The natural forces on Earth are very powerful and as a result it is very difficult to leave long-lasting evidence of habitation and passage due to the many forms of erosion. Just looking up at the moon, one can see how pock marked the surface is compared to Earth. Due mostly to the atmosphere, but also the forces of erosion, there are only a handful of visible asteroid impact sites on Earth since most are erased so readily.

Due to these forces, it is astonishing that humanity has found as much evidence of ancient animals as they have.

Dinosaurs existed approximately 243 - 65 million years ago and the preservation of their bodies only occurred under very precise conditions making fossils such a rare and valuable find.

The Fossilization Process

The field of fossilization is extremely complex and far to diverse to cover in this EarthCache. The main criteria of fossils is that after death, plants and animals begin to decay rapidly. Therefore the bodies must be covered in sediment such as sand or mud very quickly after death to prevent reaction with atmospheric air and eventual decay leaving no trace. There are three main types of fossils:

• Replacement and recrystallization: The hard components of the body such as teeth and bones are replaced by minerals in the mud and silt that they are buried in resulting in a complete replacement replica.
• Permineralization: The voids in the hard components are filled with precipitated minerals and the hard components decay away.

• Casts and molds: The body is surrounded by mud and silt which hardens while the body decays away entirely leaving a void.

The evidence left behind by animals such as burrows or tracks are called trace fossils.

For tracks to be preserved, once again which is extremely rare, the prints need to be made it wet sand or silt, usually on the shore of a lake. The prints then need to be buried gently under silt where they are then preserved and permitted to harden and mineralize.

There are different types of tracks or trace fossils that can be found by paleontologists. They include true tracks, natural casts, untertracks, and track infills.

• True tracks: The actual footprint left in the ground
• Natural casts: The sediment that fell into the footprint can harden and pop out like a mould. These can in fact produce greater detail such as skin texture.
• Undertracks: These are the hardened sediments underneath the footprint that was made.

• Track infills: The sediment on the surface of a buried track and collapse in a bit leaving an indentation. These are not very detailed but can give a clue that a more detailed print may lie underneath.

About the site

The tracks were unknown until rather recently, in fact it was not until a big storm in 2002 where the sand was washed away and the tracks were found.

These prints were made by a type of carnivorous dinosaur similar to a Megalosaurus 175 million years ago.

Stewardship of the Site

This site is a rare and precious gem and therefore must be protected by all. In December of 2016 a visitor attempted to make a plaster cast of the prints, lacking proper equipment and expertise to do so. It is feared that the prints may be permanently damaged. Therefore only photos should be taken of the prints.

To Log This EarthCache

Please e-mail me the answers to the EarthCache through my geocaching.com profile or through Geocaching Message Centre to prove your visit to this site. Do not post answers in your log!

Feel free to post any pictures of the prints with your log but avoid spoiling any answers please.