moisture in the rich vegetation we see. The Badlands Formation chart starts at the bottom, where was one a shallow sea. The oldest layer is Pierre Shale, formed by a shale sea. The next layer is the Chadron Formation, formed by The Rocky Mountains! Then we have the Brule Formation, this layer occupies two geologic formations, formed by erosion. The final layer is Sharps Formation, formed by volcanic ash. There are no dinosaur fossils found in the Badlands because there was once a shallow sea and the dinosaurs could not swim. Two common fossils that were found in the Badlands were the Ammonites and the Baculite. A large reptilian swimmer fossil found in the Badlands is a Monasaur, a giant lizard. The Lakota arrived in the mid-1700's, but they were pushed west by the Westward Expansion. The Badlands is a very cool and unique place that you will never see anywhere else.