A Bit of Vertebrate Paleontology
Mark Wilson September 9th, 2009
MAKHTESH RAMON, ISRAEL–On my last day of fieldwork Yoav took me to some wonderfully complex exposures of Cretaceous and Tertiary rocks just north of Makhtesh Ramon. They tell a story of the origins of the Makhtesh anticlinal structure, especially the date it appeared and whether it was ever exposed as an island before its center was eroded away. Part of the debate comes down to the depth at which certain Santonian (Cretaceous) sediments were deposited. These sediments contain oysters and exquisite shark’s teeth. We collected a nice set (see below) which I will attempt to identify to see if we can use what we may know about these sharks to determine the depth of deposition.
Cretaceous shark teeth collected from just north of Makhtesh Ramon (N30.56235°, E34.64876°).
[...] as part of his Independent Study project. He already proved very adept at sorting out a set of Israeli fossil shark’s teeth I had collected last year, so we’re giving him some more practice before his fieldwork. It [...]