John Day Fossil Beds National Monument
1080273
224326153
2008-07-08T10:29:55Z
Rudolf Pohl
5573831
/* John Day Formation (37 - 20 mya) */ Specify age
{{Infobox_protected_area | name = John Day Fossil Beds National Monument
| iucn_category = III
| image = US_Locator_Blank.svg
| caption =
| locator_x = 30
| locator_y = 35
| location = [[Wheeler County, Oregon|Wheeler County]] & [[Grant County, Oregon|Grant County]], [[Oregon]], [[United States|USA]]
| nearest_city = [[Kimberly, Oregon|Kimberly, OR]]
| lat_degrees = 44
| lat_minutes = 39
| lat_seconds = 58
| lat_direction = N
| long_degrees = 120
| long_minutes = 3
| long_seconds = 6
| long_direction = W
| area = 14,000 acres (57 km²)
| established = [[October 26]], [[1974]]
| visitation_num =
| visitation_year =
| governing_body = [[National Park Service]]
}}
<!-- Note: HANNAH site is listed in IUCN database, and appears to conform with Category III -->
'''John Day Fossil Beds National Monument''' is a 14,000 acre (57 km²) park in eastern [[Oregon]]. Located within the [[John Day River]] Basin, this [[U.S. National Monument]] is world-renowned for its well-preserved, remarkably complete record of [[fossil]] plants and animals, a record that spans more than 40 of the 65 million years of the [[Cenozoic Era]] (also known as the Age of [[Mammal]]s and [[Angiosperm|Flowering Plants]]). The monument is divided into three units: [[Painted Hills]] (named for the delicately colored [[Stratigraphy|stratifications]]) northwest of [[Mitchell, Oregon|Mitchell]], Sheep Rock which is northwest of [[Dayville, Oregon|Dayville]], and Clarno which is 20 miles west of [[Fossil, Oregon|Fossil]]. Blue Basin is a [[volcanic ash]] bowl transformed into claystone by eons of [[erosion]], colored pastel blue by [[mineral]]s.
Visitors can follow trails into the [[badland]]s and examine fossils displayed at the visitor center while [[scientist]]s continue field investigations and the painstaking analysis of the monument's vast fossil record.
Exploration and study of the John Day fossil beds continues today. In many of the beds, the fossils are widely scattered, and their occurrence cannot be predicted. Many types of fossils deteriorate rapidly once erosion exposes them to the elements. Thus the fossil beds are continually canvassed by paleontologists. Visitors often take rocks as souvenirs, which is a federal crime.<ref>{{cite news
|title=Stolen Treasure: Theft is a problem at Oregon monument
|first=Kate
|last=Ramsayer
|work=Seattle Post-Intelligencer
|publisher=The Bend Bulletin
|url=http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/getaways/344032_fossils20.html
|date=[[December 19]][[2007]]
}}</ref>
The fossil beds contain vestiges of the actual [[soil]]s, [[river]]s, ponds, watering holes, mudslides, ashfalls, [[floodplain]]s, [[midden]]s, [[fossil trackway|trackway]]s, [[prairie]]s, and forests, in an unbroken sequence that is one of the longest continuous geological records. The rocks are rich with the evidence of ancient habitats and the dynamic processes that shaped them; they tell of sweeping changes in the John Day Basin. Great changes, too, have taken place in this area's landscape, [[climate]], and in the kinds of plants and animals that have inhabited it.
[[Image:PaintedHillsPano4.jpg|thumb|600px|Painted Hills unit]]
== History of the fossil beds ==
[[Image:Joda clarnounit.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Hoodoo (geology)|Hoodoos]] at John Day Fossil Beds National Monument.]]
In 1861, fossilized [[rhinoceros]] teeth discovered in the area during an army expedition were given to [[Thomas Condon]], who was then pastor at the Congregational Church in [[The Dalles, Oregon]].<ref name= "Harpers">{{cite web | first = John C. | last = Merriam | authorlink= John C. Merriam | title = The John Day fossil beds | publisher = [[Harper's Magazine]] | date = March 1901 | url = http://harpers.org/archive/1901/03/0003830 | accessdate = 2008-03-08}}</ref> Although [[paleontology|paleontology]] was still a new science at the time, Condon recognized the fossils as a scientific treasure. Discoveries such as Condon's galvanized scientific interest in the field.
By the late 19th century, researchers at [[Yale University|Yale]], [[Princeton University|Princeton]], and the [[Smithsonian Institution]] had requested and received hundreds of specimens from the John Day Basin. They were then classified and described in the scientific literature. This early work set the stage for field paleontologists such as [[John C. Merriam]], who in 1899 began the task of placing the John Day fossils in their geological, chronological, and [[Paleoecology|paleoecological]] context. His efforts were instrumental in the preservation of the area.
The area's National Monument status was authorized [[October 26]], [[1974]] and established in 1975.
== Geologic formations ==
The strata represented at John Day Fossil Beds consist of four [[geologic formation]]s, presented here from top (most recent) to bottom (oldest):
=== Rattlesnake Formation (8 - 6 mya) ===
These most recent strata, named for typical exposures along Rattlesnake Creek, are less fossiliferous than the older formations but contain fragmentary fossils of horses, sloths, rhinos, camels, peccaries, pronghorns, dogs, bears and others, with a preponderance of grazing animals over browsers, betokening a dry, cool climate that was dominated by grasslands.
=== Mascall Formation (15 - 12 mya) ===
This is a warmer, wetter period. At its base, a roughly five-million-year interval between deposition of the Mascall Formation and the John Day Formation that underlies it is marked by intermittent flows of [[basaltic lava]] that repeatedly leveled and denuded the region. A period of moderate climate ensued, with more precipitation than today's, building up some 200 m of fluvial-lacustrine [[siltstone]]s and [[sandstone]]s that are the remains of highly fertile volcanic soil which supported a lush mixture of hardwood forest and open [[savanna]] grassland, already home to a great variety of recognizable horses, camels, and deer, as well as bears, weasels, dogs, and cats. At the same time large mammals made a resurgence: among them were the [[gomphothere]]s rhinos and [[bear-dogs]].
=== John Day Formation (37 - 20 mya) ===
Deciduous forests in a wide range of systems characterize this [[Eocene|late Eocene]] to [[Miocene|early Miocene]] sequence. More than 100 groups of mammals have been found in this formation as well, including representatives of dogs, [[temnocyon]]ines, cats, swine, [[oreodon]]ts, horses, camels, rhinos, and rodents. During this time, repeated volcanic events each left their unique "fingerprint" in thin layers of [[volcanic ash]] that have hardened to [[tuff]]. Securely dated by direct [[radiometry|radiometric]] means and by comparison with the same ash layers at other locations the ash layers, like chapter headings, provide dated markers for the formation.
[[Image:Joda sheeprock.jpg|thumb|250px|upright|Sheep Rock and the John Day River]]
=== Clarno Formation (50 - 35 mya) ===
The mantle of evergreen tropical to subtropical forests are revealed by a splendid sample of fossil seeds, nuts and fruits, leaves and woody structures, including fossilized remains of a member of the banana genus. Hundreds of species have been identified in this richly diverse ecosystem. Among the notable mammals were the giant browsers, the [[brontothere]]s and [[amynodont]]s, strong-jawed scavengers, [[Hyaenodontidae|hyaenodontid]]s, and ruggedly framed predators such as [[Patriofelis]]. None of these left modern descendants.
==See also==
* [[List of fossil sites]] ''(with link directory)''
== References ==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
{{Commonscat|John Day Fossil Beds National Monument}}
*[http://www.nps.gov/joda/ John Day Fossil Beds National Monument Homepage]
*[http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DEEDE1139F935A15756C0A960958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1 A Prehistoric Menagerie In Oregon] - New York Times Travel article
*[http://www2.nature.nps.gov/geology/parks/joda/#geology John Day Fossil Beds: geology]
*[http://3dparks.wr.usgs.gov/johnday/html2/jd273.htm Photographic tour of John Day Fossil Beds NM], from [[USGS]]
{{Protected Areas of Oregon}}
{{Registered Historic Places}}
[[Category:National Monuments in Oregon]]
[[Category:1974 establishments]]
[[Category:Natural history of Oregon]]
[[Category:Fossil trackways]]
[[Category:Paleontological sites]]
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