Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
the last items on the agenda was to record a few digital video clips of me talking
about the dinosaur tracks, which I knew later could be edited into an informative
video to accompany a press release. Looking at those clips later was amusing, be-
cause you could see that I was trying very hard to be informative and objective but
also couldn't help but show how thrilled I was with what had just happened.
GregagainassistedmeinrecordingmeasurementsasIusedthedigitalcalipers
togatherdataonthedinosaurtracksfromthissecondblock:numberoftoes,length,
width, depth, and so on. He wrote down the numbers in my field notebook as I read
them aloud. Only then did I take close-up photographs of individual tracks with
a photo scale next to each, documenting their dimensions and other details. Much
later, back in the comfort of my office at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, I
re-measured the tracks from photographs to double-check these results, just in case
I had misspoken or Greg had miswritten the data that afternoon. Because I did not
know whether I would see these tracks again—notwithstanding Tom's relentless
plotting to acquire them for his museum—I was being extra careful in ensuring that
the results could be repeated, checked by others, and otherwise pass peer review in
the future.
As the sunlight faded, we decided we had had enough and vowed to come
back the next week to better assess the geological context of the tracks, study and
photograph them more, and figure out how to recover them from this high-energy,
wave-filled place. Milanesia Beach had been generous to us that day, and as we all
trudged up the steep trail, we were filled with laughter and excitement about these
giftsofferedbythedinosaurs,theCretaceous floodplains,and,muchmorerecently,
coastal erosion.
The three of us came back the next week, along with Monash University geo-
logist Mike Hall and my wife Ruth, who had just arrived in Australia to join me.
Oncewerelocatedthetracks,Irecordedmoremeasurementsanddescriptionswhile
the others conducted a reconnaissance of the nearby cliff face and looked for the
probable source of the dinosaur-track-bearing bed. They had a merry adventure do-
