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quarry to the road, where they could be lifted onto a truck for the trip
back to the museum.
All of that work kept Rodolfo, Alberto, Gerald, Anwar, and several
other crew members busy for the rest of the field season. We decided
to subdivide the skeleton into five blocks: a large one for the hips and
tail, two smaller ones for the hind limbs and arms, another large one
for the trunk and neck, and a last one for where we hoped the skull
would be. Even after dividing the skeleton into five sections, some of
the blocks weighed more than a ton with their petrified bones, wet
plaster, surrounding rock, and wooden supports.
Meanwhile, along with Luis, Lowell and the other members of the
geological team embarked on a two-day trip to the west of Auca
Mahuevo, in search of a volcanic ash described in a geologic paper we
had read. The scenery on the drive was spectacular; huge volcanoes
loomed on the horizon off to the west. But as we approached the site
where the ash had been discovered, the dirt road was washed out, so
we could not get to the precise locality described. After driving almost
completely around the site on other roads, however, we did find one
track that got us close. At the end of the track were some exposures
that looked as if they contained the same sequence of rock layers
exposed at Auca Mahuevo. Since the sun was setting, we decided to
cook dinner and look at the exposures in the morning.
We bedded down soon after dinner, but we were awakened by
vigorous thunder and lightning about 1:30 A.M. The storm was rapidly
approaching, and within a few minutes the first sprinkles began to pelt
our sleeping bags. We hadn't brought our tents because there wasn't
room in the vehicle, so as the rain quickly increased, we crawled out
of our bags, stuffed them in or under the vehicle, and scrambled
inside. With five of us and some of our equipment, it was pretty
cramped, and for a few minutes we couldn't get the power windows to
close. By the time we finally managed to close them, most of us were
soaked. Heavy rain and a bit of hail pummeled our vehicle, and it took
about an hour and a half for the storm to pass. But by three or three-
thirty, we slumped out of the car, laid out our air mattresses, and
crawled back into our bags.
Arising early in the morning, we ate and then assaulted the expo-
sures. Near the top of a large ravine, Lowell found a cream-colored
layer of rock that was quite different from any of the others. It
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